Cost Of Living, Personal Values Led Latino Voters To Trump
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Hi, this is Andrew in the Arabian Gulf. I'm currently deployed with the Royal Navy, ensuring freedom of navigation is maintained throughout the region.

This podcast was recorded at 12.37pm on Tuesday, November 12th, 2024. Things may have changed by the time you hear this, but I will probably still be on the high seas, watching sunsets and longing for fresh vegetables. Okay, here's the show.

That would break me. That was a pretty iconic timestamp. Yeah, that sounds pretty good. But we wish you vegetables in your future. Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Deepa Shivaram. I cover the White House. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover voting. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics. And today on the pod, we're talking about Latino voters who went for Trump.

Trump won 46% of Latinos this year, the highest ever for a Republican. And Sarah, let's bring you in first because you reported out a story this week about this group and why they backed the former president. Where did you go for this story and who did you end up talking to? Well, I wanted to hear from conservative Latinos, people who were likely to have supported Trump and really sort of hear what's on their minds. And so I went to a church in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It's called First Bilingual Christian Church and

The pastor there said people come from 14 different countries, some mix of, you know, Puerto Ricans, of course, are U.S. citizens, and lots of naturalized citizens, and other people who are still in the process of hopefully becoming citizens. And so this was a church, you know, with a really wide range of experiences and backgrounds, but a very politically and theologically conservative, you know, evangelical Latino church, where just about everybody I talked to had supported Trump. And, you know, I heard two

major things. One was what you might expect, the economy. This was, you know, an issue we heard from so many voters all over the country covering this campaign. And

But as you might imagine, in a conservative evangelical church, a lot of people also talked about social and cultural issues like abortion, like transgender issues. And they said they felt like Donald Trump, whether he himself was a Christian or not, at least respected and understood their concerns more than the Democrats. So it's interesting. It's like some of it is policy-ish, right? Like how they're feeling about the economy, but then also just like

It sounds like they weren't particularly concerned whether or not Trump was religious himself, but it was just a reflection of they felt like they were being seen a little more than Democrats maybe.

Yeah, you know, one of the people I met was a man in his mid-30s named Raul de la Cruz. He is originally from the Dominican Republic, came here as a small child, naturalized as a citizen as a young man. And he told me something that I hear from a lot of evangelicals, usually white evangelicals who I tend to cover a lot, which is this idea that, you know, whatever Trump's personal character, he wasn't voting for that reason. I am not voting for...

for a pastor. I'm not voting for a leader at a church. I'm voting for a man that respects Christian values and values

His understanding of how America should be according to the Constitution is based on Christian values. You know, I think this is really interesting. Like, obviously, evangelicals are always going to be probably the most stalwart constituency for the Republican Party. And this shows that, like, it cuts across even like sort of ethnic and racial lines, because I also talk to a lot of Latinos, obviously, in red states like Florida, New York.

in Texas, but also in, you know, more purple states like Pennsylvania. And, you know, Trump's character did matter. I talked to one man in Philly. He has like he owns a grocery store. His name is Edward Bonilla and he is Dominican. And he said that actually what, you know, Trump said about Haitian immigrants really bothered him because, you know, that he's from the Dominican Republic and that, you know, they're from the same island. So he took that pretty personally. But, you know, by and large, he was on the fence about either

not voting at all or voting for Trump because the economy was so important. And so I think it's interesting, like,

you know, for the most part, a lot of Latinos I talked to, like the economy was their number one issue. And just depending like how entrenched you are in sort of conservative politics is like whether or not you turned out, which I think kind of bears out in the sort of exit polls we've seen. Of course, like demographic data, like this is going to get mentioned a lot, like that's going to become clearer in the months to come. But I'm really curious to see like in the few little places where like maybe Trump's character did sort of sway some of these,

like Latino and sort of like less consistent voters or new voters. You know, I'm going to be curious to see what happened. I'm curious from both of you. I mean, we mentioned at the top that this was, you know, the largest share of Latino voters that Republicans have ever won before. And you both have covered elections in the past.

Trend-wise, like what are you seeing that's maybe changed from four years ago, eight years ago, if anything? The shift toward the Republican Party that we saw was more pronounced, I think, than anybody anticipated. I mean, if you look back at 2020 data, this shift was starting to emerge, right? But we're talking double-digit growth. Right.

which I think was not expected. It's not just because, you know, I think like if you look at some down ballot races, especially in states where there are a lot of Latino voters, Democrats are holding on a little bit. We'll see if Latinos are in the mix for that. But from what I heard from a lot of Latino voters, like writ large, like across the board from every sort of geographic background, for maybe the exception of Puerto Ricans, is that their lack of trust in Democrats to solve their sort of material needs. And I mean, I...

