COLUMBUS – Campaigning in southwestern Ohio Thursday, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump vowed to promote American values in the nation’s schools and hold the line on illegal immigration.
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Addressing the American Legion national convention in Cincinnati, Trump said that, if he’s elected president, he wants to work with the group on “promoting American pride and patriotism in America’s schools” to ensure that the children learn about America’s common values.
He says, “we will stop apologizing for America. And we will start celebrating America.”
Trump is also vowing to invest more money in the military to make sure soldiers have the best equipment and medical care by appointing a new head of the Veterans Administration to focus on veterans’ treatment, not “bureaucrats.”
“We’ll ensure that every veteran in America gets timely access to top-quality care,” he said. “I will never let you down.”
Later, at a rally in Wilmington (above), he repeated his hard-line stance on immigration.
“We will treat everyone with dignity, respect and compassion, but our greatest compassion will be for the American citizen,” he said, echoing a theme from a speech in Phoenix Wednesday, where he called for those entering the U.S. to be limited to those who share the nation’s values and “love our people.”
Trump says “a lot of people didn’t quite understand” part of that speech because of the enthusiastic crowd.
Trump‘s comments caused a major rift with Hispanic supporters.
During a Fox News Channel interview on Thursday, he was asked what he would do with the millions of people living in the U.S. illegally who haven’t committed other crimes. He said he’ll decide after he strengthens the border and gets rid of all the “bad players,” like gang members and drug dealers.
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden, campaigning on behalf of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in Parma, said Trump can’t be trusted to control the nation’s nuclear arsenal and that, when it comes to the needs of the middle- and working-class voter “he doesn’t get it.”.
Clinton and running mate Tim Kaine are scheduled to be in Cleveland on Monday for the 11th Congressional District Labor Day picnic and parade.