Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump currently has high unfavorable ratings among Latinos compared to his rival, presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and trails far behind Clinton with Latinos overall, 73-16 percent, according to a new nationwide poll.
Trump is also performing worse with Hispanics than former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at the same time in the 2012 presidential race.
In total, 78 percent of participants in the nationwide poll of 657 Latino registered voters conducted by America’s Voice from June 29 through July 5 had an unfavorable view of Trump compared to 31 percent for Clinton. The voters responded online (25 percent) and via live telephone interviews (75 percent) on landlines and cell phones.
The survey results included a disclosure note.
“In August 2015, Matt Barreto and Gary Segura of Latino Decisions were hired as consultants to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. America’s Voice is the sole sponsor of this research,” the results document said. “This study was not coordinated, funded, or otherwise endorsed by any campaign, party, or political organization. David Damore and Sylvia Manzano directed this project on behalf of Latino Decisions.”
According to the America’s Voice office website, the organization’s mission is “to harness the power of American voices and American values to enact policy change that guarantees full labor, civil and political rights for immigrants and their families.” The group works with other organizations to promote legislation that would “stabilize the lives of 11 million Americans-in-waiting and put them on the road to full citizenship.”
Voters were asked which statement best describes the Republican Party and Democratic Party. Among the statements was the Republican Party or the Democratic Party “doesn’t care too much about [Hispanics/Latinos].” Forty-one percent said the GOP and 26 percent said the Democratic Party does not care too much about Latinos.
Another statement in the survey was the Republican Party or the Democratic Party is “sometimes hostile towards [Hispanics/Latinos].” In response, 36 percent said the GOP was hostile toward Latinos while 10 percent said the Democratic Party was hostile toward Latinos.
For comparison to Trump, Sylvia Manzano, principal at Latino Decisions, told PJM on a conference call that Romney’s unfavorable numbers were lower 12 weeks before the 2012 general election at 55 percent.
“So that is different than Donald Trump, who at this point is at 78 percent unfavorable. With respect to the vote, in 2012 at this point in the race, we had Obama at 65 percent and Romney at 26 percent,” Manzano said on the call.
The 2016 general election is approximately 17 weeks away. Despite his plan to crack down on illegal immigration, Trump has predicted that he’ll win over Latino voters. The presumptive nominee has emphasized that he supports legal immigration to the United States.
Ben Monterroso, executive director of Mi Familia Vota, said Trump’s rhetoric is fueling the Latino opposition to his candidacy.
“Donald Trump attacking our community and other people, just watching, I think that is part of it,” he said on the call.
The majority of the respondents in the latest poll (66 percent) also said they disagreed with the lawsuit against President Obama’s executive actions on illegal immigration (DAPA and DACA) while 28 percent said they agreed with the lawsuits.
The respondents were also asked if Clinton’s opposition to the Supreme Court ruling that halted Obama’s executive action (DAPA) from being implemented makes them more likely to vote for Democratic candidates or less likely. In response, 62 percent said more likely and 24 percent said less likely. When asked the same question about Trump’s support for the ruling, 21 percent said more likely and 66 percent said less likely.
Fifty-nine percent of the respondents said they knew someone who was an illegal immigrant and 38 percent said they did not.
Another question participants were asked was, “In recent years, do you think the Republican Party has become more welcoming to Latinos, become more hostile to Latinos, or not really changed?”
Most of those surveyed said more hostile to Latinos (46 percent), followed by not really changed (36 percent) and more welcoming to Latinos (11 percent).
For the same question about the Democratic Party, most said more welcoming to Latinos (40 percent), followed by not really changed (42 percent) and more hostile to Latinos (11 percent).
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