Donald Trump to participate in Q&A with Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has drawn criticism from the Hispanic community and beyond with his rhetoric on immigration, but he'll have an opportunity to clear the air during a question-and-answer session next month before the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Trump's appearance, scheduled for October 8, was confirmed after the GOP candidate met privately Tuesday with Hispanic Chamber CEO Javier Palomarez, a meeting first reported by CNN.
A source in the room told CBS News the meeting was requested by Trump's camp after the Chamber extended a Q&A invitation to Trump (as it has to every 2016 candidate.)
Despite his public war of words, the source said, "a very different Trump" showed up at Tuesday's meeting. The GOP candidate was gracious, very hospitable, warm and kind, and he didn't speak out of turn.
"It's kind of interesting, the dichotomy between the private Donald Trump and the public Donald Trump. He listened a lot more than he spoke," Palomarez told CNN after the meeting. "He never once interrupted me."
During his two and a half months as a presidential candidate, Trump hasn't shied away from bombast on the subject of immigration, from his description of Mexican immigrants as criminals and "rapists" during his kickoff speech to his recent public spat with popular Univision journalist Jorge Ramos.
It's an approach that has earned him plaudits with the conservative base and helped him climb to the top of GOP primary polls, but it's also drawn repeated denunciations from Latinos, Democrats, immigration advocates, and even some of his fellow GOP candidates.
The Hispanic Chamber and Trump did not dwell too long on policy specifics during Tuesday's meeting, but the group did press Trump on his call for the deportation of undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S., and his suggestion that Mexico should pay for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
CBS News' Sopan Deb contributed to this report.