Lopez: The GOP losing Hispanic support is a massive self-own

"President Donald Trump's support among Hispanics was always more fragile than he thought. Now his immigration and economic policies have all but obliterated the gains Republicans made with this group gains they had started to count on for the midterms and beyond. A new Pew Research Center Poll shows that Trump's disapproval rating among Hispanics has soared to 70%, with 51% signaling very strong disapproval. His job approval rating among this group has plummeted to 27%."

"It's a historic collapse, he told me bluntly, emphatically, as if the political establishment hasn't quite grasped the magnitude yet. Should it continue, this could become one of the biggest self-owns in political history. Trump, after all, had succeeded where countless other Republicans had failed. His 2024 support from Hispanics was the highest of any Republican candidate in presidential history."

"That may seem contradictory, but Madrid said that for years, Democrats had operated on the assumption that all Hispanics opposed border enforcement. There has been a rightward shift among every naturalized immigrant group in the country, he told me. During the campaign, Hispanics saw in Trump a strong leader who could return them to the pre-pandemic economy of his first term, with low interest rates, rising wages and the prospect of advancement."

Trump's approval among Hispanic voters has fallen sharply, with a Pew poll showing 70% disapproval (51% very strong) and 27% job approval. Immigration and economic policies have largely erased Republican gains with Hispanics that had been expected to influence midterms. GOP strategists characterize the decline as a historic collapse with potential major political consequences. Trump had previously achieved record Hispanic support in 2024, including 51% among naturalized Hispanic citizens, driven in part by an aspirational economic message and younger Hispanics' openness to GOP economic opportunity. Shifts in immigrant political alignment and assumptions about border politics shaped earlier gains now at risk.

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