WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:03.600 We often hear that, like, you know, you guys are 2 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:07.040 the future, you guys are tomorrow's leaders. But we disagree. 3 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:09.240 We think we are today leaders. 4 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:10.600 We are at the moment right now. 5 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:12.920 Oh gosh, young people are this wing voters a selection. 6 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:14.680 They're smart young people. 7 00:00:14.760 --> 00:00:16.240 We're integrated into social media. 8 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:19.360 But there's millions of generations let's just don't. 9 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:21.840 Vote, And especially when it comes to young Latinos. 10 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:25.480 They are representing a larger portion of this emerging American electorate. 11 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:28.520 When that generation starts voting in their numbers, we're going 12 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:29.600 to see an abrupt. 13 00:00:29.400 --> 00:00:32.000 Change, change that people are seeking. 14 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:36.240 This is our country, the land of opportunities, where anything 15 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:38.000 is possible. 16 00:00:38.360 --> 00:00:39.400 And we want it back. 17 00:00:45.120 --> 00:00:49.320 From futuro media and PRX. It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria 18 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:53.720 ino Hosa today. How young Latino voters are showing up 19 00:00:53.720 --> 00:00:57.880 for the twenty twenty four presidential election, and two young 20 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:01.800 Latinos who have been handled by the parties to get 21 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.680 out the youth vote. This story is part of our 22 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:14.000 special election coverage, the Latino Factor. How we Vote. As 23 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:16.199 we get to the very end of the twenty twenty 24 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:20.399 four political campaign cycle and votes across the country already 25 00:01:20.440 --> 00:01:23.200 begin to cast their ballots for president. 26 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:25.839 I wanted to make sure my vote was going to count. 27 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.920 Campaigns are going to get concrete evidence of what strategies 28 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:36.520 worked and what flocked. And this election is a landmark 29 00:01:36.600 --> 00:01:41.280 moment because seventeen and a half million Latino voters are 30 00:01:41.360 --> 00:01:44.919 expected to turn out, and one out of every five 31 00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:47.320 will be voting for the very first time. 32 00:01:47.440 --> 00:01:48.480 This is my first election. 33 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:52.680 I'm very excited, and both the Harris and Trump campaigns 34 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:55.680 are going to see if they've made inroads with one 35 00:01:55.720 --> 00:02:01.480 of the most consequential and emerging electorates, young and Latina voters. 36 00:02:01.880 --> 00:02:05.160 Our producer, Monica Morades Garcia has been on the ground 37 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:09.120 in California and traveling throughout the country virtually speaking with 38 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.440 young Latino voters, and Monica is here with me. 39 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:14.320 Now, Hey Monica, Hey Maria. 40 00:02:14.760 --> 00:02:18.200 So Monica, you're based in southern California and you've been 41 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:22.720 looking into how both campaigns Trump and Harris are working 42 00:02:22.760 --> 00:02:26.000 to make gains among young voters. So tell us a 43 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.040 little bit more about how they're doing this very specifically. 44 00:02:29.320 --> 00:02:32.400 Yeah, for sure. To start, both campaigns are using the 45 00:02:32.480 --> 00:02:35.760 tried and true techniques of organizers on the ground. You know, 46 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:40.680 typical stuff, door knocking, tabling, putting on rallies. And when 47 00:02:40.720 --> 00:02:43.840 I hung out with young Democrats organizing in California, they 48 00:02:43.880 --> 00:02:46.440 were excited to vote for their candidate. 49 00:02:46.120 --> 00:02:48.040 Really excited have Kamala be on the ticket. 50 00:02:48.160 --> 00:02:50.000 I think people of color one is someone that looks 51 00:02:50.040 --> 00:02:53.680 like them. And also young Republicans organizing, they were pumped. 52 00:02:53.760 --> 00:03:00.000 I'ms funny for sure, and booth campaigns are facing similar issue. 53 00:03:00.720 --> 00:03:04.600 Only about half of young eligible voters actually end up voting, 54 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:08.200 and that's a high turnout. So in order to get 55 00:03:08.200 --> 00:03:11.720 the vote out, both campaigns have joined social media sites 56 00:03:11.760 --> 00:03:15.280 like TikTok, a platform that nearly fifty percent of all 57 00:03:15.440 --> 00:03:16.640 Latino adults use. 58 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:18.360 What do you have to say to the American people? 