president trump is getting ready to speak to supporters at a rally in ohio this event being held at the dayton international airport. you're watching live coverage of this campaign rally on c-span 3. ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ want to feel my body baby feel my body yeah yeah ♪ ♪ want to touch my body baby not too much my bod u yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ my body baby ♪ my body yeah yeah ♪ every day i want to be a macho macho man to have the kind of body always in demand ♪ ♪ working in the health spa muscles flow ♪ ♪ he's a macho man ♪ hey, hey, hey, hey >> with the pew research center, here with us this morning to talk about the latino vote in campaign 2020. he is the director of global

migration and dem ogg raffy resouch at the pew research center. just remind our viewers how large a voting bloc latinos made up in 2016, how they voted, and what are the numbers as we head into november 2020? >> in 2016 latinos supported hillary clinton over donald trump but notably donald trump won about almost 28% to 30% of the latino vote. in 2016 about 12 million hispanics voted. what is interesting though is that was less than half of the potential vote that latinos could have had because their voter turnout rate was only 47.6%. by comparison for whites for example it was more like two-thirds. latinos have traditionally voted at rates lower than others. with fast demographic growth we see record turnout of hispanics in terms of the raw number of votes that are cast. this year we look to see about 32 million latinos or at least adults, u.s. citizens, therefore eligible to vote and that is

actually a record up almost 4 million since 2016. >> pew research says the latino share of u.s. electorate projected to reach a new high in 2020 and the latino share of u.s. electorate projected to reach in 2020 is 13.3 million. >> 13.3% of the electorate. and it is possible we could have hit 13 million or so voters. >> what issues appeal to the latino voter? >> it's interesting. this is where i think latinos in many respects look like the u.s. overall. in our most recent poll we found issues like the economy, health care, and the response to the coronavirus and racial and ethnic inequality have been the top issues determining the vote for latino voters this year. interestingly, though, back in december when we did a survey just asking latinos about the most important issues fausicinge country then immigration and the

economy were the top two issues but with the coronavirus impact on latinos economically and in terms of health we see latinos are now placing the economy, health care, and the coronavirus as the top three issues that are most important to their vote in this year's election. >> where does the volcano ans u u -- vacancy of the supreme court and president trump's potential pick rate in the mix of all those issues? >> a great question. in our survey we did back in august we found that the supreme court appointees were cited by 63%, 64% of latino registered voters as an issue important to determining their vote in 2020. that is way below what we see for the economy where over 80% of hispanic registered voters rated the economy as an important issue to their vote. but the supreme court nominee question we asked, before everything that happened with the death of ruth bader ginsburg, does show latinos were already thinking about this as an issue important to their vote in 2020. >> is the issue of abortion

important and who the president picks and their record on that issue? >> the latino public has seen little change in its views on abortion. latinos are generally split about whether it should be legal in all or most cases versus illegal. that is really different from the general u.s. public which has tended to move toward supporting some kind of abortion rights. in our survey in august we found the issue of abortion while important for some latinos wasn't rating as huigh as the supreme court nominee issue or the economy, health care, or coronavirus impact. i would point out for some latinos particularly those who might be evangelical for example or for whom religion is very important, the issue of abortion can be an important issue and it has been in the past. >> we want to welcome our viewers to join in on this conversation. your questions, your comments about the latino vote in 2020. latino voters, your number is

202-748-8000. all others this morning 202-748-8001. also text us. mark hugo lopez, which states should viewers be watching on election ne election night for the latino vote to make the difference? >> well, every election cycle the most important state to watch has been florida. florida looks to be no different this year. in fact, some recent polling from other organizations shows that for example joe biden and donald trump are pretty close to splitting the latino vote in florida while nationally our own research shows that biden has a significant lead among latinos in regard to the presidential race at least as of august. some other states to keep in mind not just florida is important but also arizona. there in arizona 25% of eligible voters in the state are hispanic. other states to watch include north carolina for example and georgia both of which have about 5% of eligible voters in those

