Politics

Trump Holds Press Conference In Mexico, Hillary Hasn’t Given America One In 270 Days

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, left, and Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa, center, stand on a deck overlooking a stream at the Wakefield Mill Inn in after their North American Foreign Ministers Meeting in Wakefield, Quebec, Canada, Monday, Dec. 13, 2010. (Flickr/Creative Commons/US Embassy Canada)

GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump held a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto displaying his clear policy differences on trade and immigration Wednesday – a sharp contrast to his opponent Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who has not held a presser in 270 days.

Despite Mexico’s hesitance to get behind the billionaire’s proposal to build a wall and have the country pay for it, which was reportedly not discussed between the two politicians in their private meeting ahead of the event, the presidential hopeful opened himself up to questions from members of both the Mexican and U.S. press.

The Trump campaign was, however, widely criticized by the media for failing to alert his traveling press corps of the trip, which was announced Tuesday, with their plane having been directed to Phoenix, where he was scheduled to give his immigration speech later in the day – leaving outlets to fend for themselves on covering the event.

Both candidates have been slammed for how they have dealt with the press throughout the election, with reporters slamming Trump for banning Washington Post reporters from access to the press and Clinton remaining notably absent in the midst of numerous controversies.

Clinton’s last press conference was held on Dec. 5, 2015 in Fort Dodge, Iowa, where she answered a total of eight questions on topics ranging from gun control to mental health policy.

The Republican National Committee has been issuing a daily reminder of the amount of time that has passed since she made herself available for questions from the media.

“Clinton has been plagued by scandal after scandal and has refused to have a press conference for 270 days. Or, to put it another way, Hillary hasn’t had a press conference this year. You read that correctly, she has not had a press conference in all of 2016,” the RNC said on its website. “Hillary Clinton owes explanations for why she broke ethics agreements regarding foreign donations to her family foundation, gave preferential treatment to foundation donors as secretary of state, and why we should believe that her secret server wasn’t designed to cover up the shady pay-to-play politics at her State Department.”

Follow Juliegrace Brufke on Twitter