Latino Voters and 2020

News broke overnight of President Trump’s plans to reduce U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, ...

By
38

News broke overnight of President Trump’s plans to reduce U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, less than a week after Jeffrey Goldberg’s bombshell article in The Atlantic highlighted anonymous accusations of the president’s poor conduct toward American veterans. Sarah, Steve, and Jonah tackle some of the move’s political implications for Trump’s re-election campaign before launching into a lively debate over the ethics of using anonymous sources in journalism. “It is the case that reporters can pick and choose their anonymous sources to tell the story that their predetermined narrative would have them tell,” said Steve. “But I think you judge anonymous sources to a certain extent based on the amount of credence you give to the particular reporter who’s using them.”

The Dispatch Podcast also covers curveballs that could upset current polling favoring a handed Joe Biden victory—namely, the Hispanic vote and presidential debates. New data out of Florida reveals that the former VP might not have the Hispanic vote locked down, but as our hosts point out, assuming that a diverse group of people will vote as a monolithic bloc has always been a dangerous oversimplification. Steve, Sarah and Jonah also chat about the upcoming debates and how possible Biden blunders could either hurt him or paint him as a sympathetic figure, depending on how the president chooses to respond.

Show Notes:

-Jeffrey Goldberg’s controversial investigative journalism: Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By
Comments (38)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Avatar photo
    BrandonAlleman

    Biden debate line: ' You've stated several times that I don't even know I am alive. I wonder do you even realize that you are actually the president right now?'

    Collapse
  2. Avatar photo
    Adam

    I had no idea TGI Friday's was ever considered a real restaurant stateside, but for some reason Scandanavia is lousy with them. Some of the nicest parts of Oslo and Stockholm have a prominent Friday's! Any Dispatch readers have the slightest clue why this is?

    Collapse
  3. Avatar photo
    Adam

    Really, guys? Dedicating an entire segment of the pod to humble-bragging about how you guys got dates in high school?

    (The rest of us turned out fine too, thanks for asking.)

    Collapse
  4. Avatar photo
    Kevin Johnson

    Great stuff. A Hill Street Blues ep demonstrated well the problem with the label “Latino” for such a diverse group in the U.S. In his acceptance speech, the winner of “Latino” officer of the year, a veteran Lieutenant, launches into the audience who never bothered to notice he was Colombian, that all the themes of the party were Mexican, and Colombians don’t share the same cuisine, or many other things, with Mexicans. He was proud of his service...as a policeman...but not as representative of a “group” the identity politics crowd (my word) knows so little about.

    On the polling and Latinos and Dems reaching out to blacks far more, I posit there is a racial issue for many Latin Americans and that it may be exacerbated by the riots. I am white, but am married to a Colombian, have spoken Spanish at home fir 35 years, raised 2 bilingual kids, and lived 14 years in Latin America. as a diplomat. I spend part of every year at our place in Medellin and socialize as much in Spanish as in English. While it is changing, my experience in South and Central America is that some of those countries are far behind the U.S. in fighting negative stereotyping of blacks. Many of those who immigrated from those countries (including professionals) openly stereotype blacks with other latins, or with me, in Spanish far more than whites in similar social,circles; it is MUCH more accepted, though not openly in the media, of corse. This is true even for many dark-skinned Latinos, who may disparage black Americans while demanding equality in their home country. Activists share goals with other minorities, but among minority populations, I sense strong competition as well.

    None of this is to stereotype latins as bigots, but to point to different experiences in different home countries for some, and different experiences with whites and blacks in the U.S. Tied to other conservative tendencies more prevalent in some Latin communities than in the electorate, a fear of riots, and a lack of a feeling of the historic guilt whites are laden with (or eagerly take up), this more open “othering” of blacks makes many Latinos nervous about Dem emphasis on black outreach and willingness to go against dems. Anecdotes aren’t data, but I know an elite artist in San Francisco, recruited from Colombia as a prodigy. He is gay and progressive on most things, but he could never speak openly about his racial attitudes about blacks with whites or blacks in this country or he would lose his job. He knows this, and is a progressive champion, except with certain folks on the issue of black Americans. Colombians, Argentines, Salvadorans, Paraguayans (just listing where I have lived) have different experiences with race and they and their families living in the U.S often stereotype blacks more than whites (at similar socio-economic levels.)

    This is a complex issue I’ve thought a lot about while supervising Latin employees in their home countries, Latin Americans working in our Embassies (and whites too) and in my personal life. If I offend some, sorry, but the differences I observe are pronounced, if shrinking over time. Hiw most white, non-Spanish-speaking people see Latin Americans would be hilarious if it weren’t so serious. On the one hand, Trump’s attraction to some of them really isn’t rocket science, given that Caesar Chávez opposed illegal immigration. But there are complexities worth considering, and race is a huge one, although tough to talk about. Thanks much.