states as hispanic. so those are just some of the states to keep an eye on. texas may be another one to keep a close eye on and that is partly because the state has so many hispanic voters, latino voter rich. we'll see what happens. it remains to be seen what the final tally will be but latino voters could be important in those states and maybe even some others. >> we want to talk to latino voters this morning again your number 202-748-8000. here is the pitch the former vooi vice president is making. in florida last week. >> in the midst of this god awful pandemic we've seen more clearly than ever how much we rely on people with hispanic roots to keep our country running. again, that is not an exaggeration. so many of our front line workers are hispanic. the people stocking the grocery shelves, driving the delivery trucks, working in the meat packing plants, staffing our nursing homes or hospitals. these include 200,000 dreamers,

working in those key roles. many of whom are of hispanic heritage and we depend on them. a lot of people who are recognized for the first time by what they truly are, essential. what we do, we don't just need to thank them. we need to pay them. pay them. treat them with dignity. >> his argument there, what do you make of it? >> well, the latino workers are concentrated in fields and occupations for example like hospitality and janitorial services, also farm workers and agriculture and so much of what's happened with the coronavirus economic downturn and who has been identified as essential workers on the one hand has impacted latinos. many do work in meat packing facilities and many didn't have an option really to take time off. but on the other hand when you take a look at for example those

who have been impacted, say working in hotels or restaurants, you'll find that a lot of latinos did lose their jobs and we saw an unemployment rate that shot up to over 18% in april. it's come back down since. it's still high about 10.5% as of august. but it was the biggest increase of any group of americans and it also was the highest there for a while for any group of americans and notably over 20% of hispanic women were unemployed in april of this year when the coronavirus economic impact hit its peak. as hotels, restaurants open up again we are seeing hispanics go back to work but many were impacted and lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus downturn. >> elsa is in jacksonville, florida. latino voter. good morning to you. how do you plan to vote? >> caller: i have no choice. i don't think we have good choices either way. i will be voting for trump because even though i abhor the

personality and, you know, his communication style at times, i think he has made a lot of the correct choices for our country. i don't think latinos are a monolith that vote all together. we cuban americans tend to be more conservative. even there, there are changes. i think the lessons of cuba and venezuela are important and this country, i came as a child in 1960. we came knowing that this country was wonderful. when i came, we got civics education. we learned english. we believed in the values of this country. what's happened is there is no more civics education. people don't understand it is

not about being hispanic or vietnamese or african-american that ultimately we have to be one. and if we don't become one, then we're going to go the way of cuba and venezuela and for the people, my friends and citizens on the left, those of you who don't like the right, you should go visit cuba. you should go be in venezuela. and see that your rights, your freedoms, all that stuff you like to say is going to be taken away from you. this is a wonderful country but it is scary to see what's happening today. >> okay. mr. lopez? >> so elsa is right that the latino vote is not a monolith and it does contain people who have different points of view just like the u.s. public does as well. latinos have tended to lean toward the democratic party but there has been a significant

share at least 25% to 30, maybe one-third of latino voters who might support a republican presidential candidate. it is notable to remember that in 2004 then candidate george bush, republican, won 40% or more of the latino vote according to exit polls. so the latino vote is one that is diverse and depends on the daut who latinos will vote for. your caller's comments about why she is supporting president trump over joe biden are a reflection of what we see some say about why they've made the choices that they made. >> she also made a comment about the cuban vote changing. >> yes. that is something we've seen over time where for example back in 2002 when we did a survey of the hispanic public we found among cuban registered voters there was a large support and identification with the republican party about 60% then saying they were republican or leaned toward the republican party. by 2013 the cuban vote was somewhat more split with about half saying they identified with

or leaned toward the republican party and about 45% or so saying the same for the democratic party. we're working on some new research that will look at this question to see where cubans are today but as just that change alone between 2002 and 2013 shows that the cuban vote is one that is evolving and is changing as people come of age or are born here in the u.s. of cuban origin and as new people arrive from the island because there continue to be new arrivals from cuba over the course of the last 20 years. >> muriel in brooksville, florida, good morning to you. >> caller: good morning. i don't believe in parties. there shouldn't be any more parties. this is what's getting us in trouble. there should be a vote for the person. i cry every time i put the television on and listen. i am going to vote for trump. he may look like he's the one that's starting the trouble but he is not. he is trying to correct this

