Trump is ignoring Hispanic voters to a historic degree

With the presidential election less than two months away, Donald Trump is "on the precipice of becoming the only major-party presidential candidate this century not to reach out to millions of American voters whose dominant, first, or just preferred language is Spanish," Politico reported Friday.
Although Latinos account for 10 percent of the voting population, the Republican presidential nominee hasn't offered up a single Spanish-language ad. While a combined total of $23 million was spent on Spanish-language ads in 2012, Trump has yet to spend a dime. And, in what Politico noted is a break with "two decades of bipartisan tradition," Trump's website doesn't offer the option of a Spanish translation.
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has been airing "thousands of dollars" worth of Spanish-language ads in Nevada and Florida. Her running mate, Tim Kaine, is fluent in Spanish, and her website has a Spanish translation option.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Essentially, former Trump Hispanic advisory council member Alfonso Aguilar said, Trump is "leaving a vacuum for the opposition to define." And even if Trump did decide on a last-minute deluge of Spanish-language ads, Politico's interviews with Latino voters indicate it would be too little, too late. "He's not willing to give into anything that shows that he wants to cater to us," said Juan Hernandez, a Hispanic Republican and former President George W. Bush adviser. "And he believes that he doesn't have to. He believes he can still squeeze out a few more white, over 50 [year-old] votes."
Head to Politico for more on the story, including Trump's odds of winning without the Latino vote.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
'We cannot rely on starving individuals to control their own refeeding'
instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Man charged for hoagie attack as DC fights takeover
Speed Read The Trump administration filed felony charges against a man who threw a Subway sandwich at a federal agent
-
Man charged for hoagie attack as DC fights takeover
Speed Read The Trump administration filed felony charges against a man who threw a Subway sandwich at a federal agent
-
Trump BLS nominee floats ending key jobs report
Speed Read On Fox News, E.J. Antoni suggested scrapping the closely watched monthly jobs report
-
Trump picks conservative BLS critic to lead BLS
speed read He has nominated the Heritage Foundation's E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
-
Trump takes over DC police, deploys National Guard
Speed Read The president blames the takeover on rising crime, though official figures contradict this concern
-
Trump sends FBI to patrol DC, despite falling crime
Speed Read Washington, D.C., 'has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,' Trump said
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monuments
Speed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seat
speed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring push
Speed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent