From the August 23 edition of CNN's New Day:
Even This Latino Trump Supporter Admits That Trump's Latino Outreach Is Doomed
Alfonso Aguilar: Trump Is “Not Going To Win The Latino Vote” And “Hasn't Done Anything To Engage Latinos”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
CHRIS CUOMO (CO-HOST): The law right now is you do deport, obviously, anybody who is involved in criminal activity in this country. That is supposed to happen. The Obama administration gets a lot of criticism for deporting more people than had been done in the past for that reason and others. I guess the political question comes down to, is there an opportunity for Donald Trump to change on an issue where he's been so definite for so long, whether it's that, “Look, we've got to change the vetting for Muslims coming into this country, we have to own the idea that a lot of these Mexicans coming across the border are the worst that Mexico has to offer” and a lot of other ugly comments along those lines. Do you think Latinos would be open to a shift from Trump?
ALFONSO AGUILAR: Yeah. Look, I've been very critical of Mr. Trump's comments throughout the primary. I certainly feel that they've antagonized and insulted many Latinos. But like many, we feel that the alternative is terrible, Hillary Clinton, that her policies are so dangerous in terms of the economy, how to deal with terrorism, with the threat of terrorism, judicial appointments, especially Supreme Court, that we're open to consider Trump. I think that he's not going to win the Latino vote. He only needs to become more competitive with Latino voters in battleground states that he needs to win to win the White House, states like Florida, Nevada, Colorado and North Carolina. And by being slightly more constructive on this issue, by talking about a way to bring people out of the shadows, that may be enough to become more competitive with Latino voters. It may be that he doesn't have to get to the 40 percent that a traditional Republican candidate would have to get, 40 percent of the Latino vote. He can do, he can get to 30 or 32 percent and that may be enough, because remember that he's bringing in other voters that haven't participated in the political process before. But I think there's a recognition into the campaign that they need to at least do a little bit better with Latino voters. Remember, the last Fox poll shows him at 20 percent. I mean that's pretty low. But he hasn't done anything to engage Latinos. His numbers can only improve. So if he gets to 30, 31 percent, that may be enough for him to win those states.
CUOMO: Will be very interesting to watch, Alfonso Aguilar, especially because this path of potential citizenship, he's been very definite on that, there will be none of that. So we'll see if he shifts.
Previously:
Jorge Ramos Forces RNC Hispanic Outreach Director To Respond To Her Own Past Criticism Of Trump
Bannon Hire Is The Nail In The Coffin Of RNC Latino Outreach Effort