Fox News CEO Roger Ailes became the latest right-wing heavyweight to comment on the Republican Party’s problems with the Latino electorate and the issue of illegal immigration, telling the New Republic in an interview published Monday that the GOP should amend its language and embrace a path to citizenship.
In the interview, Ailes also described how the conservative cable news network he’s run since its inception in 1996 can help articulate a new message on immigration for Republicans.
Ailes knows Fox needs a new message on immigration, even as Fox News Latino draws attention to other issues. “Republicans haven’t used the right language,” Ailes says. “They keep talking about illegal immigration.”
“I think the word ‘illegal immigration’ is a false name,” he continues. “You are talking about two separate issues. One is sovereignty. . . . The media trying to make America feel guilty because we want borders—that, to me, is complete bullshit. Immigration is a separate issue. . . . We should all defend sovereignty, then take a Judeo-Christian approach to immigration. I don’t have any problem with a path to citizenship.