    Collapse
  5. James Bennett

    To answer your question, Latinx is not used in Spanish, it is an English language term. I had to explain it to my Spanish speaking friends, as they had never heard of it. The silly thing, is if you want a gender neutral English term, you can already use Hispanic, or just Latin.

    Collapse
  6. Avatar photo
    Amy Stapleton

    Squirrels? Armadillos? https://youtu.be/prVTMrb6JHo

    Collapse
  7. Avatar photo
    JDW

    I loved the show. I probably agree with Steve more than Sarah on the anonymous sources but one thing I do agree with Sarah on is assigning a percentage chance something is believable. My percentage may vary from someone else's but it's a rational way to think. We can't always be certain. So that exchange was gold.

    Collapse
  8. Avatar photo
    Adicesa14

    The discussion regarding anonymous sources was excellent. These sources should be considered hints not facts, and hints are not news. Hints are directional and should be confirmed by some (unknown to me) formal metric (i.e. documents, named sources, etc.) before being considered fact, hence news.

    The “labelling” of Romney may not have been decisive had the MSM not repeated it ad nauseam and linked the 47% when it came along. Of course, Romney made other errors, but left out of the conversation is the favoritism of the press for Democrats. Every issue, election, etc. is an uphill climb for Republicans because of the MSM. Sometimes blame or credit for a result is in error. Of course, that decision is made by the press!

    Collapse
  9. Avatar photo
    Victor Clairmont

    So I agree with Sarah. Highly skeptical of the Atlantic piece. More people have gone on the record against this, than for it. Even John Kelly’s tip aide said it’s not true, never mind Bolton.

    Also, the Atlantic gets some basic things wrong, like the weather, making me more cynical of the biggest charges.

    Quite frankly, there is plenty other things to go after Trump on, why make up stuff? Unless you wanted to change the news cycle. Yes, Trump has a bad character that leads to people believing these things without evidence. But we have had lie after lie after lie not just from Trump, but the media in past years.

    Either solidify this with people coming forward, or I am sorry, but I have no obligation to believe The Atlantic. That is the sad state journalism has become.

    And, the Latino voters is no shock to me. I have a lot of family in the Miami-Dade area, and the community seems to have warmed to Trump. 4 years ago they thought he was a clown. Now, when you took an Uber or Lyft ride (before Covid), the Cuban, Venezuelan, and other Latinos have no problem talking about Trump in both positives and negatives.

    Anecdotally, in the north east from the black churches I attend I am finding more black men (not women so much) willing to voice disagreement with the Democratic Party and willing, not to entirely defend Trump but to get acknowledgement that he has not been a complete disaster for minorities pre-Covid. I did not run into this much during the 2016 campaign, and Trump still got more black voters than McCain or Romney. I have a feeling if even Trump loses the election, he will have the highest gains from black voters in the past 30 years.

    Good podcast again.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      Anne W (Raw5254)

      I was surprised when Steve went after Sarah so hard (think it was Steve) when he pointed out that the Trump administration has also provided plenty of anonymous sources. Is that an excuse for the Atlantic? I don’t see that as good reporting from anyone, and reminds me of when Jonah talks about “whataboutisms.”

      Otherwise, I also thought it was a very good podcast.

      Collapse
      1. Avatar photo
        Tracie

        DJT&team specifically tried to discredit The Atlantic story for using anonymous sources, when they themselves cite anonymous sources for accusations and/or conspiracy theories all the time.. Think about how Trump reacts when a reporter tries to pin him down on a source for anything. That's hypocrisy, which according to the double standard which has been normalized for Trump and his defenders, is supposed to be OK. Everyone else has to have sources on the record, who he will tweet an attack on as soon as he gets the name, but he's allowed to make unsubstantiated claims and vague insinuations all over the place. Everyone else has to hold themselves to community standards, but not him.

        Isn't whataboutism typically a distraction? This sounds pretty relevant to the subject at hand.

        Collapse
        1. Avatar photo
          Anne W (Raw5254)

          Wait a minute! Isn’t that what I’m saying?! It’s not okay for any of them.

          Collapse
          1. Avatar photo
            Tracie

            What I mean is that I think what Steve was taking aim at was DJT&Co's hypocrisy in focusing on unnamed sources, given their own profligate use of them.

            Collapse
  10. Avatar photo
    Seth B

    Glad to hear that Keeps still sponsors the podcast after Jonah's comment a few weeks ago that it will give you "hair like Stalin"!

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      hajaXavier

      🤣🤣🤣 what a visual that evokes!

      Collapse
Load More