Why Latinos Helped Trump Win Florida

President Donald Trump won the key swing state of Florida in the 2020 presidential election, while Latinos flocked to the polls to support the president.

Around 55% of Cuban-Americans in Florida voted for Trump, while 30% of Puerto Ricans and 48% of other Latinos voted for the president, NBC News exit polls reveal.

Miami-Dade County proved to be crucial for Trump. In 2016, the president collected 333,999 votes from the county however, this year he accumulated at least 529,16 votes. On the flip side, Biden struggled to grow Democratic support in the county. Clinton got 624,146 votes in 2016 and with 95% of the vote tallied, Biden only had 613,086.

Trump originally gained ground with Latinos in Miami when he tweeted a picture of himself at the White House with Lilian Tintori, the wife of a leading opposition leader in Venezuela who was jailed at the time.

Since then, Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and other administration officials have made trips to Florida to make several speeches.

Cuban Americans make up the largest share of Latino voters in Miami-Dade, and also have a strong turnout rate, at 58%, compared to other Latino groups.

When Joe Biden became the Democratic nominee, the Trump campaign painted the former vice president as a socialist. That didn't resonate well with Latino voters.

Trump and Republicans even called Biden “Castro-Chavista,” referring to Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. The constant messaging in Spanish-language ads proved effective as Trump won Florida by a small margin. Many voters came to believe the United States would become a socialist country if Biden were elected.

On early Wednesday morning, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted out that while she wouldn't be commenting much on results as they are evolving, "I will say we've been sounding the alarm about Dem vulnerabilities w/ Latinos for a long, long time."