Hispanic Businesses Rally Behind Hillary Clinton And Wall-Off Donald Trump

Back in April, the Huffington Post reported on the dual endorsement by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC), which represents Hispanic businesses as a bold refusal to have any dealings with Donald Trump.

At the time, their endorsement included Republican John Kasich, who lost the race for the Republican Party’s nomination to Donald Trump, leaving their other endorsement for Hillary Clinton intact, which has given the USHCC an opportunity to completely get behind her campaign.

The president and the CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Javier Palomarez, recently spoke with the Texas Standard about their rejection of Donald Trump, where he says that Hillary Clinton has been very active with the organization, engaging them to be present at town halls, in private meetings, and at round-tables and see what they could do for small businesses.

“Throughout her campaign Hillary Clinton and her team have reached out to our association to ensure that we are in close contact, to ensure that they’re hearing from us what the concerns of the American small businesses are.”

This is the first time in nearly 40 years that the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which represents 4.1 million Hispanic-owned businesses and generates $661 billion in annual economic benefit, has endorsed any candidate.

In October of last year, Donald Trump canceled his appearance with the USHCC because he believed he would be put on trial, according to another article by the Huffington Post, because of his stance against immigrants and Mexicans, after saying he would build a wall at the border and that Mexico would pay for it.

After Donald Trump made the controversial statement during his speech when he announced his candidacy in June of 2015, he had a falling out with the Hispanic network Univision, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, and created anger in the Hispanic community.

In 2016, Donald Trump would only create more distance when he came against the Hispanic judge who is presiding over his Trump University case, which also angered many in his party.

Donald Trump’s reason for bailing on the meeting with the USHCC is reportedly similar as to the reason why he doesn’t want a Latino judge on his case, because he feels he has become a target of the Hispanic community, but quickly follows this by saying that he’s going to build a wall no matter what.

During Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC), a sample of what he had to say about businesses and the economy was used in the Texas Standard podcast.

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce trolls @realDonaldTrump by endorsing @HillaryClinton at GOP convention https://t.co/PXfxEa6Xr0

— Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff) July 20, 2016

“On the economy I will outline reforms to add millions of new jobs and trillions in new wealth that can be used to rebuild America. A number of these reforms that I will outline tonight, will be opposed by some of our nation’s most powerful special interests. That’s because these interest have rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit, believe me, it’s for their benefit.”

Palomarez says that the chamber was going to ask 10 questions of their choice for the candidate when he was to meet with them.

“They’ll be fair questions. We’re not going to debate you. We’re not going to argue. We’re simply going to give you an opportunity to unpack your policies and explain to my constituency as business owners and job creators why you think you are a better option for American small businesses.”

Trump’s campaign has been known to put journalists on lists they do not want present during his rallies, or at press conferences, and Palomarez says that they wanted to see a list of the journalists who would be there, and wanted to open with a 10-minute intro and close with another 10 minutes, as well as checking the questions that would be asked.

Palomarez also says that the congressional budget office took a look at Donald Trump’s policies and determined that he would increase the national debt. However, the rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and his issues with Mexico also threatens small business, because they say that it is those types of businesses that will bear the burden of any trade issues.

But he also says that they could not take Bernie Sanders seriously either, due to his opposition to the TPP.

It’s well been over a year since Donald Trump made his first public statements against Hispanic immigrants, and now as the Democratic Convention comes to a close on its final night, with the latest polls showing Hillary Clinton beginning to come out ahead of Donald Trump, Hispanic businesses will continue to stand against him.

[Photo by Carolyn Kaster/AP Images]