In Florida, Donald Trump extends ham-fisted olive branch to minority voters "tired of being used by these phony politicians"

Trump promised to "project the jobs" of Hispanics — accounting for a quarter of Florida's demography — with a wall

Published August 24, 2016 7:25PM (EDT)

Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida, August 24, 2016.    (Reuters/Carlo Allegri)
Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida, August 24, 2016. (Reuters/Carlo Allegri)

At a rally in Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump continued his recent appeal to minority voters.

With the increasingly common aide of teleprompters, Trump delivered a boilerplate "jobs, jobs, jobs"-centric policy speech directed in large part at minority small business-owners in the state.

"African-Americans are tired of being used by these phony politicians," he said. "Hispanics are tired of being used by these phony politicians."

Trump promised to "protect the jobs and wages of the hispanic citizens" by way of border security (i.e. "build the wall") and decreased regulations.

"This is their number one complaint. They deserve to have their jobs protected from illegal immigration and broken visa programs," he added of hispanic Floridians, which make up almost a quarter of the population, according to the latest census. "There are over 600,000 hispanic-owned businesses here in Florida. Hillary Clinton's plan would smother them with new regulations."

Trump caught flak last week for promising African-Americans that he'd "make your streets safe so when you walk down the street, you don't get shot, which is happening now." (This after infamously "Look at my African-American over here" gaffe in June.)

Recent NBC News polling found Trump still lags behind Clinton  significantly among minority voters, particularly with black voters, of which only 8% support him.


By Brendan Gauthier

Brendan Gauthier is a freelance writer.

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Build The Wall Donald Trump Elections 2016 Florida Hillary Clinton Minority Voters Tampa