Trump gets NIGHTMARE news in surprise development

I'm joined now by politics reporter at. the Texas Tribune, Alejandro Serrano. Thanks so much for joining me. >> Thank you for having me. >> So, you wrote you put together a great. article that talks about um the Latino. situation right now in this country. We. are seeing we saw a realignment in 2024. We're seeing something of a new. realignment right now. So, I want to. talk about that. Especially want to talk. about it in the context of, you know, how this kind of came to a head uh. culturally speaking with this Bad Bunny. Super Bowl show and how that kind of. became a politicized event unto itself. But but before we dive into all that.

stuff, can you talk about what the lay. of the land is right now in terms of. where the vast majority of Latino voters. are in in you know as part of this uh. political coalition? >> Yeah, so I think um thank you for having. me. I think one of the um the big. reasons that this special election for. the Texas Senate seat has gotten so much. attention is because people are kind of. pining for a measurement of what you. just described. You know, how what would. how will voters react to the president's. policies? And it's it's difficult to. assess that with specifically with.

Latinos because, you know, it's it's a a. big group. It's not a monolith as we. often like to say. And any number of. Latinos will do any number of different. things. But I think what was remarkable. here in this election is that some of. the biggest shifts and the swings. occurred in precincts that are majority. Hispanic. And they were um there were. big swings. You know, by one estimate. there um Mr. Taylor Remer captured 79%. of the Hispanic vote in this district. And why that might be, there's again any. number of reasons, but some of the the.

reasons that people have pointed to is. um the president's immigration policies, perhaps the economy, you know, sold this. idea of um you know, the economy is. tough. I'll fix it. And some folks may. not be feeling that. Um I have not read. much um I guess analysis of specifically. Texas related, but you know, nationally. there has been some surveys that. Hispanics are um souring on the. president, so to speak, as as people. sometimes put it. So would you say that. that the align that the realignment we. saw in 2024 has snapped all the way back.

to where it was in pre2024 levels in. terms of support for you know Democrats. versus Republicans. >> You know it's it's tricky. I don't know. And I think it's um and it's difficult. because to know if it's a realignment. because of how remarkable it was in 2024. for the president. But, you know, at. least speaking for Texas or like. analyzing Texas, um the Texas GOP had. made inroads across the state and last. year the the border got a lot of. attention, rightfully so, because the. president nearly swept border counties. You know, in Texas, he won 14 of 18 that.

are closest to the US Mexico border. Um. but we also know that the GOP here has. been making a lot of inroads in um urban. areas like in the suburbs or some of. these precincts that had been you know. Democratic bastions and slowly made um. progress in courting those um voters. So. I think it's going to be probably one of. the biggest questions this year going. into November like is it going to hold. and if not what does it mean? You know, one person kind of described it to me as. Latinos who um make up the majority of.

the population in Texas are kind of like. the power brokers who don't know it yet. And I think this election is definitely. going to demonstrate how that is. >> In your reporting, have you heard from. any Republican officials who have. expressed some degree of alarm over the. situation unfolding right now? >> Yeah, there's been all sorts of um of. takes, I think, from from, you know, both sides of the aisle in response to. this election. But I think one thing. that has become kind of clear from from. it seems like Republican leaders is that.

it can't be ignored, right? Like special. elections are are unique and especially. this one was on a Saturday following. very cold weather in Texas. Um you know, we were kind of like locked in because. everything was frozen for a few days. So. that affected campaigning that affected. early voting, but it was just such a big. swing that a lot of people are sort of. recognizing that it can't be dismissed. Can you speak about the prospect to that. end of the new map in Texas potentially. turning into a dummy mander? Because if.

you know if we if we see the same. margins that we saw in SD9, for example, kind of replicate themselves across the. state, then we may be in a world where. not only did Republicans not net the. five seats that the map was redrawn to. net, but Democrats might see actually. see a net gain of seats uh because the. districts were drawn too thin. >> Well, yeah. I tell I'll tell you that. that Democrats are definitely feeling. feeling good about the prospect that. it's a dummy mander. Um you know the the. state party had a um press call last. week to kind of go over this and and.

they see all those seats um you know. being competitive especially even ones. leaving the Houston area. There's one. there's another one free in the city but. they their approach right now is kind of. like we're going to fight and see what. happens. Um, so I think that there is a. possibility, but I think, you know, there's any number of variables that go. into each election, and it's going to I. don't want to be predictive, but I think. the party is definitely feeling um good. about I think the prospect of that. happening. >> As it relates to Latino voters, I think.

that a lot of us had thought wrongly in. the beginning that the only issues that. Latino voters care about were issues. like immigration. That was like 10 years. ago. cut to last year, you know, Latinos. kind of fell into the same bucket as. everybody else where it was like the. principal issue was was the economy. And. so I think that the administration, you. know, if I had to guess, I would think. that they have would have thought that. they had more leeway um to engage in. what are pretty brutal immigration. tactics because it wouldn't have any.

impact on these Latino voters who have a. lot of strength in the election because. Latino voters much in the same way of as. as you know, white voters and black. voters looked at the economy and. economic issue at the as the principal. driver of of where they put their votes. Do you think that was a misstep? because. now we're seeing that in fact it does. have, you know, some impact on Latino. voters, how the immigration situation is. handled in this country. Very much in. the same way that it has some impact on. how on how white people and brown people. perceive this administration and. perceive the overreach of this.

administration, but that that you know, they weren't going to be given a free. pass by Latino voters just because. Latino voters might have ranked the. economy above immigration. You know, it's it's curious because I. think again in Texas how it's different. Um there's any number of things that. make Texas unique, but but the border. was curious when it came to to what. you're describing because I think. immigration like people were were kind. of voters some voters were fed up with. immigration. You kind of had a situation.