59 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:19.560 We are not going back. 60 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:23.360 The president is now on TikTok. 61 00:03:24.919 --> 00:03:26.120 I'm gonna say TikTok. 62 00:03:26.320 --> 00:03:28.400 So anyone who's running a campaign at this point who 63 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:30.120 wants to reach young people, you kind of have to 64 00:03:30.160 --> 00:03:31.720 talk to influencers. 65 00:03:31.200 --> 00:03:35.200 Right, one hundred percent, And this call is coming from 66 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:39.560 inside the house because both Democrats and Republicans have handpicked 67 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:43.160 young people to be the campaign's face online and on 68 00:03:43.200 --> 00:03:45.240 the ground in key battleground states. 69 00:03:45.440 --> 00:03:47.720 So they're reaching out to both parties. But what we 70 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:51.880 do know is that historically young voters have leaned for 71 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:56.000 the Democrats. How much gain has there been with the 72 00:03:56.040 --> 00:04:00.000 Republican Party to reach these young Latino and Latino voters. 73 00:04:00.320 --> 00:04:03.119 Well, that's the thing, Maria. Latinos in the US are 74 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:07.440 relatively young, and while for decades Latino voters have favored 75 00:04:07.480 --> 00:04:14.520 Democratic candidates in presidential elections, the margins have varied in support. Actually, 76 00:04:14.640 --> 00:04:17.839 thirty seven percent of young Latinos say that the current 77 00:04:17.880 --> 00:04:21.880 president and the Democratic Party doesn't care about the Latino community. 78 00:04:22.200 --> 00:04:25.240 This is according to the Brookings Institute, and that sort 79 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:29.560 of jadedness among young Latinos that gives the Republican Party 80 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:33.120 a slight edge because the Trump campaign they already have 81 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:36.760 a solid base made up of older, non college educated 82 00:04:36.760 --> 00:04:40.080 white voters. So Republicans don't need to appeal to every 83 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:43.160 young Latino voter. They just need to chip away at 84 00:04:43.200 --> 00:04:44.160 the right ones. 85 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:48.880 So, for example, Suffolk University, USA today are showing that 86 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:52.600 former President Trump is gaining in terms of young black 87 00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:56.320 and Latino men in crucial states like Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada. 88 00:04:56.600 --> 00:05:00.360 That's precisely it, Maria, Democrats are even launching an ad 89 00:05:00.440 --> 00:05:04.400 campaign called Omris Conheris to target Latino men and try 90 00:05:04.440 --> 00:05:07.520 to combat some of that chipping away. Republicans are making 91 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:11.640 gains in but young people care about politics and more 92 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:15.600 and more in recent years. As recently as June twenty twenty, 93 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:18.880 eighty three percent of eighteen to twenty nine year olds 94 00:05:19.080 --> 00:05:22.080 felt that young people could change the nation, according to 95 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:26.440 researchers at Duke University, and this was especially true of 96 00:05:26.440 --> 00:05:29.039 the two young men I spoke with for this story. 97 00:05:29.400 --> 00:05:31.600 That's why we love the fact that you went out 98 00:05:31.640 --> 00:05:34.160 to do this deep dive, Mornicut. So you're going to 99 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:38.360 start this story in Wisconsin, into that battleground state, and 100 00:05:38.400 --> 00:05:42.760 that's where you find an enthusiastic Latino advocate for Trump. 101 00:05:43.400 --> 00:05:45.760 So tell us more, Monicut, take it away. 102 00:05:46.960 --> 00:05:49.160 When I first started reporting on this story, I was 103 00:05:49.200 --> 00:05:54.800 looking for conservative political influencers with big followings, and this 104 00:05:54.960 --> 00:05:59.320 one name just kept popping up, Hilario de Leon. Hilario 105 00:05:59.400 --> 00:06:03.080 de Leon. But I would go on his socials and 106 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:05.360 I would see that he had less than four thousand 107 00:06:05.440 --> 00:06:09.320 followers on all of his accounts combined, and like that's 108 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:13.839 not nothing, okay. But then I saw a photo of 109 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:17.920 him with Donald Trump pinned at the top of his 110 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:23.400 ex so I thought, you know what, he must be 111 00:06:23.480 --> 00:06:31.560 influencing something right. Despite not having a huge online presence, 112 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:35.719 Hilario was handpicked by the Trump campaign in twenty twenty, 113 00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:38.799 and today he's hoping to get a share of young, 114 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:42.200 black and Latino voters in Wisconsin to vote for the 115 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.880 former president and flip the swing state back to red. 116 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:47.320 I don't sure what I have to do if I 117 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:49.440 have to run through a war zone. 118 00:06:49.880 --> 00:06:51.839 He's got my vote, and I'm going to try and 119 00:06:51.880 --> 00:06:56.080 get so many other people join me. Friends, family, neighbors, 120 00:06:56.320 --> 00:07:00.800 doesn't matter, independence, swing voters, Democrats, anyone, everyone. 