While rallying in Florida last month, President Donald Trump made what some may consider an unwanted call to Puerto Ricans. “You better vote for me, Puerto Rico,” he vaunted, after falsely claiming he’s “the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico.” Although Puerto Ricans on the island, a US territory since 1898, cannot vote, there are over 850,000 of them who can in the Sunshine State. Boricuas hold 27% of the state’s share of the Latino electorate in the 2020 election — only second to Cubans who represent 29%. And the Trump campaign is very aware.
In early October, the President got Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced’s endorsement. Vázquez Garced, who was sworn in after Gov. Ricardo Rosselló was ousted in the summer of 2019, has little to no political pull among Puerto Ricans. She lost her primary bid for a full term in August by a landslide and faced a local special prosecutor investigation for alleged mishandling of supplies for victims of the January earthquakes.
The Governor was set to appear with Trump in the Sanford airport, 20 miles north of Orlando, right at the heart of the state’s Puerto Rican community, the week he tested positive for coronavirus. The diagnosis upended what should have been an important appearance that the Trump campaign hoped would have cemented the Boricua support for the President. Read more>>
