Donald Trump is seeing a mass exodus of prominent Latino supporters following his anti-immigrant speech in Arizona last night.
Among them are Alfonso Aguilar, President of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, who dumped the Republican Presidential nominee during a live interview on CNN this morning.
“He said he was going to treat undocumented immigrants without criminal records in a humane and compassionate way, he said he was going to soften his position,” Aguilar said. “And in that speech, he’s basically saying, we deport you or we self-deport you. It’s even worse than what he initially proposed.”
“So today I’m saying, not only am I considering withdrawing my support, I’m telling you today, I’m withdrawing my support from Donald Trump. And it’s not only me. Many like me think the same way.”
Aguilar made his move official after initially wavering last night. One Latino supporter who wasted no time was Jacob Monty, who told POLITICO that he resigned from Trump’s National Hispanic Advisory Council immediately after Trump’s speech.
“I don’t want to be a prop like the Mexican president,” Monty said according to the Washington Post. “We were out there defending him. And then to be just lied to like that — it doesn’t feel good. It’s not okay.”
Another board member, Texas Pastor Ramiro Pena, appeared to be on the brink of quitting as well.
“I am so sorry but I believe Mr. Trump lost the election tonight,” Pena said in an email to RNC leaders. “The ‘National Hispanic Advisory Council’ seems to be simply for optics and I do not have the time or energy for a scam.”
And, it looks like more board members and supporters are to follow.
“Hispanic leader who advises Trump camp telling me half of Trump’s Hispanic advisory board is ready to resign today,” CBS’s Leslie Sanchez tweeted early Thursday morning. Latino supporters are feeling “bamboozled” and “betrayed”, NBC Latino’s Suzanne Gamboa told MSNBC.
More from her new piece, “GOP Hispanics Dump Trump After Arizona Immigration Speech,” below:
Some Latinos who were backing him or hoped to couldn’t justify being in his corner after what they saw as him unleashing law enforcement on immigrants, regardless of whether they were criminals or had lived in the country for years, raised families and paid taxes.
“Awful!” said Massey Villarreal, a Houston businessman who had opposed Trump, then supported him and was done with him after Wednesday’s speech. “As a compassionate conservative, I am disappointed with the immigration speech.”
“I am no longer supporting Trump for President.”
