While Donald Trump has done fairly well among the Cuban-American community in south Florida, this year looks like an uphill battle for the Republican president. Journalist David Smiley, in an article published in the Miami Herald on September 21, explains that Trump’s support among Cuban-Americans is by no means universal.
“Amid evidence that Trump has significantly expanded his support among Miami-Dade’s traditionally conservative Cuban exile community,” Smiley reports, “a counter-movement is afoot to show that there are thousands of Cuban-Americans in Florida who believe the president does not have their best interests at heart.”
The Herald spoke to a group of Cuban-Americans who participated in a car parade over the weekend showing their support for former Vice President Joe Biden.
George Marrero, one of the participants in that Cubanos Con Biden event, told the Herald, “This country has been abused for the last four years. Joe Biden is going to bring back — like he’s said — the soul of America. It’s been lost.”
Marrero told the publication that although he voted for Trump in 2016 and was formerly registered as a Republican, he is now a registered Democrat.
“There’s a mentality that all Cubans or Latins are Republican, but there’s a lot who are not,” Marrero explained. “I voted for Trump in ‘16 because I didn’t like Hillary Clinton and the policies that were there. Shortly after this guy got into office, his true self came out.”
Smiley noted Cuban-American Al Cardenas, former chairman of the Florida Republican Party, is also fed up with the president.
And Mike Rivero, a Cuban-American organizer of the September 19 Cubanos Con Biden car parade, told the Herald, “Traditionally, the Cuban community has gone Republican. And hats off to the Trump campaign, they’ve done a great job stoking the fears of socialism and communism in our community. Enough is enough — we’re not gonna be manipulated.”
Rosa Arias, a native of Cuba who now lives in South Florida, believes that Trump — like Castro — has an authoritarian mentality and is planning to vote for Biden. Arias told the Herald, “I used to be middle class. Now, I’m down at the bottom. I was born in Cuba under Castro; so, I know what a dictator looks like. Donald Trump is on his way, and we have to stop him.”
You can read the full report HERE.
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