McConnell worries Trump could have Goldwater effect on Latino voters

Recalling how he supported Democratic president Lyndon Johnson over Goldwater that year, McConnell was asked if he worried Trump could have the same effect on Hispanics, who overwhelmingly view the real estate tycoon unfavorably.

“I do. I do,” he said on “The Lead,” pointing to Trump’s recent scorching criticism of a prominent Republican Latina politician, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.

“And I think the attacks that he’s routinely engaged in, for example, going after Susana Martinez, the Republican governor of New Mexico, the chairman of the Republican Governors’ Association, I think, was a big mistake,” McConnell said.

Regarding Goldwater’s vote against the 1964 Civil Rights Act, McConnell said, “It did define our party, for at least African-American voters, and it still does today. That was a complete shift that occurred that year and we’ve never be able to get them back. So I think it was a defining moment for Republicans with regard to the accomplishments that we had made for African-Americans going back to the Civil War.”