Actor John Leguizamo spoke to The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week about an array of issues–from the Latino support of President Donald Trump to Latino outreach in politics.
The Colombian-American actor, who has starred in films such as Moulin Rouge!, Nothing Like the Holidays and John Wick, started by talking about how the Latino vote is something that is treated as “an afterthought.” Although ballots are still being counted, the consensus seems to be that Trump received more Latino support in this year’s election than he did in 2016.
“If [politicians] don’t keep us in mind and put us in the forefront, you’re not going to get us,” he said. “Nobody comes after us. Nobody knocks on our doors. Nobody’s talking about our issues. Nobody has a Latinx vice presidential candidate or is dangling the carrot of Latins as cabinet members. Trump at least knew enough to target them.”
That, however, doesn’t mean Leguizamo has lost confidence in the power of the Latino vote. In fact, he was inspired by the fact that the state of Texas became bluer than it had since 1976 when it voted for Jimmy Carter.
“That was in huge part due to Latin people,” he said. “Texas is 40 percent Latin, 12 percent Black. So, there’s no reason besides crazy gerrymandering and voter suppression that it shouldn’t be blue.”
Leguizamo was also happy to see that “99 percent” of Cubans in Miami didn’t vote for the incumbent president..
“Only 50 percent of Cubans voted Republican for Trump,” he said. “So, that gave me a lot of heart and hope that at least 42 percent are media savvy, they’re searching for facts and not just watching Fox News.”