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Issues/News>
SL TRIB: Cannon Flip Flops On Immigration
February 22, 2008
Cannon flip-flops on immigration
By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 02/22/2008 09:04:56 PM MST
Posted: 9:04 PM-
Rep. Chris Cannon has a firm stance on immigration.
But it seems to shift depending on his audience.
Wednesday, he took a moderate stance on immigration
during a meeting with the editorial board of The Salt Lake
Tribune. He complained about uneven enforcement while
talking up the importance of undocumented workers to the
economy and the need for comprehensive reform at the
federal level.
But Thursday on a talk radio show and in a meeting with
the editorial board of the Deseret Morning News, Cannon
appeared to strike a much harder line.
He distanced himself from President Bush's immigration
reform efforts and touted his support of a border fence and
tougher enforcement.
"Did I really say that?" Cannon asked his spokesman
about his comments published in a Tribune story.
Fred Piccolo, the spokesman, confirmed he did.
Still, the six-term Republican congressman on Thursday
told conservative talk show host Bob Lonsberry "[The
Tribune] was wrong on literally every point that is
important to your listeners or to me. I think it's because
they have a tendency to hear what they want to hear instead
of what people said."
As Lonsberry pushed Cannon on the show, Cannon
acknowledged he had made every comment except one. He
disputed saying "Do we want to identify them? Then we would
paralyze business," when talking about identifying
undocumented workers. He told Lonsberry "I don't know where
this quote came from."
Piccolo, who attended the editorial board meeting,
confirmed Cannon "indeed said those things."
"For our voters it would be very important to explain
those perceived inflammatory quotes," Piccolo said. "He had
to go out and put the quotes attributed to him - that he
said - in context."
Jason Chaffetz, a Republican running against Cannon,
said he's come to expect a "flip and a flop at every turn."
Chaffetz was listening to Lonsberry's program Thursday
and contacted The Tribune about Cannon's denials.
"He can't fool the electorate anymore," Chaffetz said
in a later interview.
Piccolo defended his boss as having strong opinions on
immigration, but said it was a matter of stressing certain
things more than others.
"Even I was shaking my head," Piccolo acknowledged .
"What he should have done was put more emphasis on the
larger context."
That's what Piccolo said happened in the editorial
board meeting with the News, where Cannon's brother, Joe
Cannon, is editor.
In that meeting, the congressman stressed that states
should have a role in immigration law, but still said that
immigration reform should be tackled by Washington. He also
said he did not support President Bush's immigration reform
bill "this term."
But the congressman was one of the strongest backer's
of the President's reform proposal, which became the
central issue of his 2006 re-election campaign.
(Tip of the day: Jason's last name is pronounced "Chay-fits")
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