country. she started the whole thing when she said go in there and all. this is what started and got everybody riled up. what kind of country i cry every morning thinking i'm 83 and i grew up in a beautiful country. and now all of this. and the funny thing is i'm thinking, i mean, who is starting all this trouble? you don't see the chinese -- i mean, they don't cause any trouble in america. that is the greatest thing. >> okay. muriel from florida i want to show our viewers the president's pitch to latino voters. he was at a latinos for trump event in nevada recently and this is what he had to say. >> many hispanic americans came here to pursue the american dream. right? we all want the american dream. i want the american dream. we all want the american dream. you look at what they're asking for it's like the american nightmare or whatever you want to call it. but we want the american dream having left countries that did

not have safe streets, many of you, or your family, your mothers, your fathers. they left countries that were very, very bad. very bad. a lot of problems. and we let this go on you'd have that. i often say we're not going to be another venezuela. we love the people of venezuela. we have tremendous support in miami from venezuelans and cubans. we're not going to let that happen to our country. nobody wants it. you know who wants it least is hispanic americans. they want to see it less than anybody because they know about it more than anybody. >> does that argument resonate with latino voters? >> it is interesting. we've been talking a look at how latinos feel about their place in the united states since donald trump became president. particularly among immigrant hispanics but also those who are u.s. born we find that many in fact about half of all adults say they're concerned about their place in the country since donald trump has become president. that number has grown since the last time we've done our first

look at that question back when he first became president. in terms of violent crime we find the issue of violent crime for latinos is important to their vote for 63% of hispanic registered voters. if you remember a little earlier i mentioned 64% said the same about supreme court appointments. violent crime is on the minds of latinos and gun control and greater restrictions on gun control are also an issue that many latinos say that more restrictions are needed rather than fewer. but again, there is diversity of views on this. not all latinos feel the same about this and when it comes to how latinos see particularly countries like cuba or venezuela for many those are issues that are very important to them about both the relationship with the united states and those countries and what is happening in those countries. but many other hispanics may not necessarily see the issues that are raised by venezuela and cuba as necessarily the same to their groups like for example groups like say mexicans who may be more concerned about other issues like immigration. >> we'll go to delia in miami, a

latino voter. good morning to you. >> caller: good morning. i am a cuban american. i came to this country as a child. the reason my parents brought me here was because they took everything away from us and they practically threatened my father. as a cuban american i can see where the democrats are going. socialism will destroy this country. i have three sons and six grandchildren. where are they going to go? what other country are we going to go to? socialism is destruction. and the people down here not only the cubans, the venezuelans, nicaraguans even the colombians seeing what is happening in venezuela, are horrified that this country will become socialist.

when kamala harris came down here she went to an area which is mainly venezuelan. in that restaurant she was invited to there were not even ten people out there. they kept it quiet where she was going. afterward, when the people found out where she was, there were over a hundred people outside with trump signs. why? because we are not voting for the democrats. thank you very much. >> okay. mr. lopez? >> so among venezuelans recent polling out of the university of north florida finds for example there's very strong support, even more so than among cubans, for donald trump among those who are eligible to vote. notably as your caller mentioned in florida, it is a very towers group of hispanics. you have cubans. venezuelans, nicaraguans,

colombians, all from countries close to either venezuela, cuba, or had some sort of similar change that happened in those countries. when you look at the cuban american vote in the united states about 75% of all cuban americans live in florida. it is the third largest hispanic group and they make up 5% to 6% of all eligible his pan uk voters but because they are so concentrated in florida making up about 30% there their impact on a vote on the hispanic vote particularly is important in a e state like florida. among venezuelans we have 50,000 or so eligible to vote in the state of florida so that gives you a sense of the relative size of the two groups. >> ron in cedar park, texas. hi, ron. >> caller: good morning. i have a question. i would like mr. lopez to address this. i am so curious why -- i live in south texas and have been in

construction for many years -- you have mexican american people who live in south texas. man, they hate the venezuelans, hondurans. those guys come up here and say man what the hell is wrong with you guys? you all speak spanish. you can't get along with each other. this other lady that just got on recently hates socialism. first of all if you're over 65 you hate socialism so bad next time your social security check comes just say i don't want it. the next time you go to the doctors and you pull out your medicare card so wait a minute. this is social uchl. i don't want no socialism. let me just pay for it out of my pocket. you're on the interstaut highwainterstaut -- interstate highways, this is a socialist system. i'm going to take the dirt u little back roads. i don't understand your logic. listen, if you're hispanic, cubans, okay. i hate -- i am a republican. the reason they nullify your vote is you guys are so dwivide.

like black people, normally it's like okay. we're going to be democrats so the majority are democrats. we're democrats. or we're republicans. we vote as a bloc so they respect that. you guys are so damn divided that we don't need to caughter to these people. they can't get -- we don't need to cater to these people. they can't get together themselves. >> there is a diverse set of viewpoints and the support for republicans and democrats has varied across the decades in some sense a reflection of the fact this is a diverse population with diverse points of view but also a group that in more recent elections there's been more attention paid because it is a group that might support democrats and republicans at different levels from election to election. that might lead to more attention to the latino vote especially in key battleground states. that is why you see a lot of discussion around cubans,

venezuelans, and others. puerto ricans are also a group just as large as the cuban vote in florida. the puerto rican vote makes up about 30% of all hispanic eligible voters in the state. when we talk about the hispanic electorate it is very diverse and at times might lean more toward one dacandidate or the other but the candidates do matter and that is why you see support change over the decades. >> ruben is a latino voter in east brunswick, new jersey. do you know who you're going to vote for? >> caller: definitely not trump. biden. i'll vote biden, yes. >> tell us why. >> when the storm maria hit puerto rico, trump -- on his way out everybody was wet supposedly

and said pauper toweper towels since then i thought he was not trustable. the economy, you know, this country made on greed. the more you got the more you want. that makes it a really perfect problem. so i am very much independent. i vote for biden. thank you. >> okay. mr. lopez? >> so as the caller just mentioned puerto rico, this is something that is an interesting story partly because when you see what's happened with hurricanes maria and irma, we've seen an increase in migration at least through 2018 into 2019 and the number of people leaving the island and coming to the u.s. mainland with florida being the largest destination for those migrants. it looks like migration has stopped in the last year or so and looks like perhaps the economic downturn has an impact on decisions of some people to leave or return but because of

the nature of puerto rico, people born there are u.s. s citizens at birth. they are able to par 'tis paut in elections when they move to a state just like anybody who moves state to state can because they are american sut zencitize. that is why people talk a lot about the impact of puerto ricoans in central florida and what it might mean for the outcome of the election. puerto ricans are a growing size or growing number in the state of florida and rival cubans and tend to lean more toward the democratic party than cubans do. >> carol in atlanta, georgia. >> caller: hi. >> question or comment about the latino vote? >> caller: yes. i want to tell you a little bit. i'm glad you can't see my hair is on fire. i'm a 70-year-old white woman who moved where i moved because i am involved every day with a latino population teaching kids after school to read.

it is called agape. when i hear people who are not informed and say this country is going to become socialist, this country if they look and study democracy, there appear to be democracies like hungary or different countries where democracy has failed we are down that road. if you think about just listen to trump's own words, don't listen to what people say about him. listen to what he said. bob woodward has wrutitten a bo on every president since richard nixon. you can listen to trump and look. my brother lives in atlanta but he is in thailand right now because his thai wife and two sons are there and couldn't come back. thailand has had 70 million people, look at national geographic. look at unbiased reporting on this. do you know they have had 58 deaths with 70 million people.

they have had no cases because they still wear masks. when people are uninformed and don't want to be critical thinkers and look at the facts -- i happen to be a christian but i have friend who are muslim, buddhist, but i'm especially upset because as a christian there is no such thing as nonpolitical christianity. and when you refuse to critique this system or the status quo that is fully supporting it, it is just a political act well disguised. i don't have many friends that are for trump but when they turn to me and tell me they are because of the economy i go then what you care about is more money. ronald reagan, staunch conservative and republican, stood on the grounds of character mattered. he was in front of the statue of liberty and had immigrant reform. why don't these people listen to what trump says when he says the pandemic is -- when he lies to them. >> okay. we heard your point. so this issue of character and how does that resonate with the latino voter?

>> it is something that resonates with latinos as with the general u.s. public and i think you'll find latinos care about the character of candidates. you'll also see in the past latinos supported in the 1980s ronald reagan in the 1980 elections in '80 and '84 with about 35% of the vote at the time. it was a very different population then than now. your caller also made another important point about the impact of the coronavirus on the united states. when you take a look at how latinos see how the united states has performed on that the hispanic public says the united states has not done very well when compared to other countries. only 30% give it a positive rating. when you look at the impact of the virus you'll find 7% of latino adults tell us they've tested positive for the coronavirus, which is higher than any other racial or ethnic group and the second part of this is 14% tell us that they are pretty sure they have the virus even if they didn't get tested so you have about 22% or so of latinos telling us they've either tested positive or were

pretty sure they had the virus. now, that is higher than it is for other groups of americans. so notably the impact of the coronavirus and the views latinos have on this is an important part of perhaps determining their vote at least that is what they tell us according to our surveys. >> we'll go to ramone in miami a latino voter. what issues are important to you? >> caller: my issue is one country one rule. we come to this country for opportunities because those opportunities are created by the rules. changing the rules of the senate for the confirmation of a judge and using a cuban american and the short list is an insult. it will change the elections. i am an independent voter. the majority of the latino voters in florida are independent. i voted for trump. he doesn't stand up and put forward one country one rule, he's done. he'll lose florida. and if he loses florida he loses

the election. >> all right. mr. lopez, i want your thoughts on latino voters in florida being independent. >> so you take a look at voter registrations in florida and this is one of the states that gives us a look into the registration of voters by race ethnicity. the single largest group as your caller just mentioned are people who have what are called no party affiliation. neither identified with the democrats or the republicans. now, that is a single largest group among registered hispanic voters in the state of florida and it is the fastest growing group as well. but in the election and in some polling that has come out of florida in recent weeks, it's clear that the hispanic vote is somewhat split between biden and trump although again these polls are relatively small sample sizes so they have large margins of error and it is hard to tell where we are but even so in the past florida, hispanic voters have tended to support republicans and democrats just about equal shares with obama winning the hispanic vote in

2012 and 2008 in florida. >> in our last hour of "the washington journal" we're kicking off our battleground series for the week and our state today is wisconsin. talk about the latino vote in states where people may not suspect they could have a difference. >> one of the big stories about the hispanic population in the last 20 to 30 years has been the dispersion around the country and wisconsin while it may not have the size of an electorate of hispanic population that matches say florida, it is one where the number of hispanics living in the state has grown and hispanics make up about 2% to 3% of eligible voters in the state. doesn't sound like a lot but in a close election that could be important. and it is a growing population. that's true by the way in places like minnesota as well and the upper northwest and in fact the fastest growing hispanic populations have been in north dakota and south dakota over the last ten years. >> you can find more of the research done by mark hugo lopez and his colleagues at the pew

research center if you go to pewresearch.org. mr. lopez is the global migration dem graphy researcher and thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you very much. ♪ i can feel it in the air ♪ ♪ i've been waiting for this moment for all my life ♪ ♪ hold on ♪ i can feel it coming in the air ♪ ♪ i been waiting for this moment

for all my life hold on ♪ ♪ i can feel it in the air ♪ hold on hold on ♪ i've been waiting for this moment all my life hold on ♪ ♪ i can feel it in the air ♪ hold on hold on ♪

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