The midterm elections are approaching, and the polls paint a dark picture for a Democratic Party that in the time it has been governing has led the country to have the highest inflation in decades, historic crime levels, skyrocketing gas prices, schools flooded with gender ideology and critical race theory, and a foreign policy plagued by mistakes.
Among the numbers showing widespread disapproval of President Biden, one community, in particular, stands out: the Hispanic community. According to a Quinnipiac University poll, Hispanics are the group that least approves of the president’s performance; Biden only has a 26% approval rating within the Hispanic community.
For its part, the Republican Party seems to be beginning to understand the importance of the Hispanic community and is gradually undertaking initiatives to communicate with Hispanics. Recently, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) launched “Operation Vamos” which aims to establish new channels of communication with Hispanics and win their vote in several important states.
Senator Rick Scott is the Chairman of the NRSC and has years of experience with the Hispanic community. Today, we talk with him about the importance of the Hispanic vote, the new initiatives of the Republican Party, and what may happen in the midterm elections.
Polls show that Biden’s approval among Hispanics is dropping. What do you think are the main reasons for the Democratic downfall?
I think Hispanics are smart, they’re aspirational they want jobs, they want their kids to get a good education, they want to live in a safe community, and you look at the Biden’s plan: it’s number one in high inflation, poor job growth, Critical Race Theory in school, Defund the Police. So, Hispanics are smart; they know that’s bad for their families, and they don’t want their families to become dependent on the government. So, they’re rejecting Biden’s plan and the Democrat’s plan. So, it’s actually quite simple.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee has launched “Operación Vamos.”Could you tell us about this new project? What can Hispanics expect from Operación Vamos?
Well, I had two statewide governor races and a Senate race, and I’ve won the Hispanic vote in my races because Hispanics are smart, they’re Republicans, and we spend a lot of time reaching out to them. What we’re going to do with the senate committee and Operation Vamos, is having a grassroots campaign in nine out of our states to focus on getting the Hispanic vote out. And I think we’re going to have a record turnout of Hispanic votes in generations this year, and it’s going to help us win more seats than people can imagine.
You have great support among the Hispanic community and have worked with this community for years, but this doesn’t happen with the entire Party. What are those issues in which the Republican Party should improve to prevent the Democratic Party from taking the Latino votes, as for decades they have achieved with the African American communities.
I think right now, Joe Biden is our best recruiter. His policies are so bad, and Hispanics see how bad his policies are. That’s going to help us. But I also think it’s important that Republicans all across the country reach out to the Hispanic community. Hispanics are Republicans; they will vote Republican when they meet their Republican candidate that reaches out to them and talks about issues important to them.
My experience with Hispanics: they’re aspirational, they believe in God, they want a good job, they are scared to death of inflation, they want their kids to do well in school, they want their kids not to be dependent on government, they want to live in a safe neighborhood. So those are things we ought to be talking to them about.
They want border security, they want to make sure that there are no drugs coming across the border, and they’re Republicans. So, we’ve got to reach out to them, and when we campaign to get their vote. They’re going to vote with us if we talk to them. That’s what I did, and Republicans have to do that across the country.
Senator, what is your opinion about what is happening on the border and Biden’s intention to end Title 42. Why do you think the President is so lenient on illegal immigration?
I don’t understand why the President doesn’t care about the security of our border. Countries have borders, now under Biden, we don’t have a border. The border is completely open. It’s not good, we all understand it’s not good for us. It’s not good.
There are people that want to come and live our dream. There should be a legal way for them to do that. There are people that want to bring drugs across, they ought to be in prison instead. There are terrorists that want to cross, they want to come across, and they should never be allowed in our country. So, we have to secure a border, we can’t eliminate Title 42; here’s what’s crazy: the Biden administration is still asking for more money to fight Covid, but then say there’s no Covid coming across our southern border, that doesn’t make sense.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said that the Biden administration has “effectively handled” the border crisis. What is your opinion about this statement?
That is a complete lie. The Biden administration, led by Secretary Mayorkas, has created a completely open border where so many drugs are coming across our border, now that 105,000 people died of drug overdose this last year. We have terrorists that have come across the border, we know terrorists have come across the border. So, the Biden administration and Secretary Mayorkas have made a decision that we will not have a border under this president.
Senator, these days there is a wide debate about Twitter and about the role of the media in general. How much do you think the political activism of the media has harmed the Republican Party?
Well, I’ll give you an example. There’s a report out that Google has put about 68% of Republican fundraising emails to Gmail accounts in spam and only 8% of Democrats, which does two things: it’s impacted significantly impacted Republican candidates’ ability to raise money. We think in the last election cycle would have been about $1.5 billion, and impacted Republican candidates’ ability to talk to Republican voters. And so, this is clearly a campaign contribution by Google to the Democrat Party, and these social media platforms that want to do this, we’re going to go after them, for illegal campaign contributions to Democrats.
Finally, these days there is a wide debate about Twitter and about the role of the media in general. How much do you think the political activism of the media has harmed the Republican party?
Well, I think it’s important that Republic candidates go talk to them, let them know that we are very appreciative of their hard work. They’re Americans, they’re primarily Americans. They will vote Republican when we talk to them. So, it’s important, to talk to people including Hispanics, but a lot of it is trying to go out and meet Hispanics all across whatever area you represent. That’s what I did in Florida, and that’s why I was able to win the Hispanic vote. Hispanics clearly agree with Republicans on the issues. We just have to go out and talk to them.
Vanessa Vallejo. Co-editor-in-chief of El American. Economist. Podcaster. Political and economic analysis of America. Colombian exile in the United States // Vanessa Vallejo. Co-editora en jefe de El American. Economista. Podcaster. Análisis político y económico de América. Colombiana exiliada en EE. UU.