Kamala Harris is still behind the Latino vote and that of Latino men specifically. The Democratic candidate gave an interview to Telemundo on Tuesday in which she sought to appeal to Hispanic men, but refused to acknowledge the fact that polls show that this electorate is increasingly inclined to vote for Donald Trump on November 5. . “That is not my experience,” said the vice president when asked why this sector supports the Republican. “My experience is that I talk to Latino voters every day and there is incredible support,” he insisted.
“Latino voters understand that they want a president of the United States who treats all people with dignity, with respect, and who invests in their dreams,” Harris continued, before launching into criticizing some of the policies that the former president implemented during his presidency. mandate and the insults he has hurled against the Latino community. “What do we get from him as president? Policies of separating families, ridiculing and speaking ill of people of certain origins,” he noted.
When Telemundo journalist Julio Vaqueiro asked her if the growing support that Latino men give to Trump is due to the fact that the Democratic Party has not known how to connect with these voters, Harris stressed that, two weeks before the elections, her focus It’s about earning those votes. And she appealed to them by reminding them that she is also the daughter of an immigrant mother and knows what it means to work hard, a tactic she has resorted to throughout the campaign to connect with Latinos, highlighting what they have in common.
In the interview, which airs this Wednesday night at 7 pm East Coast time, Harris also highlighted that Hispanic men are at the center of her policy to improve the economy, the main concern for Latino voters. “Part of the agenda that I have put forward, which I am very aware of how it would affect Latino men, includes what we need to do around building a strong economy that supports workers,” he said.
The vice president defined herself as “a pragmatic capitalist” who “believes that not everyone starts from the same base, but that everyone has the drive, the guts, the work ethic to succeed.” “And we have to create an economy that gives opportunities to people,” he said. Therefore, its priority is to help small businesses and their owners, the majority of whom are Latino. It is estimated that in the United States there are more than 5 million Latino companies, especially small or medium-sized ones.
But despite this reality, the Hispanic community does not always have access to the capital they need to start or grow their business, a reality that the Democrat assured that she is aware of. “Latino men often have a harder time accessing large loans from big banks for reasons that are not necessarily based on their qualifications. So I am focused on what we can do to provide more capital to community banks that understand the community and are capable of granting those types of loans,” explained the Democrat.
Along these lines, the candidate announced a series of measures aimed at this community, including expanding the tax deduction for small businesses from $5,000 to $50,000. In addition, Harris mentioned that many Latinos are not able to buy homes, which is why you want to offer help of $25,000 for those who buy a home for the first time.
A secure border
Regarding immigration, another of the issues that most concern Latino voters, Harris assured that, under her Government, the United States will have “a secure border” and “a humane and orderly immigration system.” The candidate repeated her criticism of Trump for having killed the bipartisan immigration bill that was making its way through Congress a few months ago — “Trump killed the bill because he preferred to base his campaign on the problem instead of solving it.” — and insisted that, as a former prosecutor, he knows the importance of the country having a controlled border.
Journalist Vaqueiro reminded him that that bill included policies and restrictions that the former president had already implemented during his Administration, while what Latinos want—and have been waiting for for years—is for the Government to open a legal path toward citizenship and safeguard programs such as DACA and others that protect thousands of people from deportation. “We are talking about border security, and there is no one, no Democrat, who is talking about the path to citizenship and immigration relief,” Vaqueiro said.
The conversation quickly turned to whether the candidate supports the mass deportations that Trump promises to carry out. Instead of a yes or no, the vice president responded: “We need a smart and humane immigration policy in the United States that includes a path to citizenship, more resources at the border in terms of security, honoring the history of the United States as country of immigrants, not to vilify people fleeing evil, but to create an orderly system so that they can present their case. That is my position.”
