Increased Trump support from Latino voters not suprising - or as hopeless as you'd think

09 November 2024

On the face of it, the increase in the number of Latino Trump voters seems bewildering - how could people vote against their own interests like that? Taking a closer look, it's both more and less depressing than you might think.


 


There have been almost as many online takes as Tuesday's US election result as voters, so I'm going to jump right on the bandwagon. Look, so much of what's come out of the last week has been horrible, depressing and incomprehensible, and one of the many causes for bewildered despair is the huge increase in percentage of Latinos voting for Trump; Trump's share of the Latino vote increased to 45%, up from 32% in 2020.  Given that Trump has amped the racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric higher than his blood pressure medication in the last year or two -  particularly towards arrivals from Central and South America - how could Latino voters support a candidate who demonises them like this?


The critical view would be that Latinos supporting Trump were of the urge to pull the ladder up behind them - the mindset of those who have benefited from certain conditions in society, and having done so fear that those benefits being available to others will reduce the role the hard work and determination they themselves put in; therefore, those conditions should end with them.  


A more negative view still is that Latino Trump supporters are voting for the Leopards Eating Peoples Faces Party. Whatever Trump says about Mexicans, Venezuealans and others of Latino heritage, he doesn't mean them



Both takes embody a depressingly cynical take on human nature, a completely individualistic view attributed to Latino voters who marked Trump on their ballots with the joy of "fuck you, I got mine" in their hearts, just as Trump voters generally are usually viewed - with good reason - as short sighted, ignorant and solipsistic. There's lots of that, sure. 


But there's a less depressingly selfish, if more societally terrifying, reason that Trump's support increased among Latino voters - support that would only have risen the more Trump railed against his perceived enemies south of the Rio Grande. As humans, one of our innate desires is to fit in, to be recognised as part of the larger group, part of larger society. Millions of years ago, our distant genetic ancestors decided this hanging out in trees business blows; blows us right out of them sometimes, and we'd be better off hanging out on the ground. We were easy prey down there though, so we started hanging around in groups so we could divide up the work and make sure someone was always on the lookout for predators. It's been nearly 10,000 years since humans established the first city, deciding wading through cow pats was rather tedious when they'd rather have wine bars and independent book stores.


People of Latino heritage whose families been in the US for generations don't see themselves as immigrants at all. They're proud of their heritage, but first they're Americans - and they want to prove it. They came to America legally, they've worked hard, paid taxes, served in the military. They feel no connection to unauthorised migrants, to the hundreds of thousands of people trying to flee South and Central America. So when Trump demonises these people, they think "that's not us." They want to situate themselves as part of the law abiding citizenry of America, not connected to the Other that doesn't belong, that Trump demonises. And so the more hateful Trump's rhetoric becomes, the more they smile and agree. Those people Trump is talking about, the criminals and illegals - they're a threat to us as real Americans! 


"I understand what [migrants] are leaving. But you have to do it the right way. I came the right way. Things have to be done legally. Many of us were worried that the borders were just open" 


"Our parents and grandparents came to this country with the dream of starting businesses, to better themselves, now we are the ones who live the American dream. People who have gained citizenship or a right to be in the country legally, they know the struggle they went through to get there, they feel kind of cheated by someone skipping all those steps."


"My mum came from Panama but she did it the proper way, she learnt English, and now she loves America … that's how you have to do it. Donald Trump is going to close the floodgates, send them back, you know come to our country, we will welcome people in but only if they do it the right way." 


Remarks like this could be seen as a selfish urge on these voters to pull the ladder up behind them, but in an attempt to find some light in the murky swamp that's everything right now, I prefer to see it as an expression of the natural human desire to belong to the group - even if in this case, it's the group Trump approves of. And Latino voters are as diverse as any other in their concerns - which include the economy and whatever battle of the culture wars is being fought this week. Some of them condemn the Biden administration's coddling of Israeli massacres of Palestinian civilians, and some of them believe tariffs on foreign imports are paid by the country  of origin - and not by they themselves, consumers.


And it's important to bear in mind Latino Trump voters are still in the minority. 54% of Latino voters voted for someone else. 


 On the other hand, there's no excuse for the rise in Trump support amongs Zoomers. We're all doomed. (I told you the Democrats should have gone with Dave Grohl). 

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