121 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:04.320 Hilario is twenty three and the chairman of the Republican 122 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:08.400 Party of Milwaukee County, representing almost one million people. 123 00:07:08.760 --> 00:07:11.240 I'm the youngest chairman that has ever been elected in 124 00:07:11.280 --> 00:07:14.720 the Midwest, and I am the first Latino chairman. 125 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.200 He was born and raised in Wisconsin, and before we talked, 126 00:07:18.200 --> 00:07:20.160 he was outdoor knocking in a suit and tie. 127 00:07:20.280 --> 00:07:23.040 Before we had this interview, I went out campaigning for 128 00:07:23.080 --> 00:07:25.640 President Trump and it was exciting to meet new people. 129 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.600 Along with being chairman of the Republican Party, Hilario also 130 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:32.200 works as a ballot chase manager for Turning Point Action. 131 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:35.840 That's the far right nonprofit youth group aimed at turning 132 00:07:35.840 --> 00:07:38.920 out the Republican leaning and undecided vote. 133 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:42.200 In recent elections for the Republican Party. They see that 134 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:45.080 they're the biggest inroads to getting Latino support is to 135 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:47.400 focus on young men of color. 136 00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:51.720 This is Cristina Bijerano, a political science professor at Texas 137 00:07:51.760 --> 00:07:55.560 Women's University. Her work focuses on how race and gender 138 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:58.920 shape and influence our current electoral environment. 139 00:07:59.200 --> 00:08:01.120 We're not sure that all of them are going to 140 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:04.560 support one party or the other, but they are also 141 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:10.000 becoming a key demographic in especially some of those battleground 142 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:10.920 or swing states. 143 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:13.520 And to make those inroads with young men of color, 144 00:08:13.840 --> 00:08:17.960 the Trump campaign is tapping Hilario and other young influencers 145 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:19.680 to get voters to switch. 146 00:08:19.960 --> 00:08:23.520 That's the way that they can appeal to young Latino 147 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:24.880 men and men of color. 148 00:08:25.280 --> 00:08:29.040 But almost equally as important, Hilario is putting a face 149 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:32.680 to a demographic that has felt frustrations with the Democratic Party. 150 00:08:33.320 --> 00:08:35.479 Trump himself spoke about it recently. 151 00:08:35.280 --> 00:08:38.679 And I'll tell you what any African American or Hispanic 152 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:44.439 that votes for Kamala you gotta have your headachex because 153 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.440 they are really screwing you. 154 00:08:47.520 --> 00:08:50.960 And it's people like Hilario that Trump's campaign is trying 155 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:55.640 to get. So despite his small following, Hilario is making 156 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:59.719 some noise in the online world. This past year especially, 157 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:02.840 it seems like he's popped out of nowhere but is 158 00:09:02.920 --> 00:09:05.880 now showing up as the face of Wisconsin's gen Z 159 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:10.400 Party leaders. He even landed a profile in Politico, the 160 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:13.720 political news site, with the headline, what You're doing in 161 00:09:13.760 --> 00:09:18.120 Milwaukee might actually end up saving the entire civilization. 162 00:09:18.800 --> 00:09:22.040 It seems that I'm somewhat becoming an influencer within the 163 00:09:22.040 --> 00:09:22.840 party itself. 164 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:25.800 And he told me he's even started to get noticed 165 00:09:25.800 --> 00:09:26.560 by strangers. 