Perhaps you think that Trump’s reply, while callous, wasn’t explicitly anti-Latino. But dig through his record, and you’ll find comments that are more explicit. Consider this tweet from 2013: “Sadly, the overwhelming amount of violent crime in our major cities is committed by blacks and hispanics—a tough subject—must be discussed.”
Do you suppose that’s an innocent factual statement? How about Trump’s smears against individual Latinos? Do you think it’s an accident that when he was running for president, he told at least two crowds in Iowa—where evangelicals are crucial in the Republican caucuses—that “not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba”? Trump referred specifically to Ted Cruz. Seven times, Trump told an audience to “remember” the bit about evangelicals and Cuba.
How about Trump’s attack on Jeb Bush’s wife, Columba, a legal immigrant from Mexico who has been an American citizen for nearly 40 years? Early in his presidential campaign, Trump retweeted an allegation that Jeb Bush “has to like the Mexican illegals because of his wife.” Trump implied that anyone of Mexican ancestry would defend illegal immigration. He told CNN, “If my wife were from Mexico, I think I would have a soft spot for people from Mexico.”
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