President Donald Trump made a "terrible mistake" with his zero-tolerance policy that resulted in families being separated at the nation's southern border, Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera said Friday.
"We have talked about it before," Rivera told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"I said in no uncertain terms that it was a club-footed effort by the president, who is a dear friend of mine and I wish him the best, but he made a terrible mistake in terms of family separation."
He noted that on one hand, Trump has his "angel" families, who have lost people to immigrant crime, which is enough to "gin up the Republican base," particularly those who have a deep-seated fear of unregulated immigrants from South America and Africa changing the United States.
"It is unfortunate," said Rivera. "We need to lower the tone, but I see other sight between now and the midterm election. Democrats have chosen a more liberal approach; the Republicans have chosen a law and order approach."
Rivera said he expects immigration to be a big theme through the midterms and into the 2020 general election.
"There are two aspects, the political aspect and the reality," he said, as Trump is emphasizing MS-13 "and other gangbangers and drug cartels and transnational organizations," which is "potent politics."
"I spent a lot of time on the border, and the reality is a lot more benign than that, but that does not matter," said Rivera.
"We are not talking necessarily about immigration. It is down in the last month. What we are talking about is almost this this visceral organic fear many people have that immigrants especially those who come without documentation or legality or wrecking America are a drain on our resources, public schools and so forth."
Rivera also talked about Trump's upcoming announcement about his pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Andrew Kennedy.
"The president has a way of building suspense," he said. "Neil Gorsuch was an unexpected dig but I remember Democrats kicking the same thing, he is not that bad."
Kennedy has been a swing vote on the court, voting often with liberals, Rivera continued. He also said he believes abortion will play a key role into whomever Trump picks.
"Ninety percent of the candidates chosen by the president will be someone he expects will reverse or diminish abortion," said Rivera.
"In that mix, Amy Barrett seems to be on appellate court judge. All of them are well-regarded but she seems the one social conservatives seem most comfortable with on this issue. "
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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