Like, there's going to be a lot of talk about, like, how the Democrats sort of, like, missed how much voters were, like, screaming at both parties to, like, solve inflation and economic, you know, pressures that they were feeling. But when you're a Latino immigrant, especially in a Latino immigrant community, like, you have to remember, like, these are folks who...

who left their countries, their families, the nation that speaks their language to come to a place in search of economic prosperity. Like that is the promise of this country. And there is like nothing more frustrating to a group of people than to have made all these sacrifices and to show up somewhere and feel like this one thing that you were promised seems so far out of reach. So I think like across the board, like I think that is really what caused this sort of like

humongous shift away from Democrats and to a

And to, you know, a party that was promising, you know, big changes to the economy. I mean, whether that all bears out is an open question. But Donald Trump was at least taking these concerns like at least very seriously. On that note, one of the pastors of the church who I spoke with before the service, you know, I asked about that joke at the Madison Square Garden rally not too long before the election where the comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made that comment describing Puerto Rico as an island of garbage. You know, the pastor said that was offensive, but

But he said there are bigger issues that they're dealing with. And one of those issues is the economy. Yeah. And to your point, Ashley, I mean, this isn't just people who are necessarily like just looking at themselves or their direct family members, right? Like so many of these folks are multigenerational. They're thinking about

their kids' futures, their kids' education, their kids' livelihoods, whether or not they can provide for all of that. And on top of that, Sarah, to your reporting, you know, when you talk about their community values, especially when you visit a church like the one you visited too, it seems like the Republican Party really spoke to them overall on both of those fronts.

Right, at least to this group and at least to, you know, conservative Latinos with a sort of religious inclination, which isn't everybody. But, you know, one of the women I spoke to at the church said, look, not all Latinos are religious, but we're a group of people that values, you know, family values. And, you know, that was her take. But that was sort of how she described the affinity that some people in her church and her larger community had for Trump and the Republican Party. Yeah. All right. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be back in a moment.

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And we're back. And we're going to talk about immigration specifically here because there is sort of this misconception that folks in this country who have maybe immigrated to the U.S. recently or are first or second generation Americans might be, you know, less into how someone like Donald Trump talks about immigration, how folks in the Republican Party sometimes talk about immigration. But there's a lot of nuance there. And it's sometimes a little bit more complicated. Right, Sarah? Yeah.

so much more complicated. You know, so many folks at this church I visited and other Latino leaders I've spoken to, particularly on the right, you know, Republican Latino leaders, have said, look, you know,

Latino Americans care about the same things that a lot of other Americans care about, particularly those inclined to vote for Republicans this year. They care about safety and security. And there's a sense that what's happening at the border is unacceptable. And, you know, I heard that from people I talked to, some of whom either themselves were immigrants or, you know, were close to people who had gone through the immigration process.

You know, I talked to Karen Horta. She is Puerto Rican. So, of course, American citizen didn't have to deal with immigration, but she knows people who have. And she said she supports Trump's policy here. It's a sad topic, but I agree to what he says.

that people need to come to the United States of America the legal way. And she said, look, not everybody coming through the border is causing problems, but she feels that some people are. And, you know, she said that it's sad because a lot of people come here seeking the American dream, but there just has to be a process or has to be a limit.

Another woman I spoke to who is a naturalized citizen originally from Colombia said, this is my country now, essentially, and I want to be safe. And so those same arguments that Trump was making sort of, you know,

that appealed broadly among the white electorate seemed to appeal to many of the Latinos I've talked to as well. Ashley, I'm curious because the way I'm kind of thinking about this as Sarah's talking about it and from, you know, my coverage on the trail as well is that so many of these issues, right, talking about the border, talking about immigration issues,

is somehow used to also talk about housing. It's also used to talk about people's pocketbooks and how they feel about the economy. It's also used to talk about criminal justice. And it kind of becomes this, like, base issue to fan out into all these other issues that people have a lot of concerns about. Did you see that playing out in your reporting as well? Yeah. Well, I mean, I would frame it as I think immigrants were scapegoated a lot for sort of financial issues. I think J.D. Vance said a couple of times during the debate that, you know,

you know, housing prices were related to an influx of migrants in the country. I think a lot of these things economists have like mixed views on. Like I don't think that that is completely true. The economy is hard to understand for anyone. Trying to figure out what is causing inflation, why your groceries are higher. Like I think everyone's sort of looking for something to blame and they want like a big fix. And that I heard a lot from voters. And so, you know, immigration was like sort of an easy catchphrase

case to make for folks. And the Latino vote, like all other voting blocs, do not vote as a monolith, which means like they don't vote as one. There is just so many factors that affect how people view politics and who they support. And that is especially true with a group of voters who come from like all different parts of the world, right? I mean, this is not just

A growing electorate is a it's a relatively new part of this country and it is shifting and people are coming from various geographic backgrounds. I think it is not surprising that during this big boom in population, there is also this voting shift. It's like the longer people stay somewhere, the more they change. And I think like how people vote is going to be changing constantly.

constantly, probably. And it would be a mistake to assume that with these major demographic shifts, these major population shifts, that things would stay the same, right? Why would they? Yeah, exactly. You know, I talked to this...

Republican strategist who has written about Latino voters, focuses on Latino voters named Mike Madrid. And, you know, he told me that he's a Republican, but he thinks Democrats do have an opportunity to win back some of these Latino voters if they start speaking to these issues that seem to drive the 2024 campaign.

Yeah. I mean, issues of democracy and, you know, a lot of the things that like holding a former president accountable for going against democratic norms. That is just not something that someone who's a new citizen probably cares as much as they do.

especially when they're feeling, you know, economic pressures and don't have those kind of norms in the country they came from. Like it is a hard pitch to make everyone care about that over their material needs. And I think that's like one of the big lessons that is coming out of this election.

Yeah, economy, economy number one. We just, we knew that months and months ago, and it's still true today. All right, we're going to leave it there for today. I'm Deepa Shivram. I cover the White House. I'm Ashley Lopez. I cover voting. I'm Sarah McCammon. I cover politics. And thank you for listening to the NPR Politics Podcast. Listen to this podcast sponsor-free on Amazon Music with a Prime membership or any podcast app by subscribing to NPR Politics Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.