President-elect Donald Trump won the 2024 election, defeating Vice President Kamala Harris by a wide margin with a total of 312 electoral votes. However, Harris won the majority of Latine voters by a slim majority with 52% of Latine voters against Trump’s 46%. That’s an increase of 14% compared to the 2020 election where President Joe Biden had won 65% of Latine voters and Trump received 32%, according to the NBC News exit poll.
Joselyn Ramos, a sophomore majoring in public relations and advertising, said it is disappointing to see that many Latines voted for Trump in the election and described a lack of information within the Latine community in issues like the economy.
“I think a lot of people don’t know that economies are residual,” said Ramos. “For a lot of them, they voted for him because they thought the economy was going to be better or cheaper prices and stuff.”
Inflation and the economy were among the top concerns which impacted how Latines voted. The increased cost of living due to inflation has made it difficult for Latino families to keep up. Because of this, Latines feel that the economy under Trump will perform better thanks to his economic approach and lowering taxes. On the other hand, Latines felt that Harris didn’t provide sufficient policies in how she would tackle inflation and the economy, according to the BCC.
Clarissa Franco, a freshman majoring in communications, said that she was shocked to see a large percentage of Latines voted for Trump.
“I feel that it’s kind of hypocritical because of what he said about the community,” Franco said. “I feel there should be much more education spread about voting and his policies and how they affect the community.”
During Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, controversial rhetoric made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffen sparked backlash following his comment about Puerto Rico being a “floating island of garbage.” The Trump campaign denies the comments that the comedian made, and Trump claims he didn’t know who who the comedian was or how he got to his rally, according to CNN.
Despite distancing himself from Hinchliffen, Trump has spoken about immigration at length with plans of mass deportation. Trump has previously targeted immigrants such as those in Springfield, OH, claiming immigrants are destroying cities and towns across the U.S., according to Politico.
Cassandra Tostado, a sophomore majoring in business administration, said that there is a gender gap that played a role in this election.
“I was asking people, and again, it was upsetting hearing a reason why some people didn’t want to vote for Kamala [Harris] was just because she’s a woman,” Tostado said. “It’s like women shouldn’t have authority right now, or they were saying how it’s not the time where women should be in power like a man.”
The same NBC News exit poll shows that the shift towards Trump from Latine voters is partly due to Latine men, with 55% of Latine men voting for Trump where only 43% voted for Harris. Among Latine women, 38% voted for Trump, while an overwhelming 60% voted for Harris.
Tostado expressed frustration with the general public still favoring the idea of men having power over women, and the lack of concern a second Trump term.
“It’s upsetting to see that is still present in our society right now,” Tostado said. “Even though that’s such an outdated thought, I feel like it’s just crazy to me.”