Harris, Trump try to win over Latino voters

MIAMI — US presidential election rivals Donald Trump, Republican nominee, and Kamala Harris, Democratic nominee, made their pitches to Latino voters on Tuesday as their White House race entered its final two-week stretch.

Harris said in an interview with Telemundo on Tuesday that "we need to construct a strong economy that supports the working class".

"I know that Hispanic men often have more difficulty securing loans from banks because of their connections and the fact that things aren't necessarily set up so that they will qualify," she said in an interview in English that was translated into Spanish. "For that reason, I'm focused on seeing what we can do to bring more capital to community banks that better understand the community so we can give them that kind of loan."

Trump, meanwhile, described Harris as "lazy", railed against green energy, and talked about "extreme "presidential power during remarks at his golf club in Doral, a Miami suburb.

Insisting US President Joe Biden did not need congressional approval to curb illegal immigration, he said: "As president, you have tremendous — it's called extreme power. You have extreme power."

The Trump and Harris campaigns see what could be an election-deciding opportunity with Latino men, who could swing the outcome in states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada if their traditional support for Democrats erodes. Trump believes he's made inroads among Latino men. Harris' team is seeking to shore up support within the same group with the election just two weeks away.

In 2020, AP VoteCast found that 9 percent of voters nationwide identified as Latino, and 63 percent of them backed Biden in the election.

In a close race, the Harris campaign is betting that Latino men are getting more attuned to policy specifics as the election draws closer.

Latino men also expressed a need for access to capital and credit to start companies, as the Treasury Department reported on Oct 10 that Latino business ownership is up 40 percent over pre-pandemic levels and could keep climbing with better financing options.

Trump hopes to convince Latinos that they can trust a fellow businessman such as himself, even as he's also called for the mass deportation of immigrants in the country illegally.

Agencies Via Xinhua