Friday on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” host Tucker Carlson argued for President Donald Trump’s threat of imposing a 5% tariff on Mexico over its government’s unwillingness to help stem the flow of illegal immigration into the United States.

Carlson called Mexico a “hostile foreign power,” and likened that flow of immigration to an attack. He acknowledged the tariff could have an economic impact on the United States but insisted it was still a proper response.

“Not every government policy is a pure economic calculation,” Carlson said. “When the United States is attacked by a hostile foreign power, it must strike back. And make no mistake, Mexico is a hostile foreign power. For decades, Mexico has sent its poor north to our country. This has allowed that country’s criminal oligarchy to maintain power and get even richer but at great expense to us.”

“The flood of illegal workers into the United States has damaged our communities, ruined our schools, burdened our health care system and fractured our national unity,” he continued. “It has suppressed wages for our most vulnerable. It has been a slow-motion attack on this country, and its effects have been devastating. There’s not a lot of real debate about that. The numbers are clear. Honest people admit it. But our leaders are not honest. In the hours after the president’s announcement, they instinctively sided with Mexico.”

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