PHOENIX—Today, civil rights leader and People For the American Way (PFAW) board member Dolores Huerta joined Arizona Latino elected officials and community leaders for a press conference kicking off PFAW’s new campaign, Trumpublicans: Reject Trump and the Republicans / Trumpublicanos: Rechaza a Trump y los Republicanos. The campaign targets the anti-immigrant, anti-Latino extremism of Donald Trump and Senate Republicans. In addition to the press conference today, PFAW launched radio and digital ads in Arizona, North Carolina, and Florida making clear that Trumpublicans / Trumpublicanos — those who are supporting Trump whether by voting for him or helping him implement his agenda — stand against Latinos.
Key statements from press conference participants:
Civil rights leader and PFAW board member Dolores Huerta:
“In 1972, Cesar Chavez and I were organizing in Arizona. Cesar was doing a 25-day water-only fast to protest an unjust law that prevented farmworks from striking or boycotting in his home state of Arizona. I met with some Latino professionals in the state and we discussed all the barriers they faced to making change, and all the reasons why Arizona couldn’t do it. But I know the power our communities can yield. When they said, 'no we can’t, no se puede,' I said 'si se puede, yes we can!' We’re at a similar juncture now. Can we beat Trump, McCain, and Arpaio and continue to make progress for working families right here in Arizona? Si se puede, yes we can, through our votes!
“There’s no Trump ‘pivot.’ He is the same man still pushing policies of mass deportation and portraying immigrants as criminals. From Day One, Trump has run a bigoted campaign that goes against American values, and that should disqualify him from the presidency. No leader, no matter their party, should be voting for him. Yet to this day, McCain and his Republican Party are blocking any action on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. They instead hope that a President Trump will fill it. And Trump, McCain, and the Republicans oppose the policies that we support, like DACA and DAPA, raising the minimum wage and enacting policies to ensure equal pay for equal work.”
Congressman Ruben Gallego:
“While the Constitution is clear that Senators are supposed to advise and consent on judicial nominations, Senators McCain, Flake and their Republican Party are refusing to do their jobs. They’d rather have Donald Trump, who believes immigrants are rapists and doesn’t believe a federal judge can be impartial just because of his heritage, appoint the next Supreme Court justices. We can’t let Trump appoint the next justices and we can’t let Republicans be the ones in control of confirming Supreme Court justices. That’s why Arizona Latinos can and will vote in record numbers to reject Trump and McCain this November.”
State Representative Rebecca Rios:
“Donald Trump seeks to win this election by painting our communities as dangerous. He’s attacked a federal judge because of his Mexican-American heritage, called immigrants 'killers,' kicked Jorge Ramos out of a press conference, and so much more. It’s not just Trump’s hate that makes it so important for us to vote against him. He, McCain, and the Republicans stand against us on so many issues. They deny the science of climate change, for example, even though our state keeps seeing record heat and exorbitant energy bills that are hurting working families and the elderly. And that’s not to mention the public health issues that will only get worse as Republicans continue to ignore climate change.”
Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo:
“A vote for McCain is a vote for Trump. McCain’s trying to have it both ways: he’ll criticize Trump every once in a while, but ultimately, he’s still voting for him, he’d still like Trump to fill Supreme Court vacancies. Trump’s campaign of painting immigrants as ‘rapists’ and ‘drug dealers’ goes against everything we stand for as a nation. His mass deportation policies are despicable, and I’m ashamed that our Senator is still standing by him. In November, we need to use our votes to send a message to Trump, McCain, Arpaio and their allies. It’s the votes of Latinos in Arizona that could decide this election.”
LUCHA executive director Alejandra Gomez:
“Donald Trump’s divisive, hateful bigotry is reason enough make every effort to turn out to vote and bring our friends and neighbors too. But let’s not forget the damaging economic policies that Trump, McCain, and the Republican Party stand behind. They’re against raising the federal minimum wage, against efforts to ensure women get equal pay for equal work, against paid family and medical leave.”
PFAW director of Latinos Vote! Lizet Ocampo:
“Republicans can’t have it both ways. We know that anyone who stands with Donald Trump stands against us. We’ve launched our Trumpublicans / Trumpublicanos campaign to hold Donald Trump and the Republicans responsible for demonizing our communities and standing against our priorities. They’ve failed us at every level, and that's why we'll cast the deciding votes against them this November."
For follow-up interviews with press conference participants, or for questions about PFAW’s new campaign, please email [email protected].
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