WASHINGTON (AP) — Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump see economic policy as their best chance to win over Latino voters. But their approaches are very different.
In an interview with Telemundo on Tuesday afternoon, Vice President Harris wanted to emphasize how her agenda would create more opportunities for Latino men — a strategy that stems from about a dozen focus groups and polls.
The Democratic nominee wants to show off her plans to double the number of registered apprenticeships. She wants to highlight how she would eliminate college degree requirements for certain federal government jobs and encourage private employers to do the same. And Harris wants to provide forgivable loans worth up to $20,000 each to 1 million small businesses.
Former President Trump, the Republican candidate, is trying to reach Latinos himself on Tuesday by holding a roundtable discussion with them in Doral, a suburb of Miami.
His campaign says he will advocate for increases in employment, wages and homeownership for Latinos during his time in office. The campaign also says he will argue that Harris and President Joe Biden have saddled Latinos with high inflation and that “Trump is the only candidate who can bring prosperity back to America.”
The Trump and Harris campaigns see what could be an opportunity to decide the election with Latino men, who could influence the outcome in states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada as their traditional support for Democrats erodes. Trump believes he has made inroads among Latino men. Harris’ team is trying to shore up support within the same group with the election just two weeks away.
It raises the question of whether memories of Trump’s presidency or the promise of new policies under Harris will do more to energize Latino voters.
“We’re confident that this policy will resonate because we’ve seen it resonate in speeches and focus groups,” said Matt Barreto, a Harris campaign pollster. “It especially speaks to Latino men about being successful and achieving the American dream.”
Both campaigns are aiming for an advantage in the final weeks of the campaign among the increasingly diverse electorate. Harris has also targeted black men, to whom she has also offered the forgivable small business loans. She has been on the podcast “Call Her Daddy” to appeal to younger women, while Trump has appeared on podcasts to target younger men.
Trump took part in a town hall on Univision last week, where his main speech to Latinos was that the economy had been phenomenal during his term in the White House.
“We had the greatest economy in the history of our country,” Trump said. “Now we have a bad economy, mainly because of inflation. So we are getting rid of inflation.”
The former president’s description of his own economic record generally rules out the massive job losses and recession caused by the pandemic in 2020. Inflation is now at a relatively healthy 2.4%, but voter frustration lingers over inflation, which rose to 9.1% in June 2022, while gasoline, groceries and housing became much more expensive.
On Univision, Trump said increased oil production would reduce overall inflation if elected. He has also suggested that his combination of rate increases and tax cuts will boost growth, although his campaign lacks specifics compared to the policy guide released by Harris’ team.
In a tight race, the Harris campaign is betting that Latino men will become increasingly attuned to policy details as the election approaches.
Based on focus groups, Barreto said the Harris campaign showed that Latino men in particular wanted access to apprenticeships that could give people without a college degree access to a financially stable career.
The latest figures from the Labor Department show there are 641,044 registered apprenticeships, an increase from the Trump administration, when apprenticeships peaked at 569,311 in 2020. Doubling that figure, as Harris has proposed, would bring the total number of apprenticeships to roughly 1.2 million over four years.
Latino men also expressed a need for access to capital and credit to start businesses, as the Treasury Department reported on Oct. 10 that Latino business ownership has increased 40% from pre-pandemic levels and would can continue to rise with better financing options.
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, will be featured this week on Univision’s El Bueno, La Mala, y El Feo, a syndicated radio show, while Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, will be interviewed this week by Univision’s national syndicated radio program. afternoon radio show, El Free-Guey Show. Emhoff will also be interviewed by Alex “El Genio” Lucas on Nueva Network Radio.
Trump hopes to convince Latinos that they can trust a fellow businessman like him, while he has also called for the mass deportation of immigrants in the country illegally.
“Spanish people – they say you can’t generalize, but I think you can – they have great entrepreneurship and they have – oh, you have so much energy? Take it a little easier, okay? Take it easy,” Trump said at an event on October 12. “You have great ambition, you have a lot of energy, you are very smart and you really like natural entrepreneurs.”
