Donald Trump's speech on immigration has put "another nail in the coffin" where Hispanic support for his candidacy for the White House is concerned, and did nothing to grow his number of Latino supporters, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Javier Palomarez said Thursday morning.
"I don't know if you guys speak Spanish, but I want you to remember this one word: 'payaso' Palomarez told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "It means 'clown.' This guy is a complete clown."
The speech, coming on the heels of a visit to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico City earlier in the day, marked an opportunity for Trump to grow his numbers beyond his base of supporters, Palomarez said, but that didn't happen.
"I think he's done for with the Hispanic community," said Palomarez. "He's never going to see the White House if he doesn't get a significant portion of the Hispanic vote . . . I'm really sad for the American people and for the Republican Party.
"They had an opportunity to put [Ohio Gov.] John Kasich front and center. Instead, they ended up with this payaso, and it's a complete waste of time."
The nation has to get on with other matters, said Palomarez, as there is more to worry about.
"Immigration reform is a monster that he created so he could slay it at the end of the day," said Palomarez. "It's not going to change things for this nation as we move forward here. We got to deal with a broken immigration system, obviously. But it's got to be done in a strategic fashion that makes sense."
But instead, Trump has projected a "movement of hatred" that "doesn't solve anything."
Palomarez also does not believe Trump can do anything to change the tide of his numbers where Hispanic voters are concerned.
"The reality of it is, there was great work done by the likes of John McCain and Jeff Flake and John Cornyn and others, that are compassionate conservatives that were trying to broaden the tent and bring a broader consistency, constituency into the Republican Party," he continued, but Trump has brought their efforts to a halt and "there is no going back."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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