Latinos Voters Say Trump Is Tarnishing the GOP Brand

By Kenrya Rankin Aug 04, 2015

He may be leading the race among his Republican peers, but Latinos say Donald Trump is poisoning the GOP brand when it comes to earning their votes.

Monday’s Telemundo, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal poll found that 69 percent of Latino adults surveyed said that his comments on the presidential campaign trial are hurting the GOP brand in their eyes. Just 12 percent said that his comments are helpful to the party. A full 75 percent of those polled view Trump negatively.

Those numbers are probably not surprising in a time where Trump called Mexican immigrants “rapists” who bring drugs and crime to the United States during his speech when he announced his candidacy for president—a move that got him fired from his NBC show, “The Apprentice.” When those polled were asked about those comments, 55 percent said his remarks were “insulting and racist and have no place in a campaign for president.” Twenty-nine percent said, “Trump should have been more careful with the language he used, but he is raising an important issue,” and 14 percent said, “Trump had the guts to say exactly what was on his mind about an important problem we need to deal with.”

Despite the blowback, Trump claims that Latinos voters love him, telling NBC News, “If I get the nomination, I’ll win the Latino vote. I will win it. Because I’m going to create jobs. I will create jobs and the Latinos will have jobs that they don’t have right now. And I will win that vote.”