A Former Mexican President's Foul Response to Trump

SAN DIEGO -- Did you hear what Vicente Fox thinks of the wall that Donald Trump wants to build on the U.S.-Mexico border?

We could print his comments in their entirety, but this is a family newspaper.

The former president of Mexico recently used vulgar language to make the point that, no matter what Trump tells supporters, our neighbor isn't about to foot the bill for a border wall.

"I'm not going to pay for that [expletive] wall," Fox said during multiple network interviews.

As if this election wasn't ugly enough. The former president of Mexico just affixed a few more scars. Americans hate lectures from foreign leaders.

There are two ways to look at this episode -- in the micro and in the macro.

In the micro, I applaud Fox for dressing down Trump and giving the former reality star a dose of reality. It's clear that Mexico is not going to just hand over a check for a wall, and that Trump has in mind a series of tariffs, bans and penalties that could prompt a trade war. He won't say that. But this is what it means to "have Mexico pay for the wall." That needs to be brought into the open. Fox did his part to turn up the heat on Trump so that it could be. Good for him.

Yet in the macro, I have to criticize Fox -- as I would any former president of Mexico -- for having the gall to scold the United States for its attempts to keep out Mexican immigrants who travel north because they are poorly served by their government. The reason that millions of illegal immigrants from Mexico find themselves at the tender mercies of someone like Donald Trump is because their own country failed them. Fox would do well to remember that.

Illegal immigration into the United States represents a win-win for Mexico. The Mexican economy doesn't have to make room for millions of less-educated, low-skilled workers who instead flee to the north. And, as a bonus, Mexico takes in about $25 billion in annual remittances from its expatriates. So, of course, Mexicans want to maintain the status quo.

In response to Fox's off-color remarks, Trump tweeted: "FMR PRES of Mexico, Vicente Fox horribly used the F word when discussing the wall. He must apologize! If I did that there would be a uproar!"

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