166 00:09:26.920 --> 00:09:29.240 Was at an event and I could hear my name 167 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:31.760 being mentioned, and I looked over and the lady had 168 00:09:31.760 --> 00:09:35.160 her phone. I see my profile picture and an article 169 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:35.640 about me. 170 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:37.600 So I went over to say. 171 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:40.360 Hello, Pilario has been able to achieve a lot in 172 00:09:40.400 --> 00:09:41.720 a short amount of time. 173 00:09:42.280 --> 00:09:45.240 I'm just I don't know. I think about it every 174 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:49.560 day like I'm a part of history. I'm writing history 175 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:50.880 as we speak. 176 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:55.760 It was only four years ago, back in twenty twenty 177 00:09:55.920 --> 00:09:58.520 that he lost his job as a dishwasher and made 178 00:09:58.520 --> 00:09:59.920 the career change into paulic. 179 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:03.440 I lost my job because of the governor's decision to 180 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:08.120 shut down the state. I was really upset, angry. I 181 00:10:08.160 --> 00:10:11.559 could say I was depressed because it's like, what am 182 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:12.559 I going to do for work? 183 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:15.520 He was twenty years old, never went to college, and 184 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:16.600 lived on his own. 185 00:10:16.520 --> 00:10:18.960 And so I was literally sitting at home. I had 186 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:19.400 a cat. 187 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:21.599 He's looking at me and looking at the cat, and 188 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:24.880 she's like, well, shit, got a lot of free time 189 00:10:24.880 --> 00:10:27.679 on my hands, might as well try out politics. 190 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.439 Before now, Hilario had never worked in politics. He had 191 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.480 no connections. But for years he had and still does 192 00:10:36.040 --> 00:10:40.040 do Civil War reenactments and is partial to playing Captain 193 00:10:40.120 --> 00:10:44.400 Robert Todd Lincoln, the eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln. 194 00:10:45.080 --> 00:10:49.319 But other than that, he wasn't connected to anyone in politics, 195 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.200 and to his admission, he was just a boy from 196 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:53.559 the south side of Milwaukee. 197 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:57.120 When I look at someone like Senator Vance, I can 198 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:59.440 relate to a lot of what was going on in 199 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:00.640 his life. 200 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.240 In two thousand and one, Hilario was just a five 201 00:11:03.280 --> 00:11:06.560 month old baby in foster care and was eventually adopted 202 00:11:06.600 --> 00:11:09.439 by a white couple who couldn't have children of their own. 203 00:11:09.800 --> 00:11:14.120 His biological Mexican father left for Texas. His mother was 204 00:11:14.160 --> 00:11:15.280 dealing with a drug addiction. 205 00:11:15.880 --> 00:11:19.640 There were struggles. There was always struggles going on with family. 206 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.960 When he was five, his adopted father committed suicide, and 207 00:11:24.280 --> 00:11:27.160 he has since been raised by a single mother. They 208 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:31.080 fought a lot. Hilario tells me that in June twenty fifteen, 209 00:11:31.640 --> 00:11:34.080 when Trump came down the escalator to kick off his 210 00:11:34.160 --> 00:11:37.920 bid for the Republican presidential nominee at Trump Tower in 211 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:40.640 New York City, they found common ground. 212 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:44.920 I was watching Fox at the time, and I already 213 00:11:44.920 --> 00:11:46.640 considered myself a Republican. 214 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:49.720 I was only fourteen at the time. I couldn't vote. 215 00:11:49.920 --> 00:11:55.880 Whoah, that is some group of people thousands, so nice, 216 00:11:55.920 --> 00:11:56.680 thank you very. 217 00:11:56.600 --> 00:11:59.120 Much, And I knew I'm a supporter. I believe in 218 00:11:59.160 --> 00:12:00.600 everything that he was taught talking about. 219 00:12:01.400 --> 00:12:03.679 At the time, he was a freshman at a private 220 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:08.280 Catholic high school whose student body was almost sixty percent Latino, 221 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:11.560 and to his recollection, most of the other kids had 222 00:12:11.800 --> 00:12:13.680 very different political views than him. 223 00:12:13.760 --> 00:12:15.920 I was the only Trump supporter in the entire school 224 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:17.360 that I know of. 225 00:12:17.880 --> 00:12:20.640 So when Trump had his first rally in Wisconsin, he 226 00:12:20.760 --> 00:12:21.880 and his family went. 227 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:24.960 And there was a lot of viral moments that came 228 00:12:25.040 --> 00:12:26.920 out of that rally. 229 00:12:27.880 --> 00:12:31.000 A young woman protesting the Trump rally hit a Trump 230 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:34.400 supporter in the face, and then someone in the crowd 231 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:39.840 pepper sprayed the young woman. It was chaotic and there 232 00:12:39.880 --> 00:12:44.840 were a lot of cameras. The incident made headlines nationwide. 