Donald Trump’s administration has done much to turn Hispanic Americans against the president many of them supported in 2024 — but Wednesday may have truly taken the cake.
As he hosted an event honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, the president, in real time, seemed to realize that his rambling, 20-minute diatribe about every topic except the one at hand was likely to be a point of coverage for the mainstream press.
He began his remarks Wednesday afternoon with a long set of prepared comments about the final withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, which took place this week, and transitioned to talking about his war with Iran, the strike to capture Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, and (of course) his planned White House ballroom, with the president excitedly telling his guests they would be the first people to step on its floor.
In a moment of self-reflection, he noted: “The press will say tomorrow, ‘he rambled for 20 minutes about unrelated subjects,’” before defending himself for talking about issues that he said would be good for the entire country, Hispanic Americans included. But as he rambled about New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart taking heat for his political views, Trump seemed to be looking for anything to talk about besides Latin American culture.
“You know, Jaxson Dart, he's a little hurt right now, good quarterback. He endorsed Trump so heavily and he took a little heat from a rather liberal group of the people in the NFL...He’s a very handsome guy. I just want him to get better because we love him. He got hurt. It's a dangerous game. They made it a little less dangerous with that ridiculous kickoff rule,” Trump said as he rambled through his various grievances.
It wasn’t just that the actual message of honoring Hispanic Americans got buried under a lengthy opener, however. It was what came next that compounded the image that was already forming: He persisted with an event that largely ignored any mentions of Hispanic culture, heritage or impact on American society — save for the one impact that mattered to him, their votes for him during the 2024 election.
Trump proudly and repeatedly boasted that he’d won more Hispanic votes than any other Republican president in history as his party now faces the consequences of those voters abandoning the party in scores ahead of the rapidly-approaching midterms.
“I won all of the Hispanic cities,” Trump remembered, telling his audience how Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called him to tell him about his success in areas with high Hispanic populations. “I’m a politician that got the most, for a Republican who got the most but almost for anybody, got the most Hispanic votes of anybody.”
Trump also claimed during the event that he "won more [Hispanic votes] than almost anybody that’s ever run for office,” and followed that false claim up with another moments later, claiming that Abbott had told him he'd won "every" town along the U.S.-Mexico border.
In reality, Trump lost El Paso county and the city of El Paso in all three of his runs for office, and while he is right to say that he won the largest share of Hispanic voters of any Republican president, his statement about winning nearly “the most Hispanic votes of anybody” is more of a reflection of the Hispanic vote becoming an increasingly large share of the overall electorate. His share of the Hispanic vote didn’t come close to Joe Biden’s in 2020, Hillary Clinton’s in 2016 or Barack Obama’s in either 2008 or 2012.
Now, his party is rushing towards a November midterm election where those voters appear ready to abandon the party they broke for in larger numbers than ever in 2024, and Trump is finally blaming himself. Or, at least, he said Wednesday that the real reason Republicans need to “turn this around” (his first public admission that the party is on the verge of a bloodbath in much polling) is because he himself has done a “bad job” at explaining how well the country is doing.
“You gotta spread the word of how well we’re doing. We’ve got to turn this around,” said Trump. “Our numbers are through the roof. We have the best numbers in the history of our country.”
With gas prices at heights only reached during the height of Covid-era fuel squeezes and a ripple effect driving up the prices of food and other goods, Americans’ pessimism about the economy is the worst it’s been since Trump took office.
But as much as Trump admits that he himself needs to get back on message, it’s not clear what that winning campaign message from the White House actually will be, even as he repeated his promise Wednesday to hit the campaign trail every day in October for vulnerable Republican candidates.
The unfocused, disrespectful address to an audience of close Republican loyalists on Wednesday will likely do little to stem the bleeding the party is suffering among Hispanic and Latino voters in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio and other states where key Senate and House races are playing out this cycle and will determine the fate of Trump’s legislative agenda for the remainder of his presidency.
The gathering ended with one final surreal moment that summed up the entire event. As the president ushered his fans toward the entrance to the new White House ballroom, which remains under construction, and warned them not to fall. Then he uttered one final gasp-inducing racial sterotype badly disguised as a quip.
“Only a Hispanic could survive that fall!” joked Trump. “I’m not worried.”
