‘Aghast’: Trump dodges and dismisses Latino voters’ concerns at Univision town ahll
Donald Trump, courting Latino voters, appeared at a Univision-hosted town hall in Doral, Florida Wednesday where he repeated many of his familiar lies to undecided Hispanic voters. With less than three weeks to Election Day, Trump disparaged Haitian immigrants, and called for the deportation of undocumented workers who harvest food for the country while claiming they were taking jobs from Black and Hispanic workers. Trump at times seemed either unwilling or unable to provide answers to their questions.
Univision, the nation's largest Spanish-language television network, reported (via a Google translation), "the former president did not answer several of the questions posed to him by the participants, Hispanic voters who define themselves as undecided and were randomly selected for this program. Some of these questions were tough, such as when one wanted to know if, with all the evidence that exists, he still believes that climate change is a hoax or if Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eat their neighbors' pets."
???? A Latino Republican asks Donald Trump if he really believes that Haitian immigrants are eating pets.
This is what Trump said at the Univision town hall #LosLatinosPreguntan. Watch today at 10 PM ET/9C/7PAC on @univision, @ViX, and our digital platforms.#Destino2024 pic.twitter.com/EYGvQ9txs4 — Univision Noticias (@UniNoticias) October 16, 2024
"Trump did not respond directly to those questions, nor did he respond to the question from a California farmer named Jorge Velázquez who asked him who would harvest his crops if he complied with his order to deport the estimated millions of undocumented immigrants living in the country," the translated Univision report also reads. "The way Trump responded (or rather, did not respond) to Velázquez's approach is a perfect example of how the former president, when faced with controversial issues, chooses to deflect the ball, claim that under his administration there was an orderly immigration system and repeat the lie that other countries are emptying their prisons or mental institutions to send those people to the US."
???? A Latino farmer asks Donald Trump who will do the hard jobs if he deports undocumented immigrants.
This is what Trump said at the Univision town hall #LosLatinosPreguntan. Watch today at 10 PM ET/9C/7PAC on @univision, @ViX, and our digital platforms. pic.twitter.com/WCoP1qFZC5 — Univision Noticias (@UniNoticias) October 16, 2024
During his response to the January 6 portion of a question, Trump called it a "day of love."
"As I said on CBS News on Tuesday," remarked journalist Adrian Carrasquillo, "the Harris campaign has data from focus groups with undecided Latino voters that January 6 is a top issue for them, particularly with immigrant men. Hard to overstate that this from Trump was bad: 'That was a day of love.'"
Strategic communications expert Dante Atkins responded, writing: "As someone who has listened to plenty of focus groups of undecided Latino focus groups, can confirm. January 6 still resonates. Trump calling J6 a 'day of love' is something the Harris campaign will punish him for now through election day. And he did that on Univision."
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Evan Gold remarked: "Probably the most revealing performance he's ever given. Asked all salient questions by the audience, he gave almost no satisfaction to any questioner, and the audience was aghast for the most part."
This clip went viral, with over one million views.
Watch the reaction of one of the members of the audience when Trump says no one was killed on January 6th but also says Ashli Babbitt was killed pic.twitter.com/VKFjIOIIuU
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 17, 2024
Watch the video clips above, the entire event in English below, or all at this link.