Mexican ex-president builds new career as anti-Trump commentator

“Mexico will not pay for that fucking wall,” he said in an interview on the Hispanic network Univisión. The expression has since become a popular slogan that’s been praised by hundreds of Americans.

A comedy website called Super Deluxe has now released two videos in which Fox sends the US president messages highlighting his mistakes since he took office. The jibes are half-humorous, half-serious.

The most recent one, posted on Facebook this Wednesday, had already been viewed over three million times in under a day. In his address, Fox criticizes the idea of building a border wall and underscores the negative consequences of such a move for the US.

The first Fox video appeared on Super Deluxe on May 24, and has been viewed over 11 million times on Facebook.

In this latest message, Fox asserts that unlike Trump, he personally understood the responsibility that comes with the job of president of a nation.

But the fact remains that his messages have received more praise in the US than they have in Mexico. Fox was a guest on a special episode of the Conan O’Brien Show shot in Mexico, and he has granted dozens of interviews about Trump to international media outlets, including NBC, CBS and the BBC.

But the comments posted under the Super Deluxe videos show that many viewers wonder whether Fox is the right person to be pointing out Trump’s flaws. A former businessman himself, Fox symbolized an era of change for Mexico. In the year 2000 he became the first leader of the opposition National Action Party (PAN) to win an election after more than 70 years of rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Although his administration introduced several major changes in Mexico, such as a system to access public information, Fox was also targeted for irregularities in infrastructure projects, excessive public spending, and influence peddling.

The 74-year-old politician is also notorious for his politically incorrect statements, delivered in a discriminatory tone. In a 2005 speech, he said that Mexicans in the US do the work “that even blacks don’t want to do.” And in 2006 he insulted women by asserting that “75% of Mexican homes have two-legged washing machines, not mechanical ones.”

When he took office, Fox also promised that he would solve the conflict with the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) guerrilla group “in 15 minutes.” He never delivered on that pledge.

English version by Susana Urra.