READING, Pa. — The pastor opened with a prayer in Spanish, asking that the Lord’s spirit and guidance guide the proceedings without offering an English translation. The majority of the approximately 50 attendees were white and chanted “Amen!” In the end.
Thus began the former president Donald TrumpThe campaign teamed up with the Republican National Committee and the Pennsylvania GOP to open a Latinos for Trump office in Reading on Wednesday.
“We believe in the American dream, and the only way to get the American dream is to work hard,” former Puerto Rico governor Luis Fortuno told the same crowd. For the smaller group of Spanish speakers, he continued with comments that leaned heavily on “Necesitamos cambio” — Spanish for “We need a change.”
Trump and top Republicans are trying to shore up support among Hispanic voters in a swing state that could well decide the election. which is closed many party offices specializing in communication with minoritiesthey’re betting that promises of favoring entrepreneurship and smaller government will resonate with a voting bloc that has historically favored Democrats.
Reading is perhaps best known as the name of the Reading Railroad from the Monopoly game board. A city of about 95,000 about 65 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Reading is 67% Latino and home to a high concentration of Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage, according to U.S. Census figures.
Biden’s approval rating has dipped among Hispanic adults in national polls, but it’s unclear if Trump will capitalize.
The opening of the Reading office comes a week after the Trump campaign set up its first Pennsylvania office at a location northeast of Philadelphia. The event was billed as a “Blacks for Trump” rally and was attended by Texas Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt and other prominent black Republicans.
Wednesday’s turnouts in both Philadelphia and Reading were overwhelmingly white.
Trump himself held a rally He was looking to drum up Latino support in Las Vegas on Sunday, where he quipped, “We need every voter. I’m not interested in you, I just want your voice.” The former president also said immigrants were turning the United States into a “dumping ground” and vowed: “We will not let them destroy our country.”
the president Joe Biden‘s campaign says Trump engages in dangerous and racist stereotypes and sees the opening of the campaign office as superficially patronizing minority voters.
Biden’s re-election campaign has opened 24 offices with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and has more than 100 employees across the state, and has held house parties and other voter mobilization efforts for months. It has been spending on ads in Pennsylvania since late last summer, with a special focus on voters of Puerto Rican or Caribbean heritage.
Yrene Rodriguez, 46, an accountant at Reading Community College who said she and her entire family are Biden supporters, dismissed the efforts of Trump supporters as “just propaganda” on Wednesday.
“They just want people to say nice things about him,” Rodriguez said.
Luis Rodriguez, who owns a real estate wholesale and rehab business with offices in Pennsylvania, spoke at the inauguration of Trump’s office, touting the importance of extending the US-Mexico border wall, a signature promise from Trump’s first campaign in office.
Asked after the event whether Trump’s harsh personal rhetoric might alienate some Hispanics, Rodriguez, who is not related to Yrene, said such proposals have “no support or credibility.”
Commissioner Michael Rivera of Berks County, which covers Reading, spoke in English and Spanish at the office’s opening, saying the increased effort to reach out to Hispanic voters “demonstrates the Republican Party’s understanding of the power of diversity among the American people.”
The campaign office, in a red-brick building across from a downtown CVS, was indistinguishable from most corporate spaces, except for signs reading “Latinos for Trump,” “Stop Illegal Voting” and “Joe Biden, You” in the front window. They were fired.”
More attention was drawn to a table of Trump merchandise set up for the event on the sidewalk outside. While some passers-by rolled their eyes or protested, others were pleased with the sight.
“I only want a real king. The real king of America!” shouted a man loud enough to be heard inside the office. “It’s Trump.”
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