After a week of continued racist insults heralded at Federal Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel by Donald Trump, U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona thinks this might be the straw that broke the camel’s back for Latinos. He believes that still continuation of racist insults might help push Latinos to the polls.
“The turnout was going to be high prior to this comment, but his immigrant bashing is really turning out voters,” Gallego said.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has been widely criticized for questioning Curiel’s ability to render an impartial legal decision due to his Mexican heritage. Curiel, who was born in Indiana, is overseeing a class-action lawsuit against Trump University.
Trump has claimed that his comment were “misconstrued.”
Gallego, the son of Latino immigrants, called Trump’s remark “one of the most disgraceful things a Republican presidential candidate has said in modern time.” Gallego made his remarks in a Thursday conference call with reporters, joined by U.S. Rep. Judy Chu of California.
A number of high-profile Republicans have also criticized Trump over his remarks about Curiel, agreeing that those comments are racist. Most in the GOP, however, have continued to back his candidacy.
“I knew many children growing up who were being treated as the other because of their accent or eating differently,” Gallego said. “Now we have the head Republican leader who is supporting this behavior.”
An April study by America’s Voice, supports Gallego’s prediction that Trump’s candidacy could boost Hispanic voter turnout. The group polled 2,200 Latino voters and found 79 percent had a “very unfavorable” view of Trump, while 41 percent said voting against Trump is the most exciting aspect of this election.
According to USA Today, some states are also seeing massive increases in voter registration, which immigration groups claim that the majority of them are first-time voters who dislike Trump. In the 2012 general election, a Pew Research Center survey found 48 percent of eligible Hispanic voters nationally showed up at the polls. In Arizona, only 40 percent of eligible Hispanic voters cast ballots.
Gallego further predicted Democrats running in down-ticket races will benefit from Trump’s missteps. “Any Republicans attaching themselves to Trump should be worried,” Gallego said.
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