Fox News Latino
By Elizabeth Llorente
October 7, 2015
The
president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which was involved
in a high-profile dispute with Donald Trump after he abruptly backed out
of a commitment to
appear at a Thursday event held by the group, says that Donald Trump
has doomed his chance at being U.S. president.
Chamber
President and CEO Javier Palomarez said that Trump’s about-face, coming
after a barrage of comments and policy positions insensitive to
Latinos, “really spelled
the end of his campaign.”
“He’s never going to win the White House,” Palomarez said in an interview with Fox News Latino on Wednesday.
“Anybody
running for the White House would do well to begin to engage and
collaborate with America’s burgeoning Hispanic electorate,” Palomarez
said.
“This
particular candidate has done everything he can to alienate that
electorate," he added. "And given the chance to come and explain himself
in a dialogue that’s about
substance, it’s about a track record and being able to clarify exactly
what he meant with those deplorable comments.”
“In the end of the day, he checked out and chose not to do this,” Palomarez said.
Efforts to get a response from the Trump campaign have been unsuccessful.
Trump
has brought immigration to the forefront of the Republican presidential
race with his controversial comments about undocumented immigrants from
Mexico being mostly
criminals and rapists and with his threat to build a massive wall along
the U.S.’s southern border. The USHCC said that its objective in
addressing the immigration issue was to "refocus the debate toward the
more positive, fact-based, and economically sound
narrative that the USHCC has been advancing for years, long before the
2016 election cycle."
Palomarez said that, for his part, he’s moved on.
“I’d
rather focus on people who matter, people who actually have a real
fighting chance to get into the White House, and ultimately be leaders
of the greatest country
in the world.”
He
added: “We’re more concerned with dealing with candidates who are
serious about our community … As we stand right now, every 30 seconds a
Latino turns 18 in this country
and becomes an eligible voter. That’s an estimated 58,000 brand new
voters every month and that’s going to be the case for the next 21 years
in a row.”
Palomarez’s
Q&A’s with the presidential candidates have been ground-breaking
for his ability to get contenders from both major parties. The format
consists of about 90
minutes of sweeping questioning by the chamber president.
Palomarez
said he feels that Latinos get little chance to hear at length from
candidates during campaigns, especially early on in election cycles.
“We’re
very concerned that the Hispanic voice has not been heard clearly
enough during presidential campaigns,” Palomarez said. “We represent the
interests of 4.1 million
Hispanic-owned companies in this country that collectively contribute
over $661 billion to the economy. It’s important for us to hear directly
from candidates about their views, their plans for the future.”
The Q&A’s, he said, seemed to offer a fresh new approach to vetting candidates.
“It
was clear to us that we need to create a format where we could attract
the candidates from both parties, away from the rhetoric and focused on
record, away from the
public spectacle and focused on substance.”
USHCC
has conducted Q&A’s with Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley,
John Kasich, and is in talks at the moment to have them with Carly
Fiorina, Marco Rubio and Hillary
Clinton.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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