Harris ramps up Latin American work amid Trump rally

Vice President Harris is stepping up his outreach to Latino voters in the final days of the election as former President Trump deals with the fallout from his Madison Square Garden rally.

Harris renewed her pitch to those voters in a Spanish-language radio interview earlier this week, and her campaign rushed to release a new ad highlighting the offensive remarks made at the rally, in which a comedian mocked Latinos and on Puerto Rico.

The furore over Trump’s rally gave Harris a new opportunity to reach out to a bloc she has struggled with somewhat over the past few months, and observers believe it could be a tipping point for more Latino voters to support her.

“Ironically, Donald Trump has done what the Harris campaign wasn’t able to do, which is to reduce his level of support with Latinos,” said Mike Madrid, a top Latino GOP political consultant. “I certainly wouldn’t mess with that if I were the Harris campaign. You want to amplify that, play into that, lean into that as a closing message, as a reminder of who he is and why he was fired in the first place and what he would mean to the community going forward.”

Madrid added that while Democrats have tried to maintain the lead they held among Latino voters, they have slowly lost support over the past 30 years, even as they tried to highlight his history of controversial comments Trump in the last election. cycles.

The comments could make a difference, especially in battleground Pennsylvania, which is home to about 500,000 Puerto Ricans. Harris met with Puerto Rican voters in West Philadelphia on Sunday before Trump’s rally.

Ironically, Madrid said that the fact that the comments did not come from Trump, but rather from one of his supporters, may have actually made the fallout worse for the former president.

“If Trump had said that, this would have been an hour-long story … because now we’re immune to it, we’re numb to it,” Madrid said. “It was the fact that so many others around him were saying that that was shocking. It’s easy to write it off as Trump being Trump when he does it, but when other people do it, our sensibilities can still be shocked and we can still feel shamed by the behavior. That’s why it was different.”

Democrats say comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s comments upset Latino voters. While acknowledging that the group is not a monolith, party strategists emphasize the shared experiences of many Latino voters as immigrants or descendants of immigrants.

“For a lot of people, I’m sure this is somewhat of a sticking point,” said Colin Rogero, a founding partner at Conexion, a Democratic consulting firm.

Rogero cited increased involvement by “non-political actors” following the comments, including Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny, who immediately signaled support for Harris following Trump’s rally.

Additionally, Puerto Rican singer and actor Jennifer Lopez is scheduled to join Harris on the campaign trail Thursday in Las Vegas.

“Things like that have some power,” Rogero said.

But Harris’ connection to the electoral bloc began long before the aftermath of Trump’s rally.

Last week, Harris announced a proposal focused on uplifting Latinos, which included eliminating unnecessary degree requirements for federal jobs, offering forgivable loans of up to $20,000 to entrepreneurs and increasing Latino home ownership.

And hours before Trump’s rally on Sunday, Harris’ campaign launched an agenda focused on Puerto Rico, which will spur economic growth, rebuild and modernize the island’s energy grid, lower housing costs and ensure equal access to federal programs that strengthen the island’s health care system.

“The Latino vote is a must-win and our campaign is being put to work every day as more and more undecided Latino voters tune in to the polls,” said Fabiola Rodriguez, deputy director of Hispanic media for the Harris campaign -Walz, for The Hill. .

“Our campaign is not only to drive home the stakes of this election for Latinos, but also to use this final period to show how Vice President Harris will solve the issues that matter most to our communities. It’s a stark contrast to Trump using this last stretch of time to insult our community, double down on lost issues and alienate the very voters needed to win this election.”

Some strategists also pointed to the contrast between Harris’ campaign and Trump’s.

Although he held a roundtable with Latino leaders in Florida earlier this month, Trump has not released any Latino-centric policies.

“When you compare the two presidential campaigns, it’s not even close, the Harris campaign has a huge infrastructure dedicated to communicating and mobilizing Latino voters, while Trump seems more focused on anti-immigrant comments to anger his right wing. .wing advocates,” said Matt A. Barreto, director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project and professor of political science and Chicano studies.

“In recent weeks, Harris has released a detailed plan for economic opportunity for Latino men and has surrogates like Sen. Alex Padilla at Latino barbershops, Congressmen Tony Cardenas and Chuy Garcia at Latino lowrider shows, and more on the campaign trail, talking directly to Latino men. Trump has virtually no organized Latino campaign operation, and public polls are beginning to show Harris strengthening the Latino vote.

While Harris has consistently led among Latino voters overall, and some polls show her with a 40-point lead among Latino women, Trump and Republicans have made inroads with parts of the bloc in recent election cycles. Additionally, polls this election cycle have shown softer support for Harris among the group, particularly among young Latinos.

A GenForward poll released last week found that 44 percent of young Latinos said they support Trump. But an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday showed Harris increasing his lead among Hispanic voters to 64 percent, up from 55 percent in early October. Trump in the previous poll came in at 43 percent, but now his support is at 34 percent among the group.

Numerous Republicans, including Latino Republicans, came out in force to condemn Hinchcliffe’s remarks. The Trump campaign said in a statement that Hinchcliffe’s comments did not reflect the views of Trump or the campaign. The former president himself distanced himself from the remarks, saying he had not heard Hinchcliffe’s remarks and did not know him.

On Tuesday, Trump campaigned in Allentown, Pennsylvania, home to the swing state’s largest Latino population. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as well as one of Puerto Rico’s shadow senators, Zoraida Buxó, delivered remarks in support of Trump.

“I will provide the best future for Puerto Ricans and Hispanic Americans,” Trump told the crowd.

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