Seven in 10 Latinos disapprove of Trump, report says

Oct. 25, 2018 / 6:58 PM GMT

By Sandra Lilley

A large majority of Latinos disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling his job, far more than the general public, according to a survey released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

Pew also found a steep rise in the number of Hispanics who think things in the country have gotten worse — the highest share, in fact, since the Great Recession — as well as a significant increase in the number who think Trump’s policies have harmed Latinos. Hispanics are also more pessimistic about their own financial outlook, despite an improving economy.

While virtually all of those surveyed said they were proud to be Latino, over half said it’s now harder to live in the country as a Hispanic, and a majority worry someone they know could be deported.

Yet the survey found strong partisan differences in the way Trump’s presidency is viewed, with the majority of Hispanic Republicans approving of his performance.

Oct. 25, 201820:32

Moreover, the overall dissatisfaction among Latinos for Trump has not necessarily translated to stronger support for the Democratic Party, at least among registered voters.

While a large majority of Hispanic registered voters say they would vote for the Democratic candidate in a congressional race — by a factor of 2-to-1 — fewer Latinos say the Democratic Party has more concern for Hispanics compared to years past.

Moreover, the Republican Party saw an increase in the number of registered Hispanics who identify or lean Republican.

With less than two weeks before the Nov. 6 midterms, Latinos expressed a greater interest in the election than in previous midterms, according to the survey. But there is uncertainty whether this translates to higher Latino turnout, which has been historically low between presidential elections.

Here are the report’s main takeaways:

• Seven in 10 (69 percent) of Latinos don’t approve of the president’s job performance; only one in 5 (22 percent) approve. By contrast, 55 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump and 38 percent approve.
• About four in 10 (38 percent) Hispanics say they’ve either been called offensive names, told to go back to their country, been criticized for speaking Spanish or experienced discrimination.
• Nearly four in 10 Hispanics (37 percent) said that in the last 12 months, someone has expressed support for them because they’re Latino.
• About two-thirds of Latinos think Trump’s policies have been harmful to Hispanics. This differs greatly from Latinos’ views in 2010 during the Obama administration (15 percent) and in 2007 under George W. Bush’s tenure (41 percent).
• But there’s a partisan divide. Only 36 percent of Latino Republicans think Trump’s policies have harmed Latinos, compared to 81 percent of Latino Democrats.
• Six in 10 Latinos say they’re not satisfied with how things are going in the U.S. country today, the highest since 2008 during the Great Recession, when it was 70 percent.
• Only 33 percent thought their personal financial situation was “excellent” or “good” compared to 40 percent in 2015, especially among foreign-born Hispanics.
• Regardless of legal status, a majority of Hispanics (55 percent) worry “a lot” or “some” that a close friend, family member or themselves could be deported, up from 47 percent in 2017.
• Fewer than a quarter of all Latinos surveyed (23 percent) identify as or lean Republican. But among them, 59 percent approve of Trump’s job performance.
• Among registered voters, 27 percent identify with or lean to the Republican party, compared to a low of 20 percent in 2011.
• Among registered voters, 62 percent of Latino voters identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party.
• About half (48 percent) of Latino registered voters say the Democratic Party has more concern for Latinos than the Republican party, while 32 percent think there’s no difference between parties and 14 percent say Republicans have more concern.

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