Last week, Donald Trump met with congressional Republicans, including Representative Crescent Hardy (R-NV). According to the Wall Street Journal, Rep. Hardy was supposedly “satisfied” with Donald Trump’s answers about how Trump’s candidacy and views would register in Rep. Hardy’s NV-04 congressional district, where nearly 30% of the population is Hispanic, and in Nevada as a whole.
In contrast to Rep. Hardy, Nevada’s Latino voters are rejecting the Trump vision for the country – and won’t look kindly on Rep. Hardy’s acceptance of Trump’s explanations.
Viridiana Vidal, Director of Nevada’s Voice, said “While Rep. Hardy may be ‘satisfied’ with Donald Trump, Nevada Latino voters fundamentally reject Trump’s disturbing vision for Nevada and America, and they will reject Trump supporter Rep. Hardy as well. From a Deportation Force to rounding up every undocumented family in America within two years to the false accusation that all Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals, Trump’s views and comments are ensuring that Latino voters are engaged to vote against him in November. By refusing to stand up to Trump or stick up for his Latino constituents, Rep. Hardy is clearly not the right person to represent this district.”
Recent polling of Nevada voters from Latino Decisions and commissioned by America’s Voice found that 87% of Nevada Latino voters have either a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump (81% “very unfavorable”), as compared to just 11% of who view him as “very” or “somewhat” favorable – meaning that his net favorability is underwater by 76 percentage points. Trump was losing in a head-to-head matchup against Hillary Clinton by a 76% – 13% margin.
Additionally, Trump’s views on immigration are taking a toll on the larger GOP brand – 80% of Nevada Latino respondents say that Trump’s views on immigrants and immigration make them “less likely” to vote Republican this November. More than 3-of-4 Nevada Latino voters say the Republican Party “doesn’t care too much about Latinos” (47%) or that the GOP is “sometimes hostile towards Latinos” (31%), while just 14% say the Republican Party “truly cares about the Latino community.”
