Trump Will Win Hispanic Vote: Bernie Moreno

President Donald Trump arrives for a roundtable rally with Latino supporters at the Arizona Grand Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Ariz., on Sept. 14, 2020. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno expects former President Donald Trump to garner majority support from Hispanics for the 2024 elections, alleging the community was “sick and tired” of Biden administration policies, especially those concerning illegal immigration.

A recent poll by The New York Times and Siena College showed President Trump having a lead over President Biden among Hispanic voters. While the 45th president received 46 percent support, the incumbent received 40 percent. Latino voters are estimated to account for around 15 percent of the electorate.

“I think that poll is exactly right,” Mr. Moreno said in a March 24 interview with Fox. “I think President Trump will win the Hispanic vote. As you know, I came here—from Columbia, South America, where I was born—legally. To watch Biden and Brown (Sen. Sherrod Brown) reward people who break our laws that come into this country is infuriating,“ the Republican said.

Mr. Moreno said that “crime and chaos caused by illegal immigration“ predominantly affects Hispanic communities. “And they’re sick and tired of being abused and watching Biden cause the largest deaths of Hispanics. The reality is you have migrants that are crossing into Mexico into the U.S. that are being raped and killed. And all of that is a result of Biden’s policies. Hispanics see it for what it is. And I think that’s going to permanently put the Republican Party solidly in place because the Hispanics are going to abandon Democrats,” he continued.

The Trump-backed candidate recently emerged as the winner in the recently concluded Ohio Republican Senate primary race. He will now face Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) in the November elections.

Following the win, Mr. Moreno praised the former president and said that the country had secure borders, low interest rates, law and order, low inflation, and a thriving economy under the Trump administration.

Mr. Moreno’s comments on Latino support for President Trump come as the Biden campaign announced a “Latinos with Biden–Harris” initiative to attract votes from the community. In swing states, the campaign is rolling out new ads targeting Latinos.

President Biden gave interviews on Spanish-language networks, promoting his pro-immigration stance. “We are a nation of immigrants. That’s who we are, from my Irish ancestors to your Hispanic ancestors,” he told Nueva Network.

“What we might want to do is allow them to continue to come into the country in an orderly way ... And what Republicans are trying to do is block all that.”

Despite the Biden campaign’s push, polls suggest that the Latino community does not view illegal immigration positively, which could negatively affect the chances of the Democrat candidate in the 2024 presidential race.

According to a Pew survey published earlier this month, “a majority of U.S. Hispanics (75 percent) describe the recent increase in the number of migrants seeking to enter the United States at its border with Mexico as a major problem or a crisis.”

In addition, “a majority (74 percent) are also critical of the way the U.S. government is handling the situation at the southern border.”

Hispanic Votes in Election

In a recent interview with Breitbart, President Trump said that Republicans were seeing poll numbers “we’ve never seen” before with women, Hispanic, and black voters. He explained that “safety and security, more than anything else” were driving this voter shift in favor of the GOP.

“They don’t feel safe with this lunatic,” President Trump said, referring to President Biden. “He’s a terrible president. He’s the worst president in history. He’s the most incompetent and most corrupt president we’ve ever had. He’s willing to weaponize the Justice Department to go after his opponent,” President Trump continued.

“Nobody ever thought that was ever going to be happening in our country. It happens in a lot of countries in the third world, banana republics. But nobody ever thought they’d see that. But above all, I believe they want security. They don’t want people knocking on their door, saying, ‘We’re taking over your house.’ That’s really where we’re heading. We’re heading to a nation like we’ve never seen before.”

A Gallup survey last month showed that Democrat advantage among black and Hispanic adults was at “record lows.”

Democrats were found to have a 12-point advantage over Republicans among Hispanics in 2023, which is a new low since 2011. In 2020 when President Biden won the presidential race, Democrats had a 28-point lead.

Hispanic leaders have warned Democrats that the votes of their community may not swing easily towards the party this election.

“It’s a matador red flag flying out there, the Hispanic vote is totally up for grabs,” Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, told news platform Semafor in January. “[Trump’s] cutting the margins. And in battleground states like Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, that can be a big difference.”

The Biden campaign is “lacking a core message and right now Latino voters are really concerned about economics, inflation has eaten away at their paycheck, the cost of rent ... trying to buy a house seems to be more elusive than ever.”

Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Business Council, criticized the Democrats’ “Bidenomics” push, pointing out that such a narrative runs counter to people’s experiences on the ground.

“The narrative they’re building is one that is a bit tone-deaf to what’s actually happening in the Hispanic community,” he said.