Half Of Trump’s Hispanic Advisory Council Ready To Quit Over Immigration Speech

Immediately after GOP nominee Donald Trump delivered his much-anticipated immigration speech Wednesday night, he began losing Hispanic supporters and surrogates who had spent weeks and months defending him in public. Apparently, they weren’t prepared for a smorgasbord of racist red meat that was spread out for the alt-right to feast on. According to Politico, Jacob Monty, a member of Trump’s National Hispanic Advisory Council, resigned from the board shortly after Trump was done speaking.

“I was a strong supporter of Donald Trump when I believed he was going to address the immigration problem realistically and compassionately,” said Monty, a Houston attorney who has aggressively made the Latino case for Trump. “What I heard today was not realistic and not compassionate.”

Another member, Pastor Ramiro Pena, said he was still thinking about whether or not to stick around, calling the whole thing “a scam.”

“I am so sorry but I believe Mr. Trump lost the election tonight,” said Pena, a pastor at Waco’s Christ the King Church. “The ‘National Hispanic Advisory Council’ seems to be simply for optics and I do not have the time or energy for a scam.”

Pena addressed his message to Jennifer Korn, the RNC’s national director for Hispanic Initiatives, along with Karen Giorno and Alan Cobb, both senior Trump advisers. Helen Aguirre Ferre and Lourdes Aguirre, both RNC Hispanic outreach officials, were copied as well.

“I will pray over the next couple of days but it is difficult to [imagine] how I can continue to associate with the Trump campaign,” he wrote. “I owe my national audience an explanation.”

But the fallout didn’t stop with just those two board members. Apparently, half of the 30 members are looking to quit the advisory council, claiming they were misled about Trump’s immigration policy and that they feel he “fell back into old habits.” CBS News contributor Leslie Sanchez, a conservative pundit, sent out a series of tweets indicating that there was a lot of anger among Trump’s Hispanic surrogates.

Hispanic leader who advises Trump camp telling me half of Trump’s Hispanic advisory board is ready to resign today (15 of 30)

— Leslie Sanchez (@LeslieSanchez) September 1, 2016

They feel misled. Really “hot” crowd. Extremely upset. https://t.co/lS3EcLki5d

— Leslie Sanchez (@LeslieSanchez) September 1, 2016

I’m told greatest issue of contention is the false belief that “self deportation” is a viable option. Don’t believe it’s humane or real #2

— Leslie Sanchez (@LeslieSanchez) September 1, 2016

Expectations are so high. 😉 Hispanic leaders who advise camp are angry about deportation language. Feel ignored. #3 https://t.co/W3z5vyznDV

— Leslie Sanchez (@LeslieSanchez) September 1, 2016

Others have calls/emails to campaign expressing concern or stating their intention #4 https://t.co/xsG7v59kg9

— Leslie Sanchez (@LeslieSanchez) September 1, 2016

On one hand, you kinda want to say, “What did you expect? Did you think he was really going to change? Especially when it came to appealing to his fanbase?” But, on the other, you have to feel a certain amount of sympathy for these advisers and surrogates. They are conservatives who want to help spread the Republican brand into their communities. They truly believe in certain right-wing principles and would like for the GOP to appeal more to Hispanics.

Yet, here’s the Republican standard-bearer, thumbing his nose at whole swaths of Americans, telling them to get lost. They can’t sell that to Latino and Hispanic communities, and they don’t want to. But they were led to believe, by the ultimate con man, that he was going to ‘soften’ his stance. He was going to present a more humane approach to immigration.

But, the pull of white nationalism, which is how he won the GOP primary, was just too great. The cheers he gets when he says Mexico is going to pay for the wall or that there will be no amnesty are just too intoxicating. This ain’t changing, no matter what he says in private.