(Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump was pressed on his immigration rhetoric, the economy and his one-term White House record during a Univision town hall with Latino voters, a bloc that will determine his electoral fate in key battleground states.
The session with the Spanish-language outlet follows one his rival, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, also did with Univision last week, highlighting how the two are ramping up their outreach to Latino voters, a crucial demographic in swing states including Arizona and Nevada.
Trump answered pointed questions from voters about why they should support him for president despite his embrace of conspiracy theories about migrants and his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol.
Here are the key moments from Wednesday’s town hall:
Defiant on Springfield
Trump showed no signs of backing down from his widely debunked claim that Haitian migrants who have settled in Springfield, Ohio are eating household pets.
“I was just saying what was reported, that’s been reported, and eating other things too, that they’re not supposed to be but this is all I do, is report,” Trump said in response to a question on whether he really believes migrants are eating cats and dogs.
“I’m going to be there, and we’re going to take a look, and I’ll give you a full report when I do but that’s been in the newspapers and reported pretty broadly,” he added.
Trump, who has said he plans to visit Springfield, has faced widespread backlash for promoting myths about the Ohio town and other falsehoods that the town of Aurora, Colorado, has been overrun by Venezuelan gang members.
Jan. 6 Defense
One attendee prefaced a question about Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol, by saying he wanted to give the nominee “the opportunity” to win back his vote over what he described as “disturbing” events.
Trump, who faces a federal criminal indictment over his role in the Capitol attack and charges in Georgia over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election result there, said nothing improper happened that day, ignoring the violent siege by a mob of his supporters seeking to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
“Nothing done wrong at all. Nothing done wrong. And action was taken. Strong action. Ashli Babbitt was killed. Nobody was killed,” he said, referring to a woman who was shot by police as she tried to enter the House chambers. Trump has ignored other deaths, including five Capitol Police officers who died in the days and months after the assault.
First-Term Review
When asked about any mistakes he made during his first term in office, Trump shrugged off any policy errors and instead suggested the only misstep he made was hiring certain members of his own administration.
“We had the strong border, we had the great economy, we had all these things — but I put some people in that I wouldn’t have used again,” he said.
Trump’s long list of former officials who have cut ties with him include his vice president, Mike Pence, his national security advisor, John Bolton, and his secretary of defense, Mark Esper.
Harris’ campaign has promoted ads and statements that include comments from Esper and Bolton assailing Trump as a threat to democracy. The campaign is banking on support from Republicans and is holding an event in swing-state Pennsylvania on Wednesday with about 100 Republicans, including some ex-Trump aides.
Debt Plan
Trump faced a question about his plan for paying down the $35.7 trillion national debt, saying he would have done it during his first term had it not been for the onset of the coronavirus pandemic that spurred trillions in new emergency spending.
The former president said he would pay down the debt with economic growth and with the help of Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and a major campaign donor, whom Trump has said he would tap to lead a federal cost-cutting effort.
“We’re putting him in charge. He wants to do this so badly,” Trump said. “And he and his team are going to work on that, we’re going to get it down.”
Economists have warned that economic growth alone is unlikely to boost revenues enough to pay down accumulated debt and Trump has yet to provide any specific examples of what “waste, fraud and abuse” he would cut.
Harris’ Virtues
During the final moments of the town hall, a voter asked Trump to name some positive virtues about Harris, which the Republican nominee called “the toughest question.”
Trump praised her “long-time friendships,” which he called “a good thing,” and said she “seems to have a nice way about her.”
He also called her a “survivor,” but coupled that with a dig about her failed 2020 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and her eventual emergence as President Joe Biden’s replacement atop the party’s ticket this year.
(Updates throughout with additional context)
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.