Paola Ramos, an MSNBC contributor, warned that Latinos are “moving away” from the Democratic Party. Ramos, the daughter of famed liberal Latino journalist Jorge Ramos, appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” over the weekend. She said that former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign and recent elections of Hispanic Republicans indicate that Latinos are “moving away from Democrats.” During a promotional appearance for her upcoming episode of the MSNBC show Field Report, Ramos told the co-hosts that Latinas have been abandoning the Democratic Party for some time now.
Ramos then highlighted the special election victory achieved by Republican Congresswoman Mayra Flores, R-Texas, stating, “Fast forward to this summer, someone like Mayra Flores suddenly becomes the first Republican to win Hidalgo County in a hundred years.
She went on to mention how Republican Latinas are building up more momentum since this race. Ramos declared, “Fast forward to where we are now, we’re not just talking about Mayra Flores. There’s three Latina Republicans in South Texas, that are running for office that are completely transforming the dynamics of politics in Texas.”
For this reason, she asserted that the “hypothetical question of ‘Can the Rio Grande Valley – this stronghold for the Democrats, this majority Latino region – can a place like that suddenly become the region that gives Republicans this final push they need through the finish line?’” is “not anymore” hypothetical, according to report.
“We’re not trying to say that Republicans are winning the national Latino vote,” Ramos noted. “We’re saying Democrats are losing it. The Latinos are sending a message, and we need to listen.”
Paola, the daughter of renowned Latino journalist Jorge Ramos, stated that in the 2020 elections, “So I think the larger picture is that Latinas have been sending a message for the past four years, right? If you take a step back and you just look at 2020, Donald Trump won seven of the 14 counties along the U.S.-Mexico border, right? And he was able to flip two of those and he made significant end roads in places like the Rio Grande Valley.”
Ramos added “that immigration has truly never been a top issue for Latinos. And I think that’s the myth. The myth is if you talk about migrants, you know, if you show these stories, then Latinas will vote for you. That’s not true. Latinas care about economy, they care about crime, they care about jobs, they care about education. That’s it. They wanted to be talked to and spoken to the same way that Democrats would go out for any other vote.”
“I think it’s a matter of at least if you’re looking at this story of Mayra Flores, at least matching that, you know, at least spending the resources, at least showing up and listening. And I think that’s the story here. Latinas … they’re sending a message. They’re drifting away, they’re walking away from the Democratic Party.”
Democrats, including President Joe Biden, are experiencing difficulties with Hispanic voters. The approval rating for Biden among Hispanics was 38 percent, according to a June 30 Civiqs poll.
