Trump makes pitch to Hispanics
Donald Trump is making his most visible play for Hispanic support yet, meeting Saturday with a group he calls the “National Hispanic Advisory Council For Trump.”
The Republican National Committee (RNC) joined the GOP presidential nominee at Trump Tower in Manhattan to meet with “business, civic, and faith-based Hispanic leaders have travelled from twelve states,” according to an RNC statement.
{mosads}RNC chairman Reince Priebus said in the statement that the convening of Latino leaders at Trump Tower “is just one component of our expansive effort to engage the Hispanic community.”
After the meeting with Trump, the Hispanic leaders “will discuss strategies for ensuring the Hispanic community understands Mr. Trump’s proposals to turn around an anemic economy, revive a shrinking middle class, and end international terrorism,” according to the RNC.
Pastor Ramiro Peña, who attended the meeting, told The Hill Trump “really has a heart for Hispanic Latino people, and that has come across today.”
Peña said Trump’s “top two recent hires were in the room as well,” but no Trump family members were present.
In a recent campaign shake-up, the campaign brought on former Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon as chief executive and pollster Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager. Former campaign manager Paul Manafort resigned Friday.
Former Puerto Rico Attorney General José Fuentes, also a member of the NHAC, said attendants at the Trump Tower boardroom discussed a variety of issues, including immigration.
On the issue of treatment of 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country, Trump said “everything has to be within the law, and within a degree of fairness,” according to Fuentes.
Peña, who believes that mass deportations are “both illogical and impractical,” said he felt “very listened to” and that his perception was that Trump was “very authentic in caring about families and not tearing families apart.”
Fuentes said the issue of a border wall with Mexico didn’t come up, “and it didn’t come up because it’s not an issue. A country that doesn’t control its borders doesn’t have sovereignty.”
Both Fuentes and Peña said details of Trump’s plan to deal with illegal immigration were not discussed.
“The details will have to come from the campaign, they’re working on them,” said Peña.
Trump is lagging badly behind Hillary Clinton with minority voters, particularly among the key groups of African-Americans — where some polls have Trump hovering around 1 percent support — and Latinos.
But in recent days Trump has been making a blunt appeal for black voters, telling them they’ve been taken for granted by Democrats and have nothing to lose by voting in a Trump administration.
Saturday’s meeting is Trump’s most serious attempt to make a similar pitch to Hispanics, a crucial and growing voting bloc that could help decide majorities in battleground states like Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona.
After alienating many Mexicans at the outset of his campaign by saying that their country was sending rapists and drug dealers across the U.S.-Mexico border; Trump also received criticism for tweeting a photo of a Taco Bowl with the caption, “I love Hispanics!”
The group of Hispanic leaders included several pastors and state representatives, according to the RNC.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
