Former President Donald Trump arrived in New Mexico on Thursday to court Hispanic voters in a bid to win a state no Republican presidential candidate has carried since George W. Bush in 2004.
There are more than 400,000 registered Hispanic voters in New Mexico, making up 37% of the state's electorate, according to Univision. New Mexico has been hit hard by the Biden-Harris administration's lax policies at the southern border, as well as economic policies leading to costlier consumer goods.
"I'm here for one simple reason," Trump said at an airport hangar in Albuquerque in a rally broadcast by Newsmax and simulcast on the Newsmax2 streaming platform. "I like you very much, and it's good for my credentials with the Hispanic, or Latino, community."
An Economist/You Gov poll released Wednesday showed Trump with 40% support among Hispanics nationwide, with Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris getting 52%. If Trump's total holds, it would mark the highest for a Republican presidential nominee since Bush got 40% in 2004, according to the Americas Society/Council of the Americas.
"Let's talk turkey, OK?" said Trump, who was scheduled to hold a rally in Nevada later in the day. "First of all, Hispanics love Trump. They do. True. I like them. They're smart.
"They're a lot smarter than the person running for president on the Democrat side. You could say a lot smarter than [President Joe] Biden, too. I can tell you they're smart. They're entrepreneurial as hell. They're great entrepreneurs, actually, great small business owners.
"And big, big business owners, too. But they're great. They work their a**** off. That's right. They don't want to get anything for nothing. They just want a fair, nice, level playing table. And that's what's going to happen," he said.
Trump said the Biden-Harris administration is destroying the country "and ruining your state."
"One of the biggest reasons we will win this state is that you have among the worst border problems of any state in America, and I am the only one that knows how to fix it," Trump said. "I already did fix it.
"Four years ago, you didn't have a problem. Under [Vice President] Kamala [Harris], New Mexico has seen millions of people pour across your section of the southern border, including 10,000 convicted criminals and thousands and thousands of illegal-alien gang members.
"Congratulations. You now have those gang members in your presence," he said.
"Yeah, you have a lot of rough hombres, don't you? Kamala has imported criminal migrants from prisons and jails, insane asylums and mental institutions.
"They're emptying out their mental institutions and their prisons and jails from all over the world, and they're coming into the United States of America. We're like a dumping ground. It's a horrible thing," Trump said.
Trump stopped his speech for a few minutes as someone in the audience needed medical attention. The crowd chanted "USA! USA! USA!," "God bless Trump," and "Keep Trump safe!" while the person was tended to. In the interim, Lee Greenwood's anthem, "God Bless the U.S.A.," was played.
When the rally continued, Trump predicted he would win a record share of the Hispanic vote in New Mexico.
"Hispanics want great jobs, rising wages, and safe communities," he said. “You don't want vicious gang members getting dumped into your state.
"And you don't want Kamala teaching your children that they can change their gender anytime they want. And many Hispanics are also Catholics, and Kamala is persecuting Catholics."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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