Poll: Hispanics unhappy with Trump but still learning about other GOP candidates
The bombastic businessman Donald Trump has a poor reputation among U.S. Hispanics, according to a new poll, but there's still an opportunity for the other Republican 2016 candidates to make a positive impression.
Of the roughly 650 Hispanics that Gallup has surveyed since early July, just 14 percent have said they view Trump favorably, while 65 percent said they view him unfavorably. Gallup has been tracking impressions of all the major candidates in the running on a daily basis since July 8. The margin of error in the survey is 5 percentage points.
With a net favorable score of -51, Trump is far more unpopular than any other candidate among Hispanics. The next-most unpopular candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz and former Gov. Rick Perry, both have net favorable scores of -7.
However, most Hispanics aren't familiar with the 2016 candidates, aside from Trump and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. According to Gallup, 79 percent of Hispanics are familiar with Trump, while 57 percent are familiar with Bush. No other GOP candidate breaks the 50 percent threshold. Just 43 percent of Hispanics are familiar with Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio, while 41 percent are familiar with Perry. Hispanics are least familiar with former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore (14 percent), former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (17 percent), and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (17 percent).
Out of the entire GOP field, Bush so far fares the best among Hispanics, with 34 percent saying they view him favorably and 23 percent saying they view him unfavorably. That gives him a +11 net favorable score, making him the only GOP candidate to break into positive double digits.
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has tried to make a dent in Bush's standing among Hispanics, calling him out for mimicking Donald Trump's use of the derogatory term "anchor babies."
