Republican
presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with his
Hispanic Advisory Council at Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New
York Aug. 20, 2016. Some of Donald Trump’s Hispanic advisory …
Some members of Trump's Hispanic advisory board consider pulling support
Republican presidential nominee
Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with his Hispanic Advisory Council
at Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York Aug. 20, 2016.
Some
of Donald Trump’s Hispanic advisory board are reportedly reconsidering
their support Thursday, following the Republican nominee’s hardline
speech on immigration policy in Phoenix, Arizona the previous night.
That’s
according to another Hispanic Trump adviser, who told CBSN contributor
Leslie Sanchez that a few of the 23 board members could yank their
support for the billionaire.
At least two Hispanic Trump surrogates resigned from the
council after Trump’s speech: Politico reported Jacob Monty’s departure,
and the Washington Post said Texas businessman Massey Villareal also
left. Others are also considering leaving the council. And some, who are
not publicly withdrawing their support, told Sanchez that they no
longer want to be associated with the GOP nominee.
Ramiro Pena,
another member of the council, is reconsidering his support, too, and
sent an email to top Trump and RNC officials, according to Politico.
“I
am so sorry but I believe Mr. Trump lost the election tonight,”
wrote Pena, who is a pastor at Waco’s Christ the King Church. “The
‘National Hispanic Advisory Council’ seems to be simply for optics and I
do not have the time or energy for a scam.”
Sanchez pointed to
the flip in tone between Trump’s immigration-focused events on Wednesday
as one reason the Hispanic leaders are dissatisfied with the campaign.
“They
were doing high-fives” with Trump’s visit to Mexico, Sanchez reported
on CBSN, noting that his meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena
Nieto seemed respectful and presidential. “But the speech in Phoenix was
an ender for them.”
“It sounded angry,” Sanchez said. “It was
this dark approach... [Trump] doesn’t have compassion or a real solution
and they just won’t tolerate it.”
Trump
has gathered his National Hispanic Advisory Council -- which
was created last month and is made up of several faith, civic, and
business leaders -- just once, at a meeting in Manhattan’s Trump Tower about two weeks ago.
After
the meeting, some of the Hispanic leaders present concluded Trump
seemed to be open to “softening” his views on illegal immigration and
the deportation of undocumented immigrants. But after weeks of muddling
his message further, Trump, in a blistering speech Wednesday evening
in Arizona, said every immigrant in the U.S. illegally would be subject
to deportation, and he would create a “deportation task force.” Update:
This report was corrected to reflect the number of Hispanic members of
Trump’s advisory council and the estimate of the number of members who
are considering resigning.
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