The appearances come after Trump has seen gains with Hispanic Americans in recent polls.
MIAMI—Former President Donald Trump hosted a “Latino Americans for Trump” roundtable at his hotel and resort in Miami-Doral, Florida, on Oct. 22, hours before Vice President Kamala Harris sat down for a television interview with Hispanic television network Telemundo.
Both candidates are making pitches to Latino Americans in the final two weeks of the 2024 presidential election, especially as the historically Democratic-leaning voting block has been trending further toward Trump. A recent poll from USA Today–Suffolk University found Latino voters favor Trump over Harris 49 to 38 percent.
At the former president’s roundtable—which featured Latino business leaders and icons in South Florida GOP politics—Trump told attendees that he thinks the border is a more pressing issue than the economy.
“The biggest thing is the border,” Trump said, criticizing the Biden administration’s border policies. He vowed to seal the border through executive action, saying, “Close the border, and it’s closed.”
In her Telemundo interview with journalist Julio Vaqueiro, Harris unveiled new economic proposals that would benefit Latino Americans, including efforts to “expand opportunities by investing in small businesses and entrepreneurs [and] professional development.”
“Latinos have dreams and hopes but not necessarily access,” Harris said. “Latino voters understand that they want a president who invests in their dreams. I understand working people, I understand the dreams that people have for their children, and that they are willing to work hard to achieve them. … We have to create opportunities.”
Harris said she would pursue an agenda that prioritizes a strong economy that supports working people, saying, “I’m very conscious of how it would affect Latino men.”
Some of those proposals include doubling training programs like apprenticeships and eliminating unnecessary college degree requirements for certain jobs and internships. She also suggested building on training models that would create higher-paying positions for Latino men and forming partnerships with businesses, unions, community colleges, religious groups, and Hispanic institutions.
Harris plans to give 1 million forgivable business loans of up to $20,000 to Latino entrepreneurs, a proposal similar to one she made earlier this month for black male voters.Speakers at Trump’s roundtable on Tuesday included Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.)—who is running for reelection this year—Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, and Hialeah Mayor Esteban Bovo.
“The Hispanic vote is the deciding factor” in this election, said Scott, who is in a close race this year with his Democratic opponent, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
“This is how you win, every day is election day until Nov. 5,” Scott told the audience, urging them to take advantage of Florida’s early voting, which began in many state counties on Oct. 21.
Florida permits early voting starting on at least the 10th day before the election, but individual supervisors of elections are allowed to offer additional early voting on the 11th to 15th days before election day.
Some of the attendees, many of whom are Hispanic voters, were enthusiastic about Trump’s platform.
“We believe in legal immigration vetted. We believe in safety in the streets … Safety is a priority,” Marta Mesa told The Epoch Times. Mesa is a Colombian American, a resident of Broward County, Florida, and the co-founder of Republican Amigos.
“We believe in hard work. We don’t like handouts. Most people believe that we can make an American dream, and that’s why they work so hard to get to buy a house, to get a job, to make a business.
“But also we want our safety and our families to grow up in a safe environment, not with open borders.”
Richard Vega, who traveled from Houston to hear Trump speak on Tuesday, explained why he thinks so many Latino Americans are moving away from the Democratic Party.
“A lot of our Latino values lean to the right, but yet, for so many years, we voted to the left, and I think a lot of the Latinos are just fed up. They’re starting to rise up … and so you’re seeing this large shift over the last few years,” Vega told The Epoch Times.
“There’s Democrats that are leaving the Democratic Party, especially in the Latino community, because it’s not the Democratic Party of 10 years ago,” he said, adding that he believes the party’s values have shifted in recent years.