233 00:12:44.760 --> 00:12:47.240 So there were some videos that people could see me 234 00:12:47.400 --> 00:12:50.320 in the background with a sign was showing my support. 235 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:54.000 His sign said all presidents should read The Art of 236 00:12:54.040 --> 00:12:58.319 the Deal, Trump's nineteen eighty seven memoir and business advice book. 237 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:01.800 And when he went back to school after Easter break. 238 00:13:01.800 --> 00:13:08.160 People treated me very horribly. They were calling me a racist, bigot, sagynists. 239 00:13:08.360 --> 00:13:09.600 I called me hitler. 240 00:13:10.160 --> 00:13:12.160 I had the pre set one point at the school, 241 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:14.280 pull me aside in the cafeteria and say to me, 242 00:13:14.520 --> 00:13:16.800 how could you support a man like Donald Trump? In 243 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:19.160 front of not just myself but other students. 244 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:23.920 He felt ostracized from all sides, his classmates and the 245 00:13:23.960 --> 00:13:25.000 school administration. 246 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.880 Oftentimes I had to sit by myself and eat by myself, 247 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:31.200 which I didn't mind because I meant I got to 248 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.440 spend more time watching the rallies and doubling down on 249 00:13:34.800 --> 00:13:36.760 what I believed in and what I supported. 250 00:13:37.280 --> 00:13:41.120 But then former President Trump won the nomination and then. 251 00:13:41.080 --> 00:13:45.040 The election, and I proved him wrong. 252 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:49.040 Hilario finished high school somewhere else. The private Catholic school 253 00:13:49.080 --> 00:13:52.160 asked him not to return after his sophomore year because 254 00:13:52.160 --> 00:13:52.840 of his grades. 255 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:56.920 They say it was because of my algebra skills, but 256 00:13:57.280 --> 00:13:59.400 I think it was politically motivated. 257 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.040 He graduated in twenty nineteen, but less than a year later, 258 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:05.840 in twenty twenty, he was living on his own and 259 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:08.920 things felt as though they were falling apart. This is 260 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:11.959 when everything got shut down because of the pandemic, and 261 00:14:12.200 --> 00:14:15.720 he was quickly realizing he couldn't afford his place. And 262 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:19.640 around the same time, the DNC was supposed to happen 263 00:14:19.720 --> 00:14:20.480 in Milwaukee. 264 00:14:20.920 --> 00:14:22.960 What would have been the biggest event the city of 265 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.960 Milwaukee hosted is now scaled back to a mainly virtual dealer. 266 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:29.920 I started to look it up online and see what 267 00:14:30.040 --> 00:14:31.040 events were going on. 268 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:34.760 So, with nothing else to do, in an overwhelming sense 269 00:14:34.800 --> 00:14:38.720 to prove everyone wrong again, he began to organize. 270 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.640 Organize a counter protest rally called the Wisconsin for Trump rally, 271 00:14:45.040 --> 00:14:48.560 and so even though it got shut down because of COVID, 272 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:52.640 the Trump campaign had gotten wind of me volunteering and 273 00:14:52.760 --> 00:14:55.880 doing this all on my own, and so someone from 274 00:14:55.880 --> 00:14:58.680 the Trump campaign had contacted me and hired me as 275 00:14:58.720 --> 00:14:59.760 a field organizer. 276 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:03.720 Hailario worked for the Trump campaign starting in twenty twenty, 277 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:08.600 and although he was employed, he still had troubles. Hilario's 278 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:11.680 home life wasn't perfect, and when he was in school 279 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:15.120 he felt like an outcast, but within the Republican Party 280 00:15:15.160 --> 00:15:18.000 he began to feel welcome. He would attend events to 281 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:21.600 be part of something bigger than himself. In the following years, 282 00:15:21.880 --> 00:15:25.000 he continued to work with the GOP, even landing a 283 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:28.520 spot as a state party staffer for two years and 284 00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:32.080 becoming the chairman of the county GOP soon after. As 285 00:15:32.080 --> 00:15:34.440 he spent more and more time involved with the party, 286 00:15:34.840 --> 00:15:39.120 his ever growing feeling of belonging was all solidified. Weeks 287 00:15:39.160 --> 00:15:43.720 before the twenty twenty four RNC Turning Point action, close 288 00:15:43.800 --> 00:15:47.440 allies to former President Trump made sure that Hilario got 289 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:49.840 to meet the former president for the first time. 290 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:52.320 They say never meet your heroes, but I think that's 291 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:55.000 a bullshit statement. When it comes to President Trump. 