Latinos Teach Democrats a Brutal Lesson at the Ballot Box

SAN DIEGO -- Oye, Democratic Party, Latinos sent you a message. Did you get it?

Former, and now also future, President Donald Trump has now set the high-water mark when it comes to Latino support for a Republican presidential candidate.

First, some context. The magic number is "40" -- as in 40%. That's the sacred threshold into the Hall of Fame, which until this week only had two members: Ronald Reagan, who got 40% of the Latino vote in 1984, and George W. Bush, who earned 44% in 2004. These things go in 20-year cycles, apparently. This year, in 2024, according to exit polls by NBC News, Trump ran the table and got 45% of the Latino vote.

Vice President Kamala Harris never stood a chance. Simply put, she did not know what hit her.

For my part, I didn't see this coming. I'll offer the first mea culpa. For weeks, I've been predicting that Trump would get 40%. But 45% was beyond my imagination. Whenever Donald Trump's name is on the ballot, I underestimate his appeal to Latinos. He constantly improves his performance. In 2016, according to exit polls, Trump got 28% of the Latino vote. In 2020, he got 32%. And now, in 2024, it's 45%.

Yes, this is the same Donald Trump who has been insulting Latinos -- out of his own mouth and through surrogates -- since he first descended the escalator at Trump Tower in June 2015 and set off on an incredible journey that defied the media, defiled the Republican Party and defined anew the political system in this country.

This is the same Donald Trump who slandered Mexican immigrants as rapists, criminals and drug dealers and promised -- both in 2016 and this year -- mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

This is the same Donald Trump who dismissively tossed paper towels to Puerto Ricans after Hurricane Maria devastated the island and threatened to sell Puerto Rico as a depressed asset.

And Donald Trump got 45% of the Latino vote? I believe it. Trump did well with all the various tribes. He won with Mexican Americans in South Texas, with Puerto Ricans in Eastern Pennsylvania and with Cuban Americans in South Florida. According to CNN exit polls, 66% of Latinos who voted for Trump said the economy was their top issue.

At the time that this column is being filed, Arizona and Nevada have still not completed the process of counting votes. But Trump leads the count in both states. Latinos represent 21% of the electorate in Nevada and 25% of the electorate in Arizona. A Republican doesn't lead in those states without making serious inroads with Latino voters.

That's part of the message, and it went out loud and clear. America's largest minority -- which now represents 1 in 5 Americans and a big chunk of the electorate in seven battleground states -- has run off the liberal hacienda. And, on their way out, they burned it to the ground.

As for the message itself, here are the three headlines:

1. Trump Latinos are tired of being ignored and taken for granted by Democratic candidates who think they can simply scare them away from voting for Republicans while putting in minimal effort to maintain their support.

2. They don't like racism or nativism, but there is another "ism" that they're not fond of either: elitism. They're tired of being looked down on by the Democratic Party, and liberal media pundits, just because many of them are working class and didn't go to college.

3. They care about issues beyond immigration, and they don't really think Trump will follow through with mass deportations. And even if he did keep that promise, he's likely to fall short of the number of removals pulled off by a Democrat: Barack Obama.

Of course, Democrats, nobody can make you listen to the message. That's not your strong suit. Many Democrats -- especially white liberals -- are too arrogant and condescending to even imagine the possibility that they could be wrong about why people of color do anything. It's been my experience that Democrats want to give Latinos every right under the sun, except the right to think for ourselves.

As a Latino Never Trump'er, this is not my message. But I agree with much of it. Democrats have to take the blame for what happened.

In the coming days, you're going to hear a lot of nonsense about the Latino vote in this election. Remember this: Trump did not win nearly half the Latino vote. Harris gave it away.

========

To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.