The Republican nominee lost Hispanic voters on day one, when he launched his presidential campaign by saying Mexican immigrants are “rapists” bringing drugs and crime (“and some, I assume, are good people”). But his statements and policies since then have made matters only worse for him, such that Republican Senator Lindsay Graham told The New York Times the other day that “Trump deserves the award for Hispanic turnout. He did more to get them out than any Democrat has ever done.”
The news over the weekend bears this out, with Politico reporting that the Trump campaign is “rattled” by Latino turnout:
Early-vote statistics from battleground states with large Hispanic populations show record turnout among a bloc that has voted at a lower rate than whites or blacks in past elections. If, as some polls suggest, Hispanic voters are supporting Hillary Clinton by blowout margins, these numbers could sink Trump in a handful of states that are essential to his path to 270 electoral votes.
Despite his signature campaign pledges to erect a massive border wall and deport millions of undocumented immigrants—including, in one iteration of the proposal, with a special deportation force—Trump has insisted throughout the race that he loves Hispanics.
By tomorrow night, we’ll have definitive evidence that the feeling isn’t mutual.