A parade of surrogates for Donald J. Trump backed away on Sunday from a primary element of his immigration policy, further muddying an issue on which Mr. Trump himself sowed confusion in recent days.
Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, Mr. Trump’s running mate on the Republican presidential ticket, would not affirm that their administration would expel the estimated 11 million immigrants who are in the country illegally, a campaign-defining stance that helped Mr. Trump vanquish opponents in the primary race.
Asked if Mr. Trump still sought a “deportation force,” which he called for last year, Mr. Pence said Mr. Trump was speaking of “a mechanism, not a policy.”
He also backed away from Mr. Trump’s opposition to automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to illegal immigrants.
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Mr. Pence promised that Mr. Trump would lay out a detailed immigration plan in the next two weeks, though Mr. Trump has emphasized the issue for more than a year. Mr. Trump last week suggested a “softening” toward illegal immigrants, then seemed to reverse himself under fierce and immediate criticism from some conservatives.
“You see a C.E.O. at work,” Mr. Pence said. “You see someone who is engaging the American people, listening to the American people.”
Donald Trump Changes Tone on Immigration
Donald J. Trump began his presidential campaign with strong language on immigration policy, especially pertaining to Hispanics and Muslims. With less than three months until the election, his tone has softened.
By SHANE O’NEILL and ALAN RAPPEPORT on August 25, 2016.Photo by Damon Winter/The New York Times. Watch in Times Video »The efforts of Mr. Trump’s surrogates — who argued on Sunday that nothing he had said recently was inconsistent — reflected a problem for Mr. Trump as he lags Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, in many polls. He enters the campaign’s final stretch with immigration policies that are popular with his core supporters but not with voters at large.
Kellyanne Conway, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, went even further than Mr. Pence, suggesting that Mr. Trump no longer favored the forced removal of illegal immigrants. “He is not talking about a deportation force, but he is talking about being fair and humane,” Ms. Conway said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“He has said that, if you want to be here legally, you have to apply to be here legally,” she added. The statement seemed to suggest that immigrants would be able to attain legal status without leaving the country, a position that conservatives call amnesty — and that Mr. Pence said was not an option.
Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he agreed Mr. Trump had oversimplified immigration during the primary campaign. “But now he’s reflecting on it, and his position is going to be known,” he said.
Also appearing on “Meet the Press” was David Plouffe, President Obama’s former campaign manager, who called Mr. Trump mentally unhinged.
“You have a psychopath running for president,” he said. “I mean, he meets the clinical definition, O.K.?”
The host, Chuck Todd, rebuked Mr. Plouffe for making an unfair judgment. Conceding he was no psychologist, Mr. Plouffe cited Mr. Trump’s “grandiose notion of self-worth, pathological lying, lack of empathy and remorse.”
