Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Trump screwed himself when he screwed Latino voters

Trump screwed himself when he screwed Latino voters 

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/9/800052690/elections/david-valadao-latino-voters-trump-midterms/ 

Trump screwed himself when he screwed Latino voters

by Emily Singer
Staff
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FILE - Supporters hold a sign before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a campaign event, Sept.12, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
APSupporters hold a sign before Donald Trump arrives to speak during a Sept. 2024 campaign event in Tucson, Ariz.

The latest sign of a Latino revolt against President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans arrives in California.

In the state’s 22nd District, GOP Rep. David Valadao is trying to hold onto his majority-Latino seat, which Trump carried by 2 percentage points in the 2024 election. With nearly three-quarters of the primary vote counted, Valadao received just 41.9%, while the two Democrats in the race combined for more than 58%. 

Republican Rep. David Valadao of California leaves the House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016.
APRepublican Rep. David Valadao of California, shown in 2016.

That result likely spells doom for Valadao. History shows that Republicans tend to lose California congressional races when their candidates’ total primary vote share is under 50%.

“I’ll withhold judgment until all votes are in, but when the R share of the two-party vote is below 50 in CA top-two primaries, they don’t win,” Kyle Kondik, a nonpartisan political handicapper with Sabato’s Crystal Ball, wrote Tuesday in a post on X.

In 2020, Valadao won reelection by less than 1 point after he and a second Republican combined to receive more than 52% of the vote in the primary. And in 2022, when Valadao won reelection by 3 points, he and two other GOP candidates combined for nearly 55% of the primary vote.

Valadao, the only Republican on the seat’s primary ballot this year, is now doing 10 points worse than that—a grim sign for his reelection hopes.

President Donald Trump listens as he is introduced during a Hispanic Heritage Month event in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, in Washington.
APPresident Donald Trump, shown in 2017.

But it’s not just Valadao who is at severe risk of defeat due to the Latino revolt against Trump’s cruel deportation efforts, unpopular war in Iran, or policies that have exacerbated the nation’s cost-of-living crisis.

In Texas’ 15th District—another majority-Latino seat that Republicans gerrymandered to be even more favorable to their party—GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz privately warned her supporters last month that she is at risk of defeat.

Punchbowl News obtained audio from a De La Cruz event last month, where she revealed that she is leading her Democratic opponent—Tejano music star Bobby Pulido—by just 1 point, even though Trump carried the district by 18 points in 2024, according to data from The Downballot.  

“We ran a poll, and what we found was that I am up by only 1 point in the poll. One point. And I said, oh, sweet Lord Jesus, right? That’s not good,” De La Cruz says in the audio.

Not good, indeed.

Related | Trump’s Latino supporters are learning the hard way: He meant every word

These data points are an indicator of just how much trouble the GOP’s House majority is in this fall. And it shows that political handicappers’ race ratings at the moment may not accurately reflect that reality.

For example, the Cook Political Report rates Valadao’s race a toss-up, while Inside Elections says the contest tilts Republican. Yet the primary results suggest Valadao is toast.

And De La Cruz’s race is rated a likely Republican contest by both Cook and Inside Elections, even though she says her polling shows her up just 1 point over her Democratic opponent.

Even with Trump and the GOP’s efforts to rig the 2026 midterms with corrupt and racist mid-decade gerrymanders, Republicans’ House majority is almost certainly going down.

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All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. The views expressed in comments are those of the individual authors and don't necessarily reflect the views of Daily Kos.

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  1. Comment by stickman009.

    “I wish he took the economy just as seriously as he does immigration,” the former supporter said.

  2. Comment by bopamole.

    Trump was only using Latino voters...it was exceedingly obvious from the get-go. And like all orange supporters, they're going to get it in the end.

    • Reply by Mountain Sufi.

      Without lube.

  3. Comment by humbud.

    CA wasn't always this blue, Prop 187 changed the landscape to what it is today, and the the national cons are following the CA con playbook almost exactly

    • Reply by Toro Blanco.

      I really think it's going to be a similar moment here in Texas, but I have more number crunching to finish first.

  4. Comment by TB50.

    Trump screwed himself when he:

    Screwed the millions of young & old, NONPARTISAN EDUCATIONAL INVESTORS.

  5. Comment by A Citizen.

    One of Trump's favorite moves is to grind his supporters under his heel and watch them submit. That seems to be failing spectacularly.

  6. Comment by sureshoe.

    This is still the most fascinating thing I've seen in politics.

    Trump has basically pronounced anyone not white is a level below and he'll do anything in his power to imprison or deport them... yet people rationalized "yeah, but not me, I'm a good one".

  7. Comment by B.

    dumb has a moderate sized house within all ethnicities. Dumb sees him as smart, business minded, tough and a ladies' man.

  8. Comment by Ranglinlover2.

    I would post videos of statements by Stephen Miller and make the Republican go on record as to how they feel about them. Make no mistake, Lord Dump does nothing all day and lets Miller drive our treatment of immigrants. Making the Republican opponent take a stand on Miller's view will put them in a corner. If they come out against Miller's views, they will lose some of the white racists who hate all people not white. If they come out for Miller's views, they lose Latinos who thought it was just about the cost of living and conservative social values whereas the reality is that they are seen, no matter how hard they try, as contaminating the blood of the nation.

    Based on Lord Dump's reflexive use of low IQ when talking about any Black person who citizens him, it is clear that he and his administration believe in "scientific" racism. That garbage ranks Latinos as having a lower IQ than white folk. So, if any Latino is ok with being the USA's version of Gunga Dinh, always right flank rear to the white man, then the Republican Party has a place for them.

    I would hope that most Latinos have pride and can see the light.

  9. Comment by Slideman.

    I just truly do not understand why ANY Latino person votes Republican when the Party clearly hates them!

