Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump will no longer participate in a public Q&A next week with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce due, according to USHCC, to his fear of being “put on trial.”
The leading Hispanic business organization announced Friday that Trump had decided to withdraw from the event scheduled for Oct. 8 in Washington, D.C. following repeated disagreements over the terms and conditions, as well as the line of questioning he would have faced.
“Trump would have been treated no differently than other candidates,” USHCC wrote in a statement regarding the cancellation. “The Q&A series was designed to ensure that every candidate can explain in detail their political ideology, policies, and campaign rhetoric in a thoughtful, deliberate, and substantive fashion.”
Trump first spoke of his plans to meet publicly with Hispanic leaders and the USHCC during a September interview with Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera. He previously met with USHCC CEO Javier Palomarez behind closed doors to discuss his immigration plan and comments about the Hispanic community.
“So, I will be going down at some point in October or whatever. I will go to Washington. That won’t be that easy a meeting because you’ll have hundreds of people and they will have constituents of his and they may disagree with me, but ultimately we will all get along,” Trump told Rivera at the time.
USHCC Director of Communications Ammar Campa-Najjar says Trump’s campaign specifically took issue with a question the organization had planned to ask the candidate about the cost of his immigration plan.
“Trump’s policy paper on immigration says undocumented immigrants get $4.2 billion a year in tax credits, but many estimate his plan to deport 11 million immigrants in two years would cost anywhere from $400 to $500 billion,” Campa-Najjar told the Washington Examiner.
“So how is that a fiscally responsible solution for someone who is trying to be a standard bearer for a party that prides itself on fiscal responsibility?” he added in a question presumably similar to what Trump would have been asked.
In addition to their disapproval of the Q&A content, Campa-Najjar alleges that Trump’s campaign expressed concerns about the audience and members of the press planning to attend the event. He said the campaign had specifically named Univision anchor Jorge Ramos; Trump removed Ramos from a press conference of his in late August after the Hispanic journalist interrupted a fellow reporter to grill Trump on his immigration proposals.
“Trump gets spooked by what he calls the ‘liberal media,'” Campa-Najjar told the Examiner. “[His campaign] had huge reservations about it, [it] seemed like they didn’t want certain people there.”
The real estate mogul is the only candidate so far to have backed out of participating in a Q&A with USHCC. Past participants and presidential hopefuls include Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Ohio governor and GOP contender John Kasich is currently scheduled to participate on the same day that Trump had agreed upon.
Without Trump’s participation, Campa-Najjar say the billionaire’s campaign predicted USHCC “wouldn’t be able to sell tickets.” The event, however, is free and open to the public.
“We’re engage candidates that are serious about what they’re doing and have ideals and beliefs that can stand scrutiny,” Campa-Najjar said.
“[Trump] is the only person who doesn’t want to submit himself to the type of scrutiny and that shows that his views are indefensible to a Hispanic audience,” he added.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks brushed off UHSCC’s accusations, saying the Q&A conflicted with a campaign rally in Nevada on the same date. She added that the organization has used the situation to benefit itself financially.
“Mr. Palomarez continues to leverage the national media attention surrounding Mr. Trump to benefit his organization and exploit Mr. Trump to enlist additional support and increase interest and revenue in his coalition including asking Mr. Trump to join his chamber for a fee amounting between $250,000 and $2 million,” Hicks wrote in a statement to the Examiner.
She continued, “Mr. Trump remains committed to reaching out to the Hispanic Community in more genuine and productive ways as he continues to share his vision to Make America Great Again.”
