Dad didn’t mean it like that, says Trump’s son

THE SON of US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has clarified his father’s statement attacking immigrants from nations he branded terrorist, including the Philippines.

Eric Trump, executive vice president of Development and Acquisitions of Trump Organization, said his father never made any claims he was after immigrants from the Philippines.

The United States is host to more than 3 million Filipino immigrants, most of them in the professional fields.

“As the Republican nominee for president of the United States, national security and the safety of the American people are my father’s top priority. In a recent speech, my father read a list provided by the US Senate subcommittee on immigration about screening failures in recent years, which included one case of a Filipino national,” the young Trump said in a statement to the Inquirer.

The Republican nominee told a rally in Portland, Maine, on Aug. 4 that immigrants from terrorist nations should be barred entry to the United States.

He listed immigrants from Muslim majority countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Syria, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

But Eric Trump, in his statement, said: “My father’s very generic statement about this particular individual was a criticism of the failed screening methods that were put in place, not of the Philippines or its great people and it is unfortunate it was misconstrued.”  Estrella Torres