GOP Rep. Salazar says she spoke with Trump and he is ‘very receptive’ to her warning about Hispanic voters
By Alison Main, CNN
(CNN) — GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar Sunday said that President Donald Trump was “very receptive” to her warning that Hispanic voters feel “betrayed” by his immigration agenda ahead of the midterm elections.
The Florida Republican told CBS’ “Face The Nation” that she had a “very good conversation” with the president after releasing a campaign ad Thursday featuring her dire message that “some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far.”
“He was a gentleman, very courteous, very receptive,” Salazar said Sunday, adding that she told Trump, “You have this moment in history where you can keep the pot of gold that you brought to the GOP in 2024.”
A White House official confirmed to CNN that Salazar and the president spoke by phone but didn’t elaborate on the conversation.
The Miami-area congresswoman said she emphasized to Trump her desire to maintain Republican power in Washington in order to stave off the “very big threat” of socialism.
Salazar represents a majority Hispanic district in South Florida that voted for Trump by nearly 15 points in 2024. Recent polls have shown a portion of that voting demographic straying from the president as his overall approval rating sinks.
Pressed on her break from the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement, Salazar told CBS that the topic “very toxic” and said the “average American” wants some kind of immigration reform.
In her ad, Salazar highlights statistics she said show that 50% of the people detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in July “had no criminal record.”
“The average American understands the difference between the narco and the nanny and the gangster and the gardener,” she said Sunday.
Despite the president’s previous aggressive rhetoric about deportation, Salazar argued Trump “gets it” because of his background in construction and hospitality.
“He’s a businessman, and he has the political ability to convince both parties to vote for this legislation or any immigration reform,” she said, referring to a bipartisan bill she has introduced that provides some undocumented immigrants without criminal records a renewable period of legal status.
Salazar reiterated her concern that some of Trump’s advisers are “compromising his legacy” on the issue of immigration, though she wouldn’t elaborate on who she was talking about.
“It’s my duty not to attack. There are no attacks here. They’re just for warning him and advising him as a member of Congress from the South Florida area that some of his advisers are just not presenting the whole picture,” she said.
Trump made clear Friday that he disagreed with Salazar’s message, telling reporters, “I’m very strong on the borders, and she isn’t” and taking credit for her political success.
“Maria won only because of me,” he said, adding “she got a little bit soft on the border. I understand that. I understand that, but I just don’t happen to be there.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Sunday on ABC, that “even amongst Republicans, we have disagreements on how to actually get to the secure border that we have and how to handle the interior problems that we still have, that were created by Joe Biden.”
Scalise said he did not agree with Salazar that Hispanic voters who gravitated to Trump in past elections feel betrayed.
“I love Maria, and we’ve talked,” he said, explaining the issue they’re grappling with is “how do you then reestablish a sense of law and order in America and get back to the rule of law, which, by the way, most Hispanics wanted and voted for in 2024.”
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