Donald Trump, who has built his presidential campaign on the idea that immigrants are “destroying” the United States and pushing for mass deportations, on Tuesday received a frank response from undecided Hispanic voters. faced tough questions.
At the town hall, hosted by Univision, the nation’s largest Spanish-language network, dozens of Latino voters from across the country questioned the former president not only on immigration, but also on the economy, abortion and other important issues.
Republican presidential candidates have increasingly tried to curry favor with Latino voters, but they have struggled to answer specific questions about their policies, even as they have doubled down on misinformation about immigration.
Polls show Trump is making inroads with Hispanic voters, who, like several other demographic groups, support the former president on economic issues. . Latino voters are an increasingly important voting bloc in several battleground states. Speaking before 100 voters at City Hall, President Trump did not mention his plans to order the largest mass deportation in U.S. history.
He also dodged or dismissed tough questions about his rhetoric and immigration policies. When a voter who said he was a registered Republican asked why Trump would repeat a debunked myth in Springfield, Ohio, that Haitian immigrants eat pets, Trump said: doubled back.
“I was just saying what was reported,” Trump said, adding that the migrants were “eating other things they shouldn’t have.”
Guadalupe Ramirez, whose parents are immigrants from Mexico, asked Trump for details on his proposal and why he urged lawmakers to vote against the bipartisan immigration reform bill. Trump did not provide details, but instead criticized Democratic leaders, including the governor of Illinois, claiming that immigrants are increasing crime and boasting that he has the “strongest border” .
California farm worker Jorge Velasquez openly asks who will do the back-breaking labor of picking America’s fruit if President Trump deports the many undocumented workers currently doing the job. When asked, the former president balked.
He accused new immigrants of taking jobs away from Hispanics in the U.S., and, as he often does, described immigrants as “hundreds of thousands of people who are murderers, drug dealers, and terrorists.” characterized as “people.”
“We have to get great people to come to this country,” he said. “I want them to participate more than you do.” But he never directly mentioned deportation.
Kamala Harris highlighted policies to combat inflation and protect abortion rights during a town hall with Univision. She also warned that opponents are spreading misinformation and division.
“I know that the vast majority of us have far more in common than what separates us, and what pains me is, frankly, That’s the approach that Donald Trump and some others have taken, which is to suggest it’s us versus them…and have Americans point fingers at each other in derogatory language. “There is,” she said.
“I don’t think that’s healthy for our country, and I don’t admire it.”
