If Republicans had hoped to improve their performance in 2016 with minority voters, it’s likely they’ll be in for a reckoning Tuesday.
In the final days of his campaign, Trump has changed nothing about the way he talks about Latinos and African-American voters – core Democratic constituencies that seem to be turning out so far for Clinton in early voting.
Trump’s rally in North Carolina Saturday was filled with derogatory stereotypes of inner cities, few actual policy proposals to help communities and gruesome accounts of murders committed by undocumented immigrants.
“High crime! Bad education! No jobs,” Trump said describing the inner cities. “What the Hell do you have to lose?”
“Give us a chance we will fix it,” Trump said, noting he’d move faster than the Democrats had.
“We will fix it quickly,” Trump said.
It’s as if Trump’s only association with African Americans or Latinos is as inner city inhabitants or criminal, undocumented immigrants.
“Violent cartels have spread into all 50 states,” Trump said, forcefully adding that “They are just killing, threatening schools and destroying communities.”
As Trump delivers his final campaign rally stump speeches, early voting tabulations are beginning to show that Trump’s rhetoric and tone may have already caught up with him. In Nevada where Latino voters are expected to make a signifiant impact on the presidential contest, Democrats finished Friday with a strong early vote advantage in the state’s most populous Clark County, according to Nevada political pundit Jon Ralston. In Florida, early Latino turnout surged.
As Trump’s base chants “build that wall,” Latino voters are showing their strength at the ballot box and Trump’s final message is likely only to further embolden them.
