GOP strategist Karl Rove is warning fellow Republicans that “diminishing” support for President Donald Trump, particularly from Hispanic American voters who were integral to his reelection in 2024, will pose a “big” problem for his party in the upcoming midterms.
Trump nabbed nearly half of the Hispanic vote in 2024, according to a study published in June by the Pew Research Center. He has since seen a whopping 70% of Hispanic voters say they disapprove of his job performance — largely over his handling of immigration.
Advertisement
Rove on Saturday discussed Trump’s hardline agenda on Fox News, citing new polls showing how deeply his approval rating has dropped among Hispanics amid ongoing tensions between federal immigration agents and residents in Minnesota and elsewhere.
When asked “how much of a problem” that is for Republicans, Rove replied simply: “Big.”
“Because this is a variable group whose movement into the Republican column in 2024 helped elect Donald Trump to a second term and helped Republicans hold the Senate and the House,” he told “Journal Editorial Report” host Gerard Baker. “But no — it’s a problem.”
Rove added, “We’re going to see it here in Texas. You can just see the support for Republicans in Texas diminishing, despite the fact that initially there was enormous support for the action in securing the border. These were communities that were being hard-hit.”
Advertisement
Rove argued that Hispanic voters were satisfied when Trump was elected and “stopped” a “vast flood of illegals” that had supposedly threatened the safety of their communities, but that most are “not so excited” about the administration targeting nonviolent residents.
There have been nationwide demonstrations against the administration’s deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in major cities, particularly in Minnesota, where resident Renee Good was fatally shot earlier this month by a federal officer.
Rove went on to cite a Quinnipiac University survey published last week, which polled 1,133 U.S. adults and showed 53% believe Good’s shooting wasn’t justified — and 57% disapprove of how ICE is enforcing the Trump administration’s immigration laws.
Advertisement
Tensions in Minnesota only increased last week after a federal officer shot a person in the leg in purported self-defense. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security said two other people had attacked the officer while he was attempting to make an arrest.