Trump pleads with Hispanic voters to back GOP in midterms, admits border policy can hurt Republicans chances
WASHINGTON — President Trump acknowledged Wednesday how hard it is to find the right balance on immigration — an issue important to his MAGA base but one that is turning off Hispanic voters. “Frankly, it’s the hardest job that I’ve had,” he said about his dealings with the border.“The hardest job, because they’ll say you’re too tough or you’re too soft.
Get tougher, get softer.No matter what you do.”His unexpected admission came during an event for Hispanic Heritage Month at the White House and at a time Latinos are showing their frustration with his policies, leading to fears they won’t support Republicans in November’s midterm election.Many feel the immigration crackdown has gone too far, but Trump defended his actions as a necessary reaction to the Biden presidency.Noting that the leaders of South America are “smart,” Trump said they saw an open border policy under Joe Biden and “they emptied their prisons and they emptied their mental institutions, and they got rid of their drug dealers.
They just sent them into our country.It was crazy.”Trump received a record share of the Hispanic vote when he won his second term — but recent polling shows the group is getting turned off by his immigration and economic policies.More than 65% said they are displeased with Trump’s job as president and 78% said they would prefer to see the Democratic Party in control of Congress, according to a September poll from the New York Times/Siena University.Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant who’s an expert in Latino trends, told The Post of the president’s border policy that he “dramatically overreached and he’s going to pay for it politically.”The economy, too, is a big concern, particularly gas prices.Hispanic and Latino households spend an average of 3.93% of their income on fuel compared to 2.40% for non-Hispanic white Americans, mainly due to their blue-collar jobs in construction and other industries that require a lo...