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
-
Employees are moving out rather than up with career minimalismThe explainer From career ladder to lily pad
-
‘It is their greed and the pollution from their products that hurt consumers’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Jane Austen lives on at these timeless hotelsThe Week Recommends Here’s where to celebrate the writing legend’s 250th birthday
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
-
Hegseth blames ‘fog of war’ for potential war crimespeed read ‘I did not personally see survivors,’ Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting
-
Canada joins EU’s $170B SAFE defense fundspeed read This makes it the first non-European Union country in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative
-
Appeals court disqualifies US Attorney Alina HabbaSpeed Read The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump has been unlawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey, the ruling says
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crimeSpeed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime