Donald Trump Calls 'Self-Deportation' Idea 'Maniacal'

Donald Trump (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

 

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Billionaire Donald Trump is the latest in a string of Republicans to criticize the party for failing to recognize the increasing diversity of the country.

"Republicans didn't have anything going for them with respect to Latinos and with respect to Asians," Trump told Newsmax.

He told the site that Republicans appeared hostile toward minorities this election cycle.

"The Democrats didn't have a policy for dealing with illegal immigrants, but what they did have going for them is they weren't mean-spirited about it," he said. "They didn't know what the policy was, but what they were is they were kind."

Trump also told the site that Romney's suggestion that people "self-deport" gave Hispanics the impression that Republicans do not care about them.

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Donald Trump View Full Size

Gage Skidmore/Flickr

Donald Trump

"He had a crazy policy of self-deportation, which was maniacal," Trump said. "It sounded as bad as it was, and he lost all of the Latino vote. He lost the Asian vote. He lost everybody who is inspired to come into this country."

A record number of Latinos voted in this election, making up 10 percent of the electorate, and they voted overwhelmingly for Obama. The president received about 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, while Romney garnered only about 27 percent.

Trump called on the Republican Party to "take care of this incredible [immigration] problem."

He added that there are people "wanting to be wonderful productive citizens of this country."

Trump garnered attention during the election cycle for repeatedly questioning whether Obama was born in the United States even in the face of incontrovertible evidence that he is indeed a U.S.-born citizen.

His election-night tweets calling the election a "sham and a travesty' prompted NBC news anchor Brian Williams to say that Trump had "driven well past the last exit to relevance and veered into something closer to irresponsible."