292 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:57.640 The hell that I've been put through, and then to 293 00:15:57.680 --> 00:16:00.680 have that opportunity, sorry, and. 294 00:16:03.040 --> 00:16:08.560 He so. I mean, it was an emotional experience for me. 295 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:14.720 Hilaria was nervous but mostly excited. Announcers introduced his title 296 00:16:14.840 --> 00:16:17.320 and name, like a duke meeting a king. 297 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:20.800 He said, that's a big title, and he looked great. 298 00:16:21.160 --> 00:16:23.400 I like your suit. He liked my suit that I 299 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:27.280 was wearing. He doesn't like sloppy dressers. And then he 300 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:30.320 turned to me and said, so, how is it looking 301 00:16:30.400 --> 00:16:34.240 in Milwaukee? And I explained him everything that we were 302 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:37.640 working on. He's saying that's great, that's amazing, excellent, exciting 303 00:16:37.680 --> 00:16:41.120 to hear. And he ended by saying, we're going to 304 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:45.160 have to get you out to Washington, d C. And 305 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:48.920 then he shook my hand and thanked me for everything 306 00:16:48.920 --> 00:16:52.640 that I was doing, and I was on my way. 307 00:16:53.040 --> 00:16:56.880 The interaction didn't disappoint it solidified his belonging to the 308 00:16:56.920 --> 00:17:02.040 Republican Party. So this election and the last media has 309 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:06.119 been questioning what could be influencing men of color. I 310 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:08.800 had that question too when I spoke to Hilario and 311 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:12.840 hung out with some young Republicans in California, after all. 312 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:15.600 The New York Times recently reported that young men of 313 00:17:15.640 --> 00:17:18.679 color aren't really offended by the racist dog whistles that 314 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:22.840 might turn off other voters of color. In fact, young 315 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:24.480 men might even be entertained by it. 316 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:27.639 I think for young men in particular, it's part of 317 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:31.200 a broader angst that they feel, you know, this struggle, 318 00:17:31.320 --> 00:17:33.320 this effort to figure out where do you fit in? 319 00:17:33.640 --> 00:17:36.920 This is Renee Dresta. She's the author of Invisible Rulers, 320 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:40.520 The People Who Turn Lies into Reality, a book about 321 00:17:40.520 --> 00:17:45.119 political influencers. She's also a former research manager at Stanford 322 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:46.320 Internet Observatory. 323 00:17:47.080 --> 00:17:48.480 What does it mean to be a man? 324 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:50.600 What role models do you have? 325 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:53.760 There's, like, you know, there's like an irreverence and a 326 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:55.679 humor and a funniness to some of it. 327 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:58.680 There's an irony, and I think if you scroll through 328 00:17:58.760 --> 00:18:02.600 Hilario's X and see how funny he finds Trump, and 329 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:06.320 in person, Hilario himself is kind of a goofy guy. 330 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:09.120 My cats, jim me to stay guys. 331 00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:13.080 As the Latino Electric continues to grow, we'll surely see 332 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:16.880 more Ilario's pop up, but for now, he's still kind 333 00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:20.200 of an anomaly. He's not your average young Latino voter, 334 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:25.040 adopted by white parents and ostracized for his political beliefs 335 00:18:25.080 --> 00:18:28.280 and looking for a place to fit in. He found 336 00:18:28.280 --> 00:18:31.000 a home in the GOP where he was welcome with 337 00:18:31.080 --> 00:18:35.960 open arms. And like I said, Republicans don't need every 338 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:40.120 young Latino voter. That's the Democratic base. They just need 339 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:45.040 to find the anomalies, the hilarios and Hilario de Leon. 340 00:18:45.640 --> 00:18:49.560 He's out there almost every day, ready with open arms 341 00:18:49.760 --> 00:18:52.520 to welcome any young man who has ever felt like 342 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:54.000 he has so a. 343 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.840 Lot of work that needs to be done. I won't 344 00:18:55.840 --> 00:18:59.800 know if we're successful until after the election. Even god 345 00:19:00.040 --> 00:19:03.400 that we lose, If we see an increase of support 346 00:19:03.640 --> 00:19:06.119 and votes, that means that we're on the right track. 