Republican strategist Mike Madrid on CNN on December 8, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via CNN / YouTube)
President Donald Trump and Republicans overall are in "deep, deep trouble," according to one moderate conservative strategist, as Latino voters continue to abandon the GOP in "significant" numbers, with two key issues most likely to blame.
Mike Madrid is a moderate Republican political strategist, known as one of the co-founders of the anti-Trump political action committee, The Lincoln Project. On Monday, Madrid made an appearance on CNN, where he was pressed about a recent Pew Research survey, which found that 7 in 10 Latinos disapprove of Trump's performance as president in his second term so far. Among those Latinos who voted for Trump in 2024, nearly a third, 3 in 10, said they disapproved.
"This is why we're witnessing all of these dramatically wild swings that happened in the 2024 presidential election with Latinos, Hispanics moving historically to the right for Trump, and then moving one year later in equally significant fashion, back away from Republicans and towards the Democrats," Madrid said.
He then cited the key issues driving these shifts away from Trump: affordability and immigration, with the former being the primary factor "overwhelmingly."
"It's overwhelmingly, overwhelmingly about economics and affordability, and affordability," Madrid continued. "There's no question that the immigration issue, and especially the dramatic overreach that Latinos have been feeling in this country during the Trump administration, is having a mobilizing effect, a terrorizing effect in our communities. But those same polls that you cited are saying by very large numbers, affordability, [and the] cost of living is getting far, far worse under Donald Trump. They blame him for the economic downturn that we're experiencing. And for the first time in Pew polling history, less optimistic about the future in this country generally and about their economic conditions specifically."
Madrid was also asked to react to a recent clip from Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.), in which she said that Latinos in the U.S., while desiring "secure borders," also "want to give dignity to those who have been here for years and do not have a criminal record... who have been here contributing to the economy and to the country."
"They're in deep, deep trouble," Madrid said of the GOP. "I think when you start to see Cuban American Republicans like Congresswoman Salazar finally recognizing that this administration has been hunting people from our community down and trying to now have it both ways, from that statement, you realize they're in deep, deep trouble."
Madrid also noted that this move away from Republicans by Latino communities could see Miami elect its first Democratic mayor in 30 years. A runoff election for Miami mayor is being held on Tuesday between Democrat Eileen Higgins and Republican Emilio Gonzalez. Higgins received the highest portion of the vote in the first round, just under 36%, nearly double what Gonzalez received for his second-place finish. While things could change dramatically with only two candidates in the runoff race, it is still viewed by Democrats as another race where a major upset win is within reach.
Watch the segment below:
