Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:18 pm
Donald Trump’s town hall event on Thursday was designed to be an easy way for the Republican nominee to prepare for Sunday’s second presidential debate against Hillary Clinton and show voters that he can connect on a personal level.
Unfortunately, Trump couldn’t even get through the event without putting his foot in his mouth and insulting Hispanic voters.
At his New Hampshire town hall, Trump makes this point about Hispanics in Las Vegas: “Latinos, they like to be called in that area.”
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— Patrick Healy (@patrickhealynyt) October 7, 2016
Video:
#Trump on NV: “A lot of Hispanics..Latinos, they like to be called in that area.” pic.twitter.com/RDnG3HUGgC
— Correct The Record (@CorrectRecord) October 7, 2016
It should be no surprise that Trump doesn’t understand the difference between Hispanics and Latinos given his constant knack for insulting this large chunk of American voters. But unlike his assertion that Hispanics in Nevada like to be called Latinos, that’s not quite how it works.
As the Huffington Post notes, “‘Hispanic’ focuses on Spanish-speaking origin. This means Spain is included, but Brazil is not because Brazilians speak Portuguese. ‘Latino’ refers to people of Latin American origin. This includes Brazil and excludes Spain.”
To the Archie Bunker of presidential nominees, though, this doesn’t matter. They’re all the same.
To be sure, Trump’s comments aren’t likely to improve his numbers among Hispanic and Latino voters. A poll released just yesterday showed the Republican nominee’s level of support among Latino voters at a dismal 10 percent.
This is the last thing Trump needed heading into the second debate.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
