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Trump's bad rap with U.S. Hispanics hasn't yet poisoned GOP: Gallup

Xinhua, August 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

Although the majority of U.S. Hispanics have a negative opinion of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, it has not hurt the party's standing with the surging population, a Gallop poll released Monday revealed.

Trump has stirred controversy by accusing Mexico of sending various criminals intentionally over the border. He pledged to compel its southern neighbor to pay for a border wall, should he be elected.

The bombastic billionaire also said all undocumented residents should be deported and that children born in the United States to illegal immigrants should not receive automatic citizenship.

The birthright citizenship is granted by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The poll said that in August, 14 percent of the roughly 650 Hispanics it interviewed considered Trump favorably, while 65 percent unfavorably.

Gallup did not measure Hispanics' views on Trump prior to his presidential announcement in June, and thus can't quantify how many votes Trump's remarks about immigration have cost him.

While Trump has a highly unfavorable image among Hispanics, it doesn't seem to be tarnishing the rest of the Republican candidates for their White House bid, at least for now, showed Gallop.

As of mid-August, Republican Party candidate and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's image among Hispanics had improved as Trump's derogatory immigration remarks dominated the headlines.

Bush used the term "anchor babies" in a radio interview last week, which is referred to children born to parents who entered the U.S. solely for getting citizenship for their children.

Bush defended himself Monday, saying it was not offensive to Hispanic immigrants.

In sharp contrast to Trump, the poll showed 34 percent of Latino interviewees rated Bush favorable and 23 percent unfavorable, making Bush, whose wife was born in Mexico, the most popular GOP candidate among U.S.Hispanics.

In terms of familiarity, only Trump and Bush are recognized by the majority of Hispanics. Eight in 10 have formed an opinion of Trump and about six in 10 of Bush, the Gallup poll showed. Endi