    • Reply by TB50.

      This has been the modus operandi of the R party since Tricky Dick, Ray- Gun & now Dumb. They use coercive persuasion (psyops) techniques on voters who are physically, economically, culturally harmed by / least benefit from, Republicon policies, to vote for the R party.

      On a daily basis I speak with R voters in OHIO angry about taxes and cost going up, increasing inefficiencies in trying to complete daily activities ( life getting harder not easier), neglected infrastructure and modernization, etc... - yes that is the REPUBLICON PARTY for ya! What did you expect? They are salespeople not people developers / improvement specialists / quality engineers.

    • Reply by TB50.

      If you take a holistic & historical view Republicons are:

      1) the actual TAX & SPEND party

      2) The actual big govt regulators

      Mic drop

  10. Comment by Jim McHenry.

    When grandma winds up getting tossed in an ICE concentration camp it doesn't tend to work in favor of the party or their dear leader who are thoughtlessly, ruthlessly prosecuting that.

    Just more Trumpsters who never thought it would happen to them.

  11. Comment by sgkos.

    Those Latino voters who supported the orange cheato screwed themselves by sucking up the racism and lies.

  12. Comment by Ballerina.

    It would be SO SWEET if some of those Texas gerrymandered districts elect Democrats in the midterms. While trying to dilute the Black vote, apparently the GOP forgot about all those pissed off Latino voters.

  13. Comment by Sarkazein.

    He screwed himself when he squandered his inheritance. He screwed himself when he made deception his business model. He screwed himself by getting into politics. He screwed himself by trusting his gut instinct. He screwed everyone by not listening to anyone that tells him the truth. He is a non-functional human, incapable of empathy or self-awareness. He's screwed himself far more often than Melania, Marla, or Ivana. He's just a shallow moron that America somehow voted into office. Twice. They screwed themselves, and in turn screwed a planet. Good job, fuckers! Times two!

    • Reply by Megalion.

      Except he's had a gold plated life anyways. When has he ever not enjoyed luxury?

      He's screwed himself out of power now but he didn't get this far without successfully manipulating everyone.

    • Reply by Sarkazein.

      But he doesn't care. You missed the point there. He's a fucked up human, and he doesn't care. You are right that he's had a pampered life, but with how many thousands of lawsuits and such. And he doesn't understand why he's so hated, so loathed, even by his "inner circle". He cannot comprehend anything beyond a first grade level or so.

      And now he knows he is dying, and he's afraid of it. His failsons will collapse without him. Ivanka might be okay because she married a different failson of a different (pardoned) failure. He thinks he's in control of everything, but it's dawning on him, slowly, sleepily, that he's traipsing to hell sooner than he wanted (which was never).

      He's a failure, regardless of his pampered life, and he's realizing that. He'll never admit it. He'll project strength in the weakest way possible. He tries to legislate via social media and people ignore him. He knows it, but he can't admit it. He doesn't know how. Imagine being in your final months and finally realizing how much you suck. He knows it, but absolutely cannot face it, so projection it is. It's all he knows.

      I could go on and on here, but he's physically and mentally deteriorating in real time, live on TV, and it's documented. He attempted to deny it and fail miserably, and "privately" (always privately), every single person he thinks is loyal knows it, and can't wait. Just like the rest of us.

    • Reply by Jim McHenry.

      Incredible how this fortunate son sold himself as an everyman to these MAGA dopes, including combat veterans who gave him their Purple Hearts, which pains me to say as a veteran myself, but that was some special kind of stupidity on their part. The only thing worse was him accepting them, which of course, being a venal, avaricious simpleton and as deep as a puddle, he did. Just how he ever got elected President of any country on the face of this planet. let alone this one, still has me baffled.

  14. Comment by No Dolls 4 Donny.

    He’ll be bragging it was the best screw anyone has ever had.

  15. Comment by iandhr.

    It's amazing when Trump said, "Mexicans are rapists," they didn't take the hint. I guess they're fragile masculinity, and their racism towards African-Americans was stronger.

    • Reply by bopamole.

      And white women..."grab 'em by the..." sounded just fine to them(!?!). Not just Latinos who were willing to sell their souls.

  16. Comment by thegameisthegame.

    Correction: Latino Voters screwed themselves when they voted for the

    Admittedly racist Cuot Daddy who called Mexicans and Venezuelans and Columbias trash who come here to poison our blood. They screwed themselves.

  17. Comment by swkirby.

    Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch. s/

    • Reply by swkirby.

      Sorry, I should have been more specific. I meant that the thug getting screwed by people he’s been screwing over is exactly the karma he deserves. (I did NOT mean Latino voters deserve to be screwed over.)

  18. Comment by Aspiring Polymath.

    Oh baby, let's get some DNC money to those races.

    • Reply by Posco Bonitas.

      Do not depend on the DNC. They are almost as inept as the republicans. Support your candidate directly or use organizations like MoveOn, Indivisible or LeanLeft.

    • Reply by egarratt.

      "Aspiring Polymath" - Read the comment by Posco Bonitas. He/She is 100% correct. The DNC will shit the bed over 50% of the time, supporting bad candidates, candidates who do not need $$, and bypass winnable races where a little $$ would have gone a long way.

    • Reply by Aspiring Polymath.

      I hear you. Maybe I'm an incurable optimist. I already support candidates directly whenever possible.

  19. Comment by CyberMindGrrl.

    Why it must be VOTER FRAUD that Republicans are doing so poorly with Latinos. Not, you know, that Trump has probably the worst polling among Latinos in recent memory. No it must be voter fraud.

    Evidence? We don't need no stinkin' EVIDENCE! We've got VIBES!

  20. Comment by globalguy.

    Shouldn't that read "Latino voters screwed themselves when they screwed us voters"?

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