Latina Voters Reaction to Increase in Latino Trump Supporters.
President-elect Donald Trump has had many feuds throughout his career, but one of his most notorious is the one with Latinos, especially Latino immigrants. The relationship between Trump and Latinos has been rocky, to say the least, from labeling them as rapists and murderers to allowing “comedian” Tony Hinchcliffe to make off-colored comments about Puerto Rico, calling the country a “floating island of garbage” at his rally this year. While some may view Trump’s actions towards Latinos as unforgivable, it appears that many Latinos have raised the white flag and turned their backs on the Democratic Party.
In the 2024 presidential election, the Republican Party, led by Donald J. Trump, won not only the presidential race with 312 electoral votes but also the Senate and the House. Despite a majority of Latinos still sticking with the Democratic Party, exit polls show that Latino support for Trump rose from 35% in 2020 to 42% in this latest election. Exit polls also show that 55% of Latino Trump supporters were men.
Esthela Moncada, social chair of Santa Monica College’s (SMC) Latino Center/Adelante Program, expressed her reaction to the increase in Latino men voting for Trump stating, “I’m pissed at them, it’s very disheartening because Trump doesn’t want them. So it’s just disheartening that Latino men specifically went to go vote for a man who doesn’t want them. But I am happy as a whole that more Latinos are voting because they do deserve to use their voice.”
Like Moncada, many other Latinos were taken aback by the increase and left wondering why. Many Latinos cited economic issues for their switch this election, while others cited religious beliefs and even the fact that Trump’s competitor, Kamala Harris, is a woman. Nicky Jam, a Latino rapper from Michigan, endorsed Trump, stating “The reason I had supported Donald Trump was because I thought he was the best (option) for the economy in the United States where many Latin and immigrants live, and many of them are suffering because of the economy.”
Jennifer Cachon, a sociology major at SMC, shared her belief as to why the percentage of Latino Trump support spiked this election, stating, “My guess would be the media and the propaganda. I would see a lot of Spanish news outlets claiming that Trump would help the economy, and that was something I heard a lot from Latino men, how they wanted a change in the economy, and how he was the better option.”
Despite a majority of Latinos still voting for Kamala Harris, it can’t be ignored that something about her campaign turned many of them off. Harris’s campaign suffered immensely from the fact that it only lasted 107 days because she was not the original candidate, and President Joe Biden withdrew from the race on July 21. This resulted in what many considered a rushed campaign, leading many people to wonder what policies Harris proposed.
“I wish she had more time. I think she had to resort to brain-rot campaigning and media but I do wish she had more time so that she could talk about the policies she was going to ensure during her presidency,” Moncada added.
When asked if Harris could’ve done more to secure a higher percentage of Latino voters, Mocada responded, “No. Because she's black and a woman and I think there’s a lot of racism and machismo within the Latino community.”
Stephanie Diaz-Munoz, an architecture major at SMC, shared a different perspective, stating,
“I’m Latina and I didn’t see a lot of Latina promotion from Kamala. I did read up on her policies that would help underprivileged people of color, including Latinos, which is amazing. But did I see something specifically where she was touching base with Latinos? Not that I’m aware of.” She also mentions feeling a lack of effort from the Democratic Party this year, stating “I do think that when election time rolls around they do try and include the Latina vote, but this time around there was a lack thereof.”
Many Latinos have expressed their frustrations with the Democratic Party with many feeling like they’ve been sold lies or that their presence isn’t valued by the party unless it’s beneficial. “The Democratic Party tends to promise, promise, promise, but there’s a white sheet over it. They don’t actually care about us,” Mocada said.
Moncada isn’t the only Latino with this sentiment. Many Latinos have shared their feelings of neglect by the Party after they cast their votes.When asked if she felt supported by the party, Diaz-Munoz said, “I’m Democratic all the way, mostly because the policies align with my beliefs. I think during election time, yes, there is that support, but a little bit afterward the support gets lost.”
This election, in particular, has opened the discussion about what the Democratic Party should do to gain more Latino support. When asked what advice she would give to the Democratic Party for future elections to secure more Latino voters, Cachon stated, “I would hope they could get on more Latino media outlets because I just feel like I didn’t see much about Kamala, and if anything, it was her being painted in a bad light. So, reach out and secure more interviews.”
If we’ve learned anything from this election, it’s that Latinos won’t hesitate to switch sides, regardless of a candidate's unfavorable sentiments. This means by 2028, the Democratic party will need to step up its game when it comes to reaching Latino voters because while a majority of them chose the left, it’s not guaranteed that it’ll happen again.