347 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.320 Coming up on Latino USA, we hear from another young Latino, 348 00:19:14.359 --> 00:19:17.360 this time from across the aisle. We're gonna find out 349 00:19:17.520 --> 00:19:20.000 what he's doing to get the vote out to his 350 00:19:20.760 --> 00:19:33.240 fourteen million followers. Stay with us, Yes, Hey, we're back. 351 00:19:33.520 --> 00:19:36.480 And before the break, we met a young Latino Republican 352 00:19:36.560 --> 00:19:40.720 from the battleground state of Wisconsin. He's hoping his efforts 353 00:19:40.760 --> 00:19:42.880 on the ground are going to be enough to get 354 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:46.719 his candidate Donald Trump passed the finish line. But now 355 00:19:47.280 --> 00:19:49.320 we're going to head to the other side of the 356 00:19:49.320 --> 00:19:52.640 political aisle. So let's jump back in with Monicam more 357 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:54.919 Les Garcia, who joins us with the story. 358 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:57.960 Hi there, Yeah, Adam. 359 00:19:58.119 --> 00:20:00.879 It was ten thirty on a Saturday morning and I 360 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.440 was following Adam Tayabas. He's twenty eight and a young 361 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:07.800 Democrat in California. He was door knocking for Harris. 362 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:11.480 Have you noticed any like shift to the right with 363 00:20:11.560 --> 00:20:18.840 any of your Latino yes, yes, relatives or friends or choices. 364 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:22.800 Yeah. I think that it's on social grounds, you know, 365 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:25.680 as Latinos are a lot of us, I don't want 366 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:27.840 to say all of us were raised in the church, 367 00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:31.239 in Catholic or whatever, so they've always been kind of 368 00:20:31.280 --> 00:20:35.960 like socially conservative. But I think that Republicans are exploiting that. 369 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:40.480 But that doesn't mean they're unsalvable, that we can't get 370 00:20:40.560 --> 00:20:41.560 Latino men back. 371 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:46.359 And here Adam started whispering as if we were friends 372 00:20:46.560 --> 00:20:47.520 sharing a secret. 373 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:52.600 I think that when Latino men start seeing like how 374 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:56.800 conservatives actually think of them, and how they'll always be 375 00:20:56.920 --> 00:21:00.400 the other and never one of them, you know, they'll 376 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:01.919 realize like this is not the party for me. 377 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:05.959 Adam walked off to knock on a door. He had 378 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.160 only spoken to a handful of folks. Honestly, most people 379 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.840 just peered through their windows, refusing to answer the door. 380 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:15.480 But this time someone finally came out. 381 00:21:16.280 --> 00:21:19.160 Hi, there you Tracy and hire Adam. 382 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:20.840 I'm just a local volunteer and I'm just trying to 383 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:23.120 get out the vote for a few folks that are running. 384 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:23.399 In your area. 385 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:25.200 You know a lot of great people on your ballot 386 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:28.720 this year were looking forward to it. Awesome, Thank you 387 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:36.160 so much. Of course, she was fantastic. When we get 388 00:21:36.320 --> 00:21:36.919 good people. 389 00:21:42.760 --> 00:21:45.439 Adam and his team on the ground organizers are an 390 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:48.760 example of getting out the Democratic vote the old fashioned way. 391 00:21:49.800 --> 00:21:52.040 The day I canvassed with Adam, he and his team 392 00:21:52.080 --> 00:21:55.120 aimed to knock on a thousand doors for Vice President Harris. 393 00:21:55.760 --> 00:21:58.919 But as we mentioned at the top, Democratic campaigns are 394 00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:02.400 also trying something new to reach and went back their 395 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:04.640 base of young Latino voters. 396 00:22:04.600 --> 00:22:07.359 Social media, YouTube, I tik talk, Instagram. 397 00:22:07.800 --> 00:22:11.399 Democrats are tapping activists with large social media followings to 398 00:22:11.520 --> 00:22:15.400 reach voters that they can't reach on mainstream media platforms. 399 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:18.879 According to the Pew Research Center. Latinos tend to be 400 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:22.400 younger than white or black adults, and younger people are 401 00:22:22.520 --> 00:22:25.560