WASHINGTON — In some corners of the Latino community, there's a compelling familiarity to President Donald Trump's narrative of an American economic comeback that appears to be giving him an opening where it matters most six weeks before the election: at the margins.
It's a story that has both deep roots and immediate salience for many voters whose families fled political and economic oppression in Latin American countries for security and opportunity in the U.S., as well as for those trying to hold on to what they built in the shadow of the coronavirus crisis.
"We built the greatest economy in history, and now we're doing it again," Trump said Wednesday at a Latinos for Trump event in Phoenix. "As Hispanic Americans, you know better than anybody, we implemented historic tax cuts and regulation cuts, the biggest in the history of our country."
Strategists in both parties say they see an opportunity for Trump to connect with the message that his policies fueled a strong economy — including record low unemployment among Latinos — before the coronavirus struck and that he is leading a recovery that would be endangered if Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins in November.
"One of the reasons that the president is having success with Latino voters is because he is trusted by them on the economy," former Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., said Monday in an interview on MSNBC. "The Hispanic community, especially here in the state of Florida, is an entrepreneurial community."