Republicans have spent years trying to grow their support among Latinos in Florida, which is home to roughly half of the nation’s Venezuelan immigrants. But as President Donald Trump targets Venezuelans, Cubans and others, some Republicans fear that he’s trampling on his own successes — and potentially hurting the party’s chances in the future.
“I think some of it may threaten his gains,” Rep. Carlos Giménez told NOTUS. “The immigration policies need to be more nuanced than what they have put out.”
Giménez, a Cuban American Republican, represents part of Miami-Dade County, which is majority Hispanic and has the highest concentration of Venezuelan immigrants in the country. Much like they see the Cuban American vote, Republicans see Venezuelan Americans’ votes as particularly winnable due to the abuses by socialist and communist leaders in their native countries. Last year, about a third of Florida’s Venezuelan Americans voted for Trump — now half of them either regret or have mixed feelings about that choice, according to a poll from Florida International University.