Some members of Trump's Hispanic advisory board consider pulling support
Some of Donald Trump’s Hispanic advisory board are reportedly reconsidering their support Thursday, following the Republican nominee’s hardline speech on immigration policy in Phoenix, Arizona the previous night.
That’s according to another Hispanic Trump adviser, who told CBSN contributor Leslie Sanchez that a few of the 23 board members could yank their support for the billionaire.
At least two Hispanic Trump surrogates resigned from the council after Trump’s speech: Politico reported Jacob Monty’s departure, and the Washington Post said Texas businessman Massey Villareal also left. Others are also considering leaving the council. And some, who are not publicly withdrawing their support, told Sanchez that they no longer want to be associated with the GOP nominee.
Ramiro Pena, another member of the council, is reconsidering his support, too, and sent an email to top Trump and RNC officials, according to Politico.
“I am so sorry but I believe Mr. Trump lost the election tonight,” wrote Pena, who is a pastor at Waco’s Christ the King Church. “The ‘National Hispanic Advisory Council’ seems to be simply for optics and I do not have the time or energy for a scam.”
Sanchez pointed to the flip in tone between Trump’s immigration-focused events on Wednesday as one reason the Hispanic leaders are dissatisfied with the campaign.
“They were doing high-fives” with Trump’s visit to Mexico, Sanchez reported on CBSN, noting that his meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto seemed respectful and presidential. “But the speech in Phoenix was an ender for them.”
“It sounded angry,” Sanchez said. “It was this dark approach... [Trump] doesn’t have compassion or a real solution and they just won’t tolerate it.”
Trump has gathered his National Hispanic Advisory Council -- which was created last month and is made up of several faith, civic, and business leaders -- just once, at a meeting in Manhattan’s Trump Tower about two weeks ago.
After the meeting, some of the Hispanic leaders present concluded Trump seemed to be open to “softening” his views on illegal immigration and the deportation of undocumented immigrants. But after weeks of muddling his message further, Trump, in a blistering speech Wednesday evening in Arizona, said every immigrant in the U.S. illegally would be subject to deportation, and he would create a “deportation task force.”
Update: This report was corrected to reflect the number of Hispanic members of Trump’s advisory council and the estimate of the number of members who are considering resigning.