Donald Trump had only just announced his campaign for president when he delivered one of the most controversial statements of the 2016 election.
It was June 16, 2015.
Standing inside Trump Tower in New York City, Trump turned his attention to immigration and Mexico.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” Trump said.
Then came the words that would follow him out of Trump Tower and across the country:
“They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”
Trump added immediately afterward:
“And some, I assume, are good people.”
The reaction was swift.
For many Mexican Americans and other Latinos, the remarks were not heard simply as a proposal for tougher border enforcement. They were viewed as an insulting characterization of Mexican immigrants — delivered by a man who had just announced that he wanted to become president of the United States.
Outrage Spreads Through the Hispanic Community
The remarks quickly became national news, particularly across Spanish-language media.
Trump's words touched a nerve in a country where millions of Americans were Mexican American and where generations of Latino families had built businesses, served in the military, raised families and contributed to communities across the United States.
The anger wasn't confined to political organizations.
Latino entertainers, journalists, business leaders and ordinary citizens publicly condemned the comments.
Roberto Orci, CEO of a Hispanic advertising agency in Los Angeles, later recalled that people in his office were already discussing Trump's remarks by the time he arrived at work.
The reaction demonstrated how quickly Trump's presidential campaign had collided with America's Hispanic community.
Univision Takes Action
Nine days after Trump's announcement, Univision did more than criticize him.
It ended its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, which Trump partly owned, and announced that it would not broadcast the upcoming Miss USA pageant.
The Spanish-language broadcaster specifically cited Trump's remarks about Mexican immigrants.
Univision responded by emphasizing what it said it witnessed within the Mexican-American community every day: a strong work ethic, commitment to family and the significant role Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans had played in building the United States.
The decision was particularly significant because Univision wasn't simply issuing a political statement.
It was walking away from a business relationship.
Latino Performers Walk Away
Others followed.
Colombian singer J Balvin withdrew from a planned performance at the Miss USA pageant.
Puerto Rican actress Roselyn Sánchez, who had been scheduled to co-host the Spanish-language broadcast, also pulled out.
Sánchez said that although she was Puerto Rican rather than Mexican, she considered Trump's comments an insult to Latino culture.
Chilean actor Cristián de la Fuente, another scheduled co-host, withdrew as well.
The controversy was no longer limited to Washington politics.
Trump's words were producing consequences in entertainment and business.
NBC Cuts Ties
NBC initially attempted to distance itself from Trump's immigration remarks.
But pressure continued to build.
Hispanic organizations called on the network to sever its relationship with Trump, and a petition demanding action accumulated more than 200,000 signatures.
On June 29, NBCUniversal announced that it was ending its business relationship with Trump and would no longer broadcast the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants.
Less than two weeks had passed since Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower.
Macy's Follows
Then came Macy's.
The department-store chain had sold Trump-branded menswear for years.
On July 1, Macy's announced that it would discontinue its relationship with Trump, saying it was “disappointed and distressed” by his comments and declaring that the company did not tolerate discrimination.
Within roughly two weeks of announcing his presidential campaign, Trump's remarks about Mexican immigrants had contributed to broken relationships with Univision, NBC and Macy's.
Trump Refused to Back Down
Trump did not apologize.
Instead, he defended his position and argued that his critics were ignoring serious problems involving illegal immigration and border security.
He also insisted that he respected Mexico and the Mexican people.
That response would become another recognizable characteristic of Trump's political career.
When confronted with outrage over a controversial statement, Trump frequently chose confrontation rather than retreat.
In this instance, the controversy did not end his campaign.
It helped define it.
More Than a Controversial Sentence
The significance of Trump's remarks becomes clearer when viewed in retrospect.
This wasn't something Trump said after years in national politics.
It wasn't a comment made during his presidency.
It wasn't even something that happened several months into the campaign.
It happened on the first day.
Trump had barely finished introducing himself to America as a presidential candidate when Mexican immigration became one of the central issues surrounding his campaign.
For many Hispanic Americans, their introduction to candidate Donald Trump was therefore inseparable from a statement connecting Mexican immigrants with drugs, crime and rape.
For Trump's supporters, the controversy reinforced his image as a candidate willing to speak about immigration in language other politicians avoided.
Those two reactions would become part of a political divide that followed Trump throughout the 2016 campaign and beyond.
The escalator ride at Trump Tower introduced Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
His words about Mexican immigrants helped define what kind of campaign it was going to be.