CNN panel derails as Latino Trump supporter defends mass deportations: 'No way around it'
Although Vice President Kamala Harris received more Latino support than Donald Trump in the 2024 election, the number of Latinos who voted for Trump increased from what it was in 2016 and 2020 — especially among men.
According to NBC News, 53 percent of the Latino vote went for Harris in 2024 compared to 45 percent for Trump. In 2020, however, President Joe Biden enjoyed 65 percent of the Latino vote.
CNN's Jim Acosta, in a segment on Thursday, November 7, discussed the election's outcome among Latinos with New York Times journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro; Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens; and Luis Figueroa, vice chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly.
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Things became combative when Acosta asked Figueroa, a Trump supporter, if he supported Trump's threat of mass deportations.
Figueroa told Acosta, "There has to be deportations. There's no way around it."
Acosta, noted, however, that during the infamous Operation Wetback program of the 1950s, Latinos who weren't in the country illegally got caught up in the deportation hysteria.
Domingo Garcia told Acosta that Trump managed to convince Latino men that Harris didn't care about them.
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"To a certain extent, I think Latino men felt excluded by the Democratic Party and by the Kamala Harris campaign. I don't think that's a fact, but I think that's the message that was out there. And that's why Trump was so successful in getting the Latino vote."
Lulu Garcia-Navarro stressed that economic issues were a high priority for Latinos in the election.
The New York Times reporter explained, "It's a young population. Average voting age: 27. Second of all, low and medium income. So, they work in industries that were really impacted by inflation."
Acosta pointed out that Trump's gains among Latinos came despite his threat of mass deportation.
Domingo Garcia said, "(Trump) used Latino immigrants as political piñatas', and he got a lot of political candy in this election."
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Watch the full video below or at this link.
