Why is Donald Trump so popular with Latino voters?

By Jacob Paul (with Lewis Goodall)

Lewis Goodall investigates why some Latino and Hispanic voters prefer Donald Trump over Kamala Harris in Dade County, Miami.

Read time: 3 minutes

In brief…

• Lewis Goodall reports on the ground in Dade County, Miami, to find out why Latino and Hispanic voters there prefer Donald Trump.
• Republican Senator Rick Scott says Trump’s anti-communist attacks on Harris are resonating – not just in Miami, but across America.
• Many of these Trump-supporting Latinos and Hispanics do not acknowledge the former president’s anti-Hispanic comments and have been radicalised, Lewis says.

What’s the story?

You may never have heard of it, but If you drive 40 minutes from downtown Miami into the heart of Florida, you could stumble across a place called Dade County.

Historically voting Democrat in presidential elections, in recent years, it has shifted increasingly towards Republicans.

That may be because of its majority Latino/Hispanic population.

In many ways, the Florida county is a microcosm reflecting a broader, nationwide trend - the Hispanic community’s preference of Donald Trump over Kamala Harris.

Around 12% of eligible voters across America are hispanic.

So what is it about the Republican nominee that strikes a chord with these voters in particular?

And why are so many of them dissatisfied with Kamala Harris?

Lewis Goodall is on the ground in Dade County to investigate.

Why are Republicans doing better with Hispanic and Latino voters?

Rick Scott is a Republican Senator going for re-election on 5 November. He also chairs the Miami Dade Republican Party.

He tells Lewis that in Miami, much of the Hispanic population have migrated from countries including Cuba, Nicaragua, Colombia and Venezuela.

Scott says: “You have people that have fled socialist and communist countries and oppressive regimes.”

Scott claims that when voters in Dade County hear candidates mention specific policies, such as taxing unrealised capital gains in savings accounts, this is exactly the sort of rhetoric they were used to in the countries from which they fled.

“I'm hearing that that's starting to kind of gain a little traction. Here they are rejecting it”, he says.

So Trump calling Harris communist could be paying off as an attack strategy, Scott argues.

Lewis Goodall vs. Donald Trump: 'Why shouldn't we listen to fascism claims, sir?'

Will Trump’s rhetoric about Hispanics have an impact?

Trump's popularity with hispanic voters might seem odd when you think back to his past rhetoric.

From saying he would build a wall to keep Mexicans out to calling them drug dealers, criminals and racists, one might expect a voter of this heritage to be put off.

But Scott says the difference is, Trump is calling for a clamp down on illegal immigration in particular and is in fact a proponent for migration via the legal route.

“The majority of Miami Dade residents, Democrats, independents and Republicans are also for legal immigration,” he says.

“Most of the people that live in Miami, Dade County, have come over here legally throughout decades.”

“This open door policy where we're not sure who gets in and then you get vetted three, four, five years down the line… that's something that doesn't resonate with Miami Dade County voters.”

What do Hispanic voters think of Harris?

“I don’t like her, because she's the same. Trump represents change,” one Latino voter in Dade County tells Lewis.

“Harris represents keeping the last four years of Biden,” he adds.

Harris replacing Biden as the Democratic candidate in the summer may have reinvigorated the Democrat campaign and injected it with a huge surge of momentum, but it is worth remembering that Biden was struggling in the polls in the early stages.

Lewis asks another Hispanic voter what she thinks would happen if Harris won the election.

“I don't even want to even think about that. We will be all the way to the left and we will have our taxes used to build transgender jails,” she says.

Alina Garcia is a Republican Florida State Representative and her campaign leaflets have warned Kamala Harris and the Democrats represent socialism and communism.

She tells Lewis: “Harris represents communism. I know that. Not all Democrats are communists, but all the communists are in the Democrat Party, and they've taken over. It's very sad

“We know about communism very well because of Cuba, and we know because of Nicaragua and Venezuela.”

What’s The News Agents take?

Lewis says it is clear to see the effects of radicalisation have taken a hold with many of these Trump-supporting Latinos.

Although some of what Trump has said might put off some Hispanic or some Latino voters, Lewis can “guarantee you that the ones that we were speaking to there, and even people who aren't that far away from them down the rabbit hole.”

“Things that Trump had said in the past… does not compute. Computer error message comes up.

“They can say whatever they want, and you end up in a situation which encapsulates so much of America right now.”

And that is, the clear partisan divide with two opposing sides screaming at each other, Lewis says.

“To some extent, that maybe started in Florida, and it's spread everywhere else as well.”

Listen in full on The News Agents

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