Following inflammatory statements about Mexican immigrants and policy proposals targeting undocumented immigrants from Latin America, Donald Trump on Tuesday sat down for a meeting with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s CEO, Javier Palomarez.
Palomarez told CNN on Tuesday that he was “encouraged” by his meeting with Trump. According to Palomarez, Trump joked that he didn’t need the Hispanic vote, but then indicated that he’s looking for support from that community.
“I want it. I feel like I’ve been mischaracterized and treated unfairly and my name has been slandered to some extent with this audience,” Trump said, according to Palomarez.
Palomarez later joined MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes,” where he said he was “very surprised” by his meeting with Trump, describing the real estate mogul as “hospitable.”
“The Donald Trump that I met today and that I sat with today was very different from the Donald Trump that I saw in the media,” he said on MSNBC. “He was a gentleman. He listened much more than he spoke. He asked questions.”
Palomarez added that he still disagrees with Trump on many issues and said the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce would continue to boycott Trump’s properties. But he said that Trump may have discovered that he needs support from the Hispanic community and noted that Trump’s team had been asking for the meeting with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for weeks.
“I feel that the man I spoke to today has come to the realization — certainly his team has — that he’s not going to see the White House without getting at least 50 percent of the Hispanic vote,” he said on MSNBC.
Watch Hayes’ interview with Palomarez via MSNBC:
