By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is warning Republicans that it’s a mistake to embrace Donald Trump plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Ridge, the first head of the department formed after the Sept. 11 attack, said the wall will hurt the GOP
“It’s a bad idea,” he said Wednesday on Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.” “It’s a bad idea short-term, and it’s a bad idea long-term. I just can’t believe my party has basically drawn a wall between us and our ability to attract Hispanic voters.”
He added: “This whole proposition of a wall: I say shame on us, we’ve lost our way. I prefer presidents who tear down walls, not build them.”
Most impacted will be Hispanic voters, he aid.
“There was a time when our party was very attractive to Hispanic family members, and then because of some loud and incriminating accusations towards Mexicans and Hispanics generally, we’ve kind of lost it,” he said.
“If then, on top of that, you start building a wall, you’re not going to win, nor are you going to sustain a nationwide support for the Republican Party, pure and simple. In presidential elections, you have to build by addition, not subtraction. I can’t believe it’s happening to the GOP.”