where, you know, it's their backyard. You look at cities like um like Eagle. Pass, which became this sort of like. epicenter between Texas's instigations. um with the Biden administration and its. immigration policies and like you know. states rights to implement any number of. immigration u measures or to try to. combat it. Um, you know, and I think. people I remember I I lived in Eco Pass. for half half of the year, um, reporting. on immigration, whatnot, and you know, people of all political beliefs did feel.

kind of neglected and how that the Biden. administration had not taken the issue. seriously. And I think that kind of also. contributed to those swings we saw in. 24. But I think to your point like that. the administration, the Trump. administration assumed that would give. them a free pass. I don't No, I think. it's also a combination of things cuz. it's also the economy and the two are. intertwined especially in Texas. I mean. you look at the workforce and you look. at especially down in the border like. you know big industries like. construction are starting to have um um. impacts from raids and fear just general.

fear in the community. My colleagues had. a story a few weeks ago how you know. some some companies can't even get folks. to show up to work out of concern. Um, so I think that all this is going to. lead to to more clarity maybe in. November to see how people do vote and. if there is a response to that. And. obviously, you know, it's hard to measure kind of everything. else that's going on, not just, you. know, kind of like like in Minnesota um. or in Los Angeles or in Chicago. like. there's been I think a lot of action on.

top of the first year which was kind of. like a remarkable like blitz of policy. changes that changed immigration in ways. that were still being revealed you know. through through time. Um so I think I. hope we have more clarity on that. question in the coming months and. especially in November. Have you heard. anything from Republican officials right. now or Republican leadership in terms of. how their strategy might change to be. able to um to grab back some of, you.

know, what very much looks like a a a. rapidly departing uh uh contingent of. their coalition? >> Yeah, there's been mixed signals. I. mean, one thing that we're starting to. see here on the ground covering, you. know, like Texas politics is sort of uh. um affordability and labor, like it's. something that both parties are talking. about um which is kind of new. Um you. know, like the governor just rolled out. some endorsements from unions um and is. celebrating them. And in in some.

instances when just looking at the GOP. side, there has been some doubling down. on the like sort of MAGA messaging, which is also interesting. I mean, it's. primary season, you know, so kind of. makes sense. But also, some criticism. some people had of um the SD9 race was. that, you know, the GOP candidate ran it. sort of like a primary even though it. was supposed, you know, was more um of a. general election type of situation. Um. meaning, you know, socially conservative. issues and whatnot. So, that doubling. down has been curious. Um and I don't I.

don't know if there's a a bigger. strategy shift. Um, but I it does seem. like this this election at the very. least changed the conversation. >> So, we we watched as the whole Super. Bowl situation, the halftime show with. Bad Bunny. Republicans basically tried. to to negatively polarize um the. halftime show and obviously they held. counterprogramming with Kid Rock. There. was a very obvious um uh race-based. component to all of this. U Megan Kelly.

is on her crusade saying that you know. you got to speak English and we don't. want to see any any other flags and it's. America first rah to do you think that's. going to complicate Republicans plans in. Texas for example where instead of. making inroads you know they're they're. taking one of the biggest Latino. superstars in the world but certainly. among you know the the Spanish speaking. community which also exists in Texas and. turning him into the enemy. Um yeah, I. don't know if it's going to affect um. election results, so to speak, but um it.

does appear, you know, like everywhere. Bad Bunny is really popular here. Just, you know, having lived here. Whenever he. comes through, he sells out concerts. Um. >> and I think it also kind of gets to the. like the nuance of voters, right? Like I. don't know if if that's going to be the. issue that changes anyone's mind, but I. do think it is an kind of almost another. example of all the tensions going on. right now. um because you know. especially our state leaders some of. them were were communicating you know. posting on social media for people to. turn into the counter programming and.

whatnot. Um so yeah we'll we'll see on. that. >> I mean one might think from a political. perspective that if you are are seeing. swings as high as you know 50 points. from voters who had previously voted for. you now are defecting to the other party. and they're becoming one of the largest. voting blocks in the entire state. that. taking like the biggest musical artist. in that community of that community and. vilifying him doesn't seem like a very. sound political strategy in an election. year no less.

>> Yep. We'll see. We'll see what happens. if there's any shake out. And also, I. mean, it's a long way till November. >> Yeah. And and finally, let's finish off. with this. Are there any races that. you're keeping an eye on that might also. offer some insight into into these. shifts in very much the same way that. this Senate District 9 race did with. Taylor Remmit winning prior to midterms. so that we just have a little bit more. more data points than we had before? >> I mean, I think at large is all the. statewide Texas races. Um, you know, no.

Democrat has won one in since 1994 and. um, the last time they came close was in. 2018, which was also the midterm year in. response to, you know, the first Trump. administration when Beth Roar came real. close to unseating Senator Ted Cruz. So, I think that, you know, there's there's. numerous. There's obviously the top of. the ticket with the senatorial uh, race, the Senate race, but um, you know, there's also other under other contested. elections for to lead state agencies. that are kind of coveted roles here. you. know, some elected officials win those. and then stay in those positions for a.

long time. And um Democrats are are. hoping that this might be the year. >> All right. Well, we will leave it there. Alejandro, for folks who are looking to. uh read your work, where can they go? >> sexist.org. >> Great. Well, I'll put that link on the. screen and also in the post description. of this video, thank you so much for the. work you do and for taking the time. today. >> Hey, thank you for having me. Appreciate. it.