Is Donald Trump losing his Latino base?

Americast

BBC

Politics, Government, News

4.2 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 August 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One of the biggest stories of last year’s presidential election was Donald Trump’s success with Latino voters which led him to win crucial swing states in the battle for the White House.

While the Democrats still won the popular vote nationwide, there was no question that Trump’s messaging on the economy appealed to voters worried about the cost of living.

Eight months on from that victory, are Latinos still with Trump? Recent polling suggest that doubts are growing about the president’s ability to ease the cost of living. With the midterm elections roughly a year away, are Latino voters going to turn their back on the president, and will they go back to the Democrats?

Justin and Sarah are joined by veteran Latino pollster Mike Madrid, who talks us through why Latinos could leave Trump as quick as they arrived, and why it shouldn’t be assumed that they’ll go back to the Democrats.

HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 presenter • Sarah Smith, North America Editor

GUEST: • Mike Madrid, Latino Republican pollster & author of ‘The Latino Century’

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This episode was made by George Dabby with Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:04.8	We're going to revisit one of the biggest surprises of the 2024 election,
0:09.3	the huge numbers of Latino voters who backed Donald Trump.
0:13.5	Normally, they're pretty solid reserve for the Democrats,
0:16.8	but instead Latinos came out in their highest ever numbers
0:19.6	for a Republican candidate in modern times.
0:22.5	But might he be losing some of that support already?
0:25.7	There are questions around ice raids targeting undocumented migrants across the country,
0:30.9	global tariffs and the persistently lagging economy.
0:34.4	Some Latinos are saying this is not what they voted for in November, so can the
0:38.6	president keep hold of them for the midterms? Welcome to AmeriCast. Americaast from BBC News.
0:47.9	You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III.
0:52.9	President Trump's message is very simple. We are done being taken advantage of.
0:56.8	Mr. President, in the name of our God, have mercy upon the people. We're scared now.
1:02.3	Are you supportive of these onesies?
1:04.3	I'm supportive of vaccines.
1:05.9	What is happening? Like, this is not America. This is a terrible nightmare.
1:10.3	This is what victory feels like.
1:13.8	Yeah.
1:23.1	Hello, it's Sarah here in the BBC's Bureau in Washington, D.C.
1:26.6	And it's Justin, out west, west of England, in the Fair City of Bath.
1:31.7	Well, we're going to be heading west in American terms in this episode, Justin,
	...

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