CNN’s Chris Wallace Asks Eva Longoria To Explain Why ‘Hispanics Are Now Saying Maybe I’ve Got A Place In The Republican Party?’

CNN anchor Chris Wallace asked Hollywood star and activist Eva Longoria why “some Hispanics are now saying, you know, maybe the I’ve got a place in the Republican Party?”

On this week’s edition of HBO Max and CNN’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, Wallace interviewed Longoria and  Succession star Brian Cox.

Wallace asked Longoria, who has been a prominent Democratic surrogate since former President Obama’s campaigns, about the inroads Republicans have made into cutting the Democratic advantage with Hispanic voters:

LONGORIA: It’s hard to unite the Hispanic vote, it’s hard to define what is the Hispanic vote, but I will say, what I do, and what I try to encourage politicians to do is not knock on our door every four years with a taco truck and try to get our vote. Don’t say our vote matters when our lives don’t matter. You have to engage in these communities. Every day, not every four years.

WALLACE: I want to pick up on exactly that point and put up some numbers because these are quite striking. In the 2018 midterms, 69% of Hispanics voted for the Democratic candidates for Congress, while 29% voted for Republicans. That’s a 40 point margin for the Democrats. But in the last midterms, this past November, the margin had dropped to 60% for Democrats and 39% for Republicans. So. it went from 40 point margin pro Democrat to 20 point margin. Why do you think we are seeing this swing? It’s still predominantly Democrat, but seeing this swing among Hispanic voters, towards the GOP?

LONGORIA: That is an interesting data to look at because if you see anything that came out of the 2022 midterms was, it was not a choice for the right. I mean, we held on to Congress, we held on to the Senate. I mean, yeah, we had losses. But like, if you saw who was presented to you on the right, people chose not to vote for that. And even Fox News did a beautiful report on the fact that the results were disappointing. Right, for the right. But what I think what that says is, you know, our vote is up for grabs. And it depends on the candidates. And it depends on your state, it depends on your county, you know, what happens from state to state and county to county, whether it’s women’s rights, voting rights, voter suppression.

WALLACE: But you say the vote is up for grabs, Eva. What is it that the Democrats are missing that some Hispanics are now saying, you know, maybe the I’ve got a place in the Republican Party?

LONGORIA: I think the number one issue for all Americans, including Latinos, which Latinos are Americans, is the economy, that’s the number one issue. People think are our number one issues, immigration, or abortion, and its jobs and economy? And I think, you know, there’s a party that speaks better to that. I’m not saying they have a better track record. I’m just saying they have a better marketing plan, I think. Because I think, you know, the Democrats have done, they’ve done some progressive things. And when it comes to creating jobs, and if you look at small businesses, which is the creation of most jobs in the United States, Latinos, create jobs for small businesses, four times the national average. Latinas, specifically six times the national average. So, who’s creating the jobs, our community, we’re creating a lot of jobs and a lot for this country. And so, I think they’re looking for somebody who has the business solution, the economic solution to their pocketbook, to their, you know, their monthly bills, who’s going to help me.

WALLACE: And so when Republicans talk about lower taxes and less government spending (it’s appealing), that’s attractive.

LONGORIA: I think it’s attractive. Yeah, I think, you know, some, a lot of the talking points for both sides are very deceiving. And I think it is very hard, you know, we did a study as to why there were so many eligible Latinos that didn’t vote. And we found it was a confidence gap. They don’t feel confident going into a voting booth and voting for the wrong person. They don’t know, maybe I voted for the wrong person, and maybe I’m voting against my family’s interest. I don’t know enough. I feel like I have to have a political science degree to go into the voting booth. It takes me hours, me, Eva, hours to fill out a ballot. You know, imagine that ballot in front of somebody who’s never done it before, with all the x’s and o’s and all the measures and the judges. And you know, and I research it, and I look and I see who’s for it and I see who’s against it. And then I call my friends and if my friend’s a nurse, I’m like, why are the nurses’ union against this? She was like, well, this is what they’re doing. And I said, but it says–it takes me hours. So, imagine everybody having to do that. It’s very confusing, and it’s set up that way. And I think it’s unfair to disenfranchised communities like Hispanics.

This week’s episodes stream beginning Friday morning, and will be the final episodes of the show’s second season.

Watch above via HBO Max and CNN’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace.