













Trump's Univision Town Hall Responses Turned Off Latino Voters


























 

































 


 























































































×


 


 























×




			Skip to main content		


















 Rollingstone Logo







Click to expand the Mega Menu








Click to Expand Search Input














	Music



	Politics



	TV & Movies



	Culture



	RS Recommends









	Got A Tip?




	Account




	Welcome



	Manage Account



	Manage Print Account



	Sign Out







	Log In




















Click to expand the Mega Menu








Click to Expand Search Input










 Rollingstone Logo






	Politics



	
		
					Univision Town Hall Participants Unimpressed With ‘Arrogant’ Trump		
			





Facebook







X







email










	Got A Tip?




	Account




	Welcome



	Manage Account



	Manage Print Account



	Sign Out







	Log In


















 













										Adiós						
 









Univision Town Hall Participants Unimpressed With ‘Arrogant’ Trump
Participants in the event expressed frustration with the former president in interviews with Rolling Stone








							By 

	Nikki McCann Ramirez





	
		
					Nikki McCann Ramirez		
			







	Trump’s D.C. Prosecutor Declares: ‘We Will Protect DOGE’



	Trump Sides With Putin, Trashes Zelensky as a ‘Dictator’



	Musk Argues ‘Democracy’ Is Trump Being Able to Do Whatever He Wants





	View all posts by Nikki McCann Ramirez







	October 18, 2024	















Donald Trump during a Univision Noticias town hall on Oct. 16, 2024, in Doral, Florida. 
Joe Raedle/Getty Images







	Undecided Latino voters who participated in Donald Trump’s Univision town hall on Wednesday were left deeply unimpressed by the former president.

	Three participants in the event expressed their frustration over Trump’s failure to answer them directly or explain his policy proposals in interviews with Rolling Stone. Two of them indicated that their experience with the former president has solidified their decision to vote for his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, while the other says he is still undecided. 

	José Saralegui, a registered Republican, said he was “very disappointed” in Trump’s performance. During the town hall, Saralegui asked the former president about his frequent invocation of conspiracy theories — and if he truly believed the false claims he’s been spreading about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio. Trump responded by doubling down on his unfounded accusations that migrants in the town are eating local pets. “I wasn’t amazed by any of his answers,” he said.

	










	“His rhetoric hasn’t changed,” he said, adding that he didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020. “I heard the things he was saying about us Mexicans. He’s let it go now — because now he’s going after the poor Haitians — but during the first campaign he painted us as rapists, diseased people, anything you can think of.” 

	Saralegui added that you could see “how the audience was surprised by Trump’s attitude, his answers,” describing the former president as “totally disingenuous” and “arrogant.” 

	“I’m a Republican, but I’m going to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris,” Saralegui told Rolling Stone, adding that he had been present at Harris’ own Univision town hall earlier this month and found her to be more coherent, more presidential, and more grounded than Trump. “Tiene muchos pantalones” — she has a lot of guts — he said.  

	Guadalupe Ramírez, an Illinois voter whose parents participated in the Bracero Program, told Rolling Stone she came to the town hall with an “open mind,” and a desire to hear “directly from the horse’s mouth,” says she’s now 99 percent sure she’s voting for Harris. 





	
		Editor’s picks
	
	











	
	
		
					The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time		
	














	
	
		
					The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far		
	














	
	
		
					The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time		
	














	
	
		
					The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time		
	








	Ramírez asked Trump about his plans to reform the American immigration system, and why he used his influence to tank a bipartisan border bill earlier this year. Having worked with migrants, both documented and undocumented, Ramírez feels that the former president often mischaracterizes and wrongly maligns refugees and asylum seekers as “illegals,” when they in fact have legal status and are “active participants in society” with jobs and families. She would like to see a path to citizenship for DACA recipients and other migrants. 

	










	Trump responded to her question by blaming migrants for the crime rate in Chicago, and claiming that “everything the Democrats run is bad.” His rambling response, which failed to address her question, as well as his claims that Americans broadly supported the overturning of Roe v. Wade in response to a separate question, were off-putting to Ramírez. 

	His answer on abortion wasn’t “truthful,” she told Rolling Stone, citing research showing broad public support for protections on reproductive rights and the preservation of Roe. When asked how participants she spoke to felt after the event, Ramírez said the general impression she got was that Trump had done little to sway undecided voters his way — the “opposite,” in fact, she said. 

	Trump “didn’t give us concrete answers,” Jorge Velázquez, a self-described Republican who also participated in the town hall told Rolling Stone. “He didn’t give anyone convincing answers.” Velázquez, an agricultural worker who questioned Trump about the possibility that his plans for mass deportations would raise the prices of produce, says that the former president’s rhetoric about immigrants feels like “he’s humiliating us every time.” 





	
		Related Content
	
	






	
	
		
					Trump Admin. Spends Big Taxpayer Money on Ads Thanking Trump		
	









	
	
		
					Judge Says States Have ‘Strong’ Case Against Musk, but Rejects Restraining Order		
	









	
	
		
					Trump Administration Wants to Let Banks Jack Up Overdraft Fees		
	









	
	
		
					FAA Employees Say Trump and Musk’s Purge Is a ‘Threat’ to Air Safety		
	








	Velázquez, who remains undecided and feels he needs to do a little more digging into each candidate’s platform, added that on immigration the two parties “usually do the same thing, the only difference is that [Harris] doesn’t insult us.” 

	In his conversations with other attendees, Velázquez says the group of voters felt dissatisfied with the answers they got from Trump, and that he’d simply “given the spin” to their questions. 

	Both Velázquez and Saralegui referenced a viral interaction between Trump and another attendee, Ramiro González, as a benchmark for how town-hall attendees felt about the former president. González, who did not respond to an interview request from Rolling Stone, questioned Trump directly about Jan. 6, and asked him point blank why he should vote for him when former members of his own administration — including former Vice President Mike Pence — have publicly disavowed him. 

	Trump responded by quickly dismissing the criticism from his ex-officials and advisers, and he described the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as a “day of love.” González — a former registered Republican — didn’t bother to hide his skepticism, throwing the former president a pointed look of incredulity. 

	In an interview after the town hall, González stated that he didn’t get the answer he was looking for. “I saw what happened, I watched the television, and I’ve seen many news clips about what happened that day,” he said. “I’m not voting for him.” 



	Saralegui, who described himself as a lifelong Republican and spoke to González, says that “once the MAGA movement leaves the Republican Party, I might once again become a Republican.” 

	“Primero la patria que el partido,” he adds — first patriotism, then the party. 
 




In this article:



	2024 Election,



	Donald Trump,



	Immigration,



	Latinos,



	Univision









	Politics



	Politics Features











More News 






















	
		
					DOGE Finds Zero Fraud, Waste, or Abuse, Just New Ways to Harm Veterans		
			





	Commentary





						By 

	
Michael Embrich 

























	
		
					Trump’s D.C. Prosecutor Declares: ‘We Will Protect DOGE’		
			





	Operation Whirlwind





						By 

	
Nikki McCann Ramirez, Andrew Perez, and Asawin Suebsaeng 

























	
		
					Trump Sides With Putin, Trashes Zelensky as a 'Dictator'		
			





	War Games





						By 

	
Nikki McCann Ramirez and Asawin Suebsaeng 

























	
		
					Trump Orders Independent Agencies to Follow His Read of the Law, Not the Courts		
			





	Executive Power





						By 

	
Nikki McCann Ramirez 

























	
		
					Elon Musk’s Empty Hunt for Condoms Is Causing Real Harm		
			





	Global Health





						By 

	
Mac William Bishop 










	Read more
	

































	
		
					How to Buy ‘Rolling Stone Presents: Amplified, the Immersive Rock Experience’ Tickets Online		
			





	Play It Loud






	Feb 18, 2025 9:00 am	



















	
		
					Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's Home 'Ransacked' During Valentine's Day Burglary		
			





	BREAK-IN






	10 mins ago	



















	
		
					Perfume Genius and Aldous Harding Whip Up the Wildest Batch of Waffles in 'No Front Teeth' Video		
			





	Freshly Made






	25 mins ago	



















	
		
					Casting Call for Green Day-Inspired Comedy Searches for 'Punks, Emo, Hardcore, Alt' Extras		
			





	Come One, Come All






	54 mins ago	






















	
	
		
					Top stories newsletter		
	


A Cultural Force That Transcends Generations 



Enter your Email















		By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
				We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.	



























 Go to PMC.com






	
		Most Popular
	
	








	
	
		
					The 100 Greatest TV Performances of the 21st Century		
	











	
	
		
					Bath & Body Works' Early Presidents' Day Deals Include Luxury Fragrance Dupes for Jo Malone, PHLUR & YSL for Just $6		
	











	
	
		
					Blink-182 Cofounder Mark Hoppus to Sell $5 M. Banksy Painting at Sotheby's in London		
	











	
	
		
					Drake Takes More Shots At Kendrick Lamar And Joe Budden On ‘$ome $exy $ongs 4 U’		
	










	
		You might also like
	
	














	
	
		
					‘Mesrine’ Filmmaker Jean-François Richet Signs With CAA (EXCLUSIVE)		
	


	1 hour ago	


















	
	
		
					Pura Vida Debuts First Collaboration With Casely With Vibrant Tech Accessories Including Phone Cases, Power Pods and More		
	


	2 hours ago	


















	
	
		
					The Best Yoga Mats for Any Practice, According to Instructors		
	


	11 months ago	


















	
	
		
					‘The Quiet Ones’ Review: A Terse and Brutal Heist Thriller About the Biggest Robbery in Danish History		
	


	5 hours ago	


















	
	
		
					Daytona 500 Sees 12% TV Audience Gain Despite Rain Delay		
	


	3 hours ago	




































Rolling Stone



	Music



	Politics



	TV & Movies



	Culture



	Staff



	Contact



	Advertise




Legal



	Privacy Policy



	Terms of Use



	AdChoices



	PMC Entertainment



	California Privacy Rights



	Your Privacy Choices



	EU Privacy Preferences



	Accessibility



	Policy on Anonymous Sources








	
	
		
					Follow Us		
	










	Facebook
	











	Instagram
	











	TikTok
	











	X
	











	YouTube
	












	
	
		
					Newsletter Signup		
	




Enter Your Email




		Subscribe	

















	
	
		
					Got a Hot News Tip?		
	

We want to hear it. Send us a tip using our anonymous form.


		Send Us a Tip	





		By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
				We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.	












Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

	Powered by WordPress.com VIP




Our Sites



	Art in America



	Artforum



	Artnews



	ATX TV



	ATX TV Festival



	BGR



	Billboard



	BlogHer



	Deadline



	Flow Space



	Footwear News



	Gold Derby



	IndieWire



	LA3C



	Life is Beautiful



	Robb Report



	Rolling Stone



	SheKnows



	Soaps



	Sourcing Journal



	Sportico



	Spy



	StyleCaster



	The Hollywood Reporter



	TVLine



	Variety



	Vibe



	WWD















	Log In




	Welcome



	Manage Account



	Manage Print Account



	Sign Out






	Music




	News



	Features



	Lists



	Album Reviews



	Live Reviews



	Artists You Need To Know



	Songs You Need To Know



	RS Country



	RS Latin






	Politics




	News



	Features



	Lists






	TV & Movies




	News



	Features



	Lists



	Recaps



	Reviews






	Video & Photos




	Photos



	Videos



	The Cover



	Musicians on Musicians






	Culture




	News



	Features



	Lists



	Creators



	RS Gaming






	RS Films







	RS Recommends




	Reviews



	RS Essentials



	RS Audio Awards



	Gift Guides






	Culture Council











Subscription Icon










		Follow Us	




Facebook







Instagram







TikTok







X







YouTube










		Alerts & Newsletters	




Email Address

















		By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
				We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services.	









ad


















































 




How the fuck are people still undecided? 

Those voters just completely ignored reality for the past 10 years where he makes racist comments to everybody?