Luis Miranda is a political strategist, community organizer, founding president of the Hispanic Federation, and president of the Latino Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to building political power in the Latino community.
The Puerto Rican native is also the father of musician, author, and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda.
ABC News’ Lindsey Davis spoke with Luis Miranda on Monday about comments made about Latinos and Puerto Ricans at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, and Michelle Obama. He spoke about President Trump’s criticism of the former first lady and his predictions for Puerto Ricans. Voter reaction to this rhetoric.
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe speaks at a rally for Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 2024 in New York City.
Andrew Kelly/Reuters
ABC News: Mr. Lewis, thank you very much for joining us. First, I’d like to hear your reaction to the comments about Puerto Rico made by a comedian who attended last night’s rally.
Miranda: This is not the first time Puerto Ricans have been insulted by Trump and his people. When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, we learned that the president withheld aid appropriated by Congress to help Puerto Rico and used the excuse that we were lazy and wanted everything done for us. I remember.
So I think we’re going to mobilize more and go to the battleground states and definitely prove him wrong. We are not trash or lazy, and we are all American citizens ready to vote in this election.
ABC News: Trump campaign says comedian’s words do not reflect its own views. Do you think this has anything to do with the former president’s campaign platform?
Miranda: Listen, while I was waiting for you, I spent five minutes listening to a rally that’s going on in Georgia right now. And in those five minutes, he criticized Michelle Obama. I wondered if she was on the list of enemies he planned to prosecute in the future.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at McAmish Pavilion in Atlanta on October 28, 2024.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Then he talked about transgender people and how scary it is. He said people from the border are criminals. He’s talking about Latinos. He helped the crowd chant “Lock her up!” She, he criticized fake news.
This means within 5 minutes, the amount of time it takes for you to come out of his mouth. When you organize a rally, when you organize a political event for yourself, for your party, every word uttered at that event reflects who you are, the aspirations of your party, and It represents what you would like to achieve if this were to happen. Selected. That’s exactly what Donald Trump is.
ABC News: Do you think this moment will inspire Puerto Rican voters who might have been planning to forego voting, or change the minds of people who were planning to vote for Trump?
Miranda: Listen, most people are going to vote on policy. Latinos, so are we. But what Trump did at this rally was that his poignant insults hurt our hearts.
And those insults mobilized people, people who were probably supporting the Democratic Party and Vice President Harris, now saying to themselves, “You know what? I want this person in the White House.”
I think the Vice President said it best. we are exhausted. I’m tired of this rhetoric and tired of this guy constantly pitting one group against another. And I think we’re ready to move forward and close this page for good.
ABC News: Luis Miranda, thank you very much for your time and insight. appreciate.
Miranda: Thank you.
