Transcript 0:00 Hey, it's Julio Ricardo Varela of the Latino Newsletter Podcast, and we've been working on the Latino Election Project with New England Public Media, and we filed one more story. 0:10 And that story is about Donald Trump and Latinos and Latino support, and what did local Latino and Latina voices in Western Massachusetts have to say about it all? 0:21 So here is the last story of the Latino Election Project from the Latino Newsletter and New England Public Media. In the NEPM studio with me are student producers Haleema Mohamed, Avani Santos, and Ian Berger. 0:35 Hey, Julio. Hi, Julio. So Donald Trump is the 47th president of the United States, defeating Kamala Harris on election night. And we're gonna look at national exit polls regarding Latinos. What do we have, team? 0:47 According to NBC News, 61% of Latina women chose Harris, while 37% chose Trump. But only 44% of Latino men chose Harris, and 54% of Latino men chose Trump. 0:58 And across all Latino age demographics, Trump got over 40% for each age category. In fact, nationally, Trump got 45% support with Latinos in exit polls. That's a point higher than the 44% that George W. Bush got in 2004. 1:13 And that's important because Republicans have never really gotten to that 44% mark since then. These are historic gains for Republicans and Donald Trump, and it's not just nationally. 1:24 In two western Massachusetts cities where Latinos make up about half the population, Holyoke and Springfield, the unofficial results show Republicans increased their total share of the vote significantly from four years ago. 1:38 We asked a couple of local Latino and Latina leaders about Trump and Latino voters. 1:42 Xiomara de Loatto is with the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts and says she's not surprised many Latino men voted for Trump. And according to her, part of it is cultural. 1:52 That ingrained cultural machismo that we see a lot in the Latino community, it's not a secret that misogyny, that is very ingrained in all of Latin America, all of our countries, in our heritage. 2:05 It is our culture as a whole. We're talking, like, centuries old. Here's Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia explaining why he thinks Trump did so well this week. Latinos in general being traditionally conservative. 2:18 I think there's some of that, coupled with some shared frustrations with other groups across the country. 2:25 The conservative ideas and values that most Latino cultures uphold on important issues that we all debate about across the country. 2:34 You know, I think there's just a combination of factors that weighed in to why we saw what we saw. 2:41 Garcia also thinks that the presidential results shouldn't be a distraction from what he says are more important things locally. 2:48 It's frustrating because we all work so hard to foster unity, to foster collaboration around our city, and I just urge for everybody not to let these results and other noise distract us from who we are as people, as human beings, and what we have built together here. 3:07 Springfield City Councilor José Delgado, who told us previously that he sees more Latinos becoming independent and moving to the right, also wasn't surprised by the results. 3:15 We all have different kinda ideologies, and that's something that I've noticed for a while, and I, I think that really played out in this election. You take Massachusetts aside, we're kind of in our own little bubble. 3:29 It's obviously a blue state, but when I started reading and hearing from some of the stuff that I was hearing from Latinos who are voting in, like, southern states and what was really impacting their vote, the stats showed that more and more are starting to lean right or more conservative. 3:45 In addition to all these reasons, de Loatto raised the issue of the economy. Decisions were made on an economy-based decision. 3:55 I'm not surprised with the outcome at all on just the voter behavior, because that was something that we feel, right? We feel the impact to our purse. 4:03 And unfortunately, it's associated with the Biden/Harris administration when it's a tax plan and economic plan that was inherited from the former administration. 4:12 Avani, we did hear some concerns from actual voters on Election Day about all this, right? We went to the predominantly Latino North End of Springfield and interviewed some people who were voting. 4:21 We talked to voters who did have concerns about the economy and those related issues, but at least those we spoke to, that did not mean support for Republicans. Here is Ana Fontanez. She voted for Harris over Trump. 4:34 "Kamala es demócrata y siempre los demócratas están a favor de los, los pobres y de los más humildes." She said, "Harris is a Democrat, and Democrats have always helped poor and humble people." 4:48 And she says that Democrats support Latinos because they believe in a country that's always going forward and looking into the future. 4:55 Nos apoyan porque aquí estamos en un país que, que quiere seguir adelante cuanto queramos y mirar hacia el futuro. 5:03 Ian, you and I spoke with Jose Matias of Springfield, who said he voted for Harris, but- Thinks Latinos who voted for Trump might be disappointed in the end. 5:12 The only ones that vote for Trump is the, unfortunately, the Latinos that, that think they're gonna get money from him, which is not gonna happen. 5:18 But after the comment that he had that roasted Puerto Rico, we definitely jumped on and said, "You know what? Screw him, man. We're definitely gonna go with Harris." 5:27 One thing is certain: the twenty twenty-four election proves that Latinos are diverse. They are not a monolith. They are more independent, and they will hold parties accountable. 5:38 For the Latino Election Project from NEPM and the Latino Newsletter, I'm Julio Ricardo Varela. I'm Haleema Mohamed. I'm Ivani Santos. And I'm Ian Berger
