The Republican National Committee opened a Latino Trump-backed field office in Berks County, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, where former Puerto Rican governor Luis Fortuno and U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick took to the stage to speak to Hispanic voters about the border and inflation.
The opening of the Redding office comes days after the Trump campaign reunited its Hispanic coalition to vow to re-elect former President Trump this November. Founded during the 2020 election as “Latinos for Trump,” the campaign announced the reunion ahead of a Trump rally in Las Vegas on Sunday.
Trump lost to President Biden by just 1.17% of the vote in the battleground state of Pennsylvania in 2020. In Berks County, where the Republican National Committee just opened a field office, Trump beat Biden by just under 17,000 votes.
“We wanted to equate Latinos with Americans,” Jaime Flores, the Trump campaign’s Hispanic communications director, told Fox News in an interview about the relaunch. “We are Americans. We live in this country. We vote in this country. We are citizens. … We’re not here for a few years and then we go back home. No, we’re here to stay.”
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“President Reagan used to say that Hispanics are Republicans. They just don’t know it. But we’re finding out,” Flores added. “For too long, Democrats have taken us for granted and made promises they never kept.”
One woman at the event told Fox News Digital that she plans to become a US citizen and vote for Trump. (Fox News)
National polls have shown that concerns about inflation are driving young, black and Hispanic voters to support the Republican Party, and a Fox News poll conducted in May found that 17% of Hispanic voters said the economy was the single defining issue in the 2024 election.
Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick spoke to voters at the event. (Fox News)
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At the opening of the Republican National Committee office on Wednesday, two issues topped the minds of politicians and Pennsylvanians alike: the economy and the border.
“Everybody is suffering, really,” former Puerto Rican governor Luis Fortuno told Fox News in an exclusive interview. “Most people are suffering and they want change, and the Republican Party is the only party that can bring about that change so that we can keep more of our hard-earned money in our pockets, protect our families and our communities, and stand strong as a country.”
Fortuno stressed the need to elect Republicans in the November election and, in English and Spanish, urged Pennsylvanians to vote for U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick, who highlighted his business background and said he understands the pressures of inflation that Pennsylvanians feel every day.
The Pennsylvania voter spoke to Fox News at the opening of a Latino rally for Trump. (Fox News)
Speaking to reporters after his opening speech, McCormick said he aims to win the vote of all Pennsylvanians and sees an opportunity to connect with the Latino community over shared policy concerns.
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““Republican values are very much aligned with many in the Latino community,” McCormick told reporters. “It’s essentially this idea of creating an economy and an environment where people can pursue the American dream — being industrious, working hard, wanting to give the best to their kids, an economy where small businesses can thrive and create jobs, an economy where they can raise their kids in safe communities. I think that aligns very well with the Republican Party.”
Pennsylvanians are seeing Latinos shift to the Republican Party.
““They’ve been lied to by Democrats for years,” Cathy, a retired voter from Reading, told Fox News on Wednesday. “They’ve been told, ‘Oh, we’ll do this for you. We’ll do that for you.’ And they just take advantage of them. They don’t do anything for them, for minorities.”
Regina Mauro, a candidate for Pennsylvania’s 157th Congressional District, echoed Cathy’s sentiment that Democrats have let Latinos down, in an interview before opening her office.
Donald Trump arrived at Trump Tower on May 30, 2024, after being convicted of 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records. (Felipe Ramares for Fox News Digital)
““They see weakness in their current leadership,” Mauro told Fox News about the political shift among Latino voters. “Latinos like strong leaders, so whether it’s the domestic situation, foreign policy, the economy, we’re very disappointed. … We need peace. We need more stability.”
Mauro said common sense is driving “Trumplicans” — former minority Democratic voters — away from President Biden and to support former President Trump.
““I’m a first-generation American,” Mauro said of the frustration felt by legal immigrants. “My parents, my whole family came from Cuba. A lot of Hispanics are upset that there’s one line for legal immigrants. They spend a lot of money and years, just like any other country, to do the right thing and be respectful, and they just see Democratic politicians pandering to foreigners coming across the border and essentially skipping the line.”
President Biden speaks at the Abbots Creek Community Center during an economic policy promotion event in Raleigh, North Carolina, on October 18, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Hispanic voters have seen a flurry of candidates switch hands this election cycle, with Trump, Biden and even Robert F. Kennedy Jr. competing for young, black and Hispanic votes. The Biden campaign launched Latinos Con Biden-Harris in March to “engage and mobilize Hispanic voters, communities and leaders across the country.”
Former President Trump attended a rally in Las Vegas on June 9, 2024. (Eric Thayer, The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“Donald Trump does not care about the Latino community,” Nemesis Mora, Pennsylvania Hispanic media spokesperson for the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign, said in a statement to Fox News regarding the opening of the “Latinos for Trump” office.
“He’s been denigrating us his entire adult life and worsening our communities throughout his term as President. … The truth is, Donald Trump has failed Latinos and our families, while President Biden has actually delivered real results for Pennsylvanians – like reducing health care costs, creating good paying jobs that result in the lowest Latino unemployment rate in history, and historic investments that result in the fastest rate of Latino small business openings in a decade. That’s why Latinos in Pennsylvania are sending Trump back to Mar-a-Lago this November.”
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The Biden campaign has 24 offices and more than 100 staff members in Pennsylvania. President Biden and Vice President Harris have visited the state more than 10 times in the first five months of the year. Trump has visited Pennsylvania three times this year, most recently to endorse McCormick ahead of the April primary.
