Actor John Leguizamo (Critical Thinking) didn’t mince words as a guest on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher Friday night when the topic came up about Donald Trump resonating with young Latinos because of the “machismo factor.”
“Latin people for Republicans are like roaches for Raid,” Leguizamo said during his segment, which he participated in virtually. “I just feel like there’s a level of self-hate or lack of care for the rest of your Latin brothers and sisters who are in cages or who are being demonized by this president.”
Leguizamo added that hate crimes against Latinos are “way up.” According to FBI statistics, anti-Latino hate crimes rose over 21% in 2018.
“Twenty-three people were [killed] in El Paso for just being Latin,” Leguizamo said. “And you don’t care, so you’re going to vote for this braggadocio president? I just feel like it’s self-hating and selfish.”
Maher brought up that there are 32 million eligible Latino voters in the United States, which, for the first time, is more than the total number of Black voters. Maher wondered why those numbers haven’t translated into a stronger influence at the ballot box in recent years.
“America is so binary,” Leguizamo said. “It’s always just Black and white and the rest of us get forgotten. I think part of the problem is that candidates don’t reach out to us [and] don’t talk about our issues. Come at us because we respond. We’re the friendliest motherf***ers in the world.”
Leguizamo also spoke to Maher about the lack of Latino representation in Hollywood, both in front of and behind the camera. Last month, Leguizamo famously boycotted the Emmy Awards for the lack of Latino nominees.
“We’re the largest ethnic group in America,” Leguizamo said. “We’re 25% of the U.S. box office, less than four percent of the faces in front of the camera, less than two percent of the crew, less than one percent of the stories [and] zero percent of executives. It’s like living in a psychosocial erasure.”