READ, Dad. — The pastor opened with a prayer in Spanish, asking that the Lord’s spirit and guidance guide the proceedings without offering an English translation. Most of the fifty or so attendees were white and didn’t seem to follow along, even though they knew enough to say “Amen!” to sing. at the end.
So began former president Donald Trump ‘s campaign is teaming up with the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania to open a “Latino Americans for Trump” office in the city of Reading on Wednesday.
“We believe in the American Dream and the only way to achieve the American Dream is hard work,” Luis Fortuno, the former governor of Puerto Rico, told the same crowd. To the smaller group of Spanish speakers in attendance, he followed with remarks that leaned heavily on the theme “Necesitamos cambio” – Spanish for “We need change.”
Trump and top Republicans want to boost their support among Hispanic voters in a swing state that could decide the election. To have closed many party offices that specialized in reaching out to minoritiesThey’re betting that promises to prioritize entrepreneurship and smaller government can resonate with a voting bloc that has historically favored Democrats.
Reading is perhaps best known as the namesake of the Reading Railroad from the Monopoly game board. Reading, a city of about 95,000 about 65 miles northwest of Philadelphia, is 67% Latino and home to high concentrations of people of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent, according to U.S. Census figures.
Biden’s approval rating among Hispanic adults has fallen in national polls, but it remains unclear whether Trump can benefit.
The opening of the Reading office comes a week after Trump’s campaign established its first office in Pennsylvania at a location in northeast Philadelphia. That event was billed as a “Blacks for Trump” rally and featured Republican Texas Rep. Wesley Hunt and other prominent black Republicans.
In both Philadelphia and Reading on Wednesday, most attendees were white.
Trump himself held a rally aimed at boosting Latino support Sunday in Las Vegas, where he joked: “We need every voter. I don’t care about you, I just want your vote.” The former president also said immigrants were turning the US “into a dumping ground” and vowed: “We will not let them destroy our country.”
President Joe Biden Trump’s campaign says Trump engages in dangerous and racist stereotypes and has dismissed his campaign’s office openings as superficial patronization of minority voters.
Biden’s reelection campaign, along with the Democratic Party of Pennsylvania, has opened 24 offices and has more than 100 staffers across the state, and has spent months hosting house parties and other voter mobilization efforts. It has been spending since late last summer advertising in Pennsylvania, with a special emphasis on voters of Puerto Rican or Caribbean descent.
Yrene Rodriguez, 46, an accountant at Reading Community College who said she and her entire family are Biden supporters, dismissed the efforts of Trump’s backers on Wednesday as “just propaganda.”
“They just want people to say nice things about him,” Rodriguez said.
Luis Rodriguez, owner of a real estate wholesale and renovation company with offices in Pennsylvania, addressed the opening of the Trump office and spoke about the importance of extending the U.S.-Mexico border wall, a signature promise from Trump’s first campaign that he made during pursued his term of office.
When Rodriguez, who is not related to Yrene, was asked after the event about concerns that Trump’s harsh personal rhetoric could alienate some Hispanics, he said such suggestions have “no support or validity whatsoever.”
Michael Rivera, a commissioner in Berks County, which includes Reading, spoke in English and Spanish at the office opening and said increased efforts to reach Hispanic voters “demonstrates that the Republican Party understands the power of diversity among the American people .”
The campaign office was located in a red brick building across from a downtown CVS and was indistinguishable from most business spaces except for signs in the front window that read “Latino Americans for Trump,” “Stop Illegal Voting” and “Joe Biden, you’. are fired.”
Drawing more attention was a table of Trump merchandise set up on the sidewalk outside for the event. Some passersby rolled their eyes or voiced their objections, but others were delighted by the display.
‘I only want the real king. The real King of America!” a man shouted, loud enough to be heard in the office. “That’s Trump.”
