Donald Trump Receives Flak From Ricky Martin Over Mexican Immigrants Comments

Pop star Ricky Martin slammed Donald Trump on Twitter Thursday after the Republican presidential candidate landed himself in controversy over comments about Mexican immigrants last week. Martin’s tweet comes a day after Colombian reggaeton singer J Balvin canceled his Miss USA performance upon hearing the comments from Trump, who holds a stake in the Miss Universe Organization.

The 43-year-old singer tweeted in Spanish, which translates to: "There’s much hatred and ignorance in your heart @realDonaldTrump #LatinosUnidos."

On June 16, during his presidential campaign announcement speech, Trump said that Mexican immigrants are "bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people."

“They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically. The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems," the 69-year-old real estate tycoon reportedly said.

Martin and Balvin are not the only people who are upset with Trump’s comments. Largest Spanish-language broadcaster Univision said Thursday that it will call off the July 12 telecast of Miss USA.

However, Trump and his daughter Ivanka are blaming the media for taking the comments out of context. “He was talking about illegal immigration, and a porous border between the U.S. and Mexico; he wasn't talking about the Mexican people," Ivanka said, CNN reported Thursday. "He was talking about people coming across the border illegally and so it was very sad for me to see that that message was totally taken out of context and the mainstream media really ran with it."

Trump issued a statement Wednesday clarifying his remarks about Mexicans. "I am personally offended by the mainstream media's attempt to distort my comments regarding Mexico and its great people," he said, according to CNN.

"I have many successful business relationships with Mexican companies and employ, and am close friends with, many Mexican people. I also have tremendous respect for the leaders of Mexico, who, frankly, are much smarter and tougher than our politicians here in the United States," he added.