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.
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
-
France targets Shein over weapons, sex dollsSpeed Read Shein was given 48 hours to scrub the items from their website
-
Trump tariffs face stiff scrutiny at Supreme CourtSpeed Read Even some of the Court’s conservative justices appeared skeptical
-
FAA to cut air travel as record shutdown rolls onSpeed Read Up to 40 airports will be affected
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters