Latino supporters of Donald Trump made good on their promise to hold an #OperationTacoBowl rally yesterday in Anaheim atop the steps of City Hall. Around 60 people—not the 100 or so that the MSM and organizers are claiming— turned out for the midday event. They posed a Hillary Clinton prop in a hospital gown with a walker and another one with a big dollar sign chain around her neck suggesting she's too ill and crooked to be president. Speakers took to a podium to drive home another message: Latinos want Trump in the White House to “Make America Great Again!”
The “Latinos For Trump” coming out party got off to a slow start, as moribund as their hero's own presidential bid these days. They chanted “Viva Trump,” prayed for the candidate and pledged allegiance to the flag in both English and Spanish— wait, didn't recording the national anthem as “Nuestro Himno” cause a big ruckus years ago?
With supporters holding signs reading “Make Our Border Safe Again” and “Save Us Señor Trump!” the rally's energy finally picked up when speakers bashed Clinton in Spanish. Marco Gutierrez, an immigrant from Mexico, traveled all the way down from Contra Costa to deliver a message to the would-be first woman president in the U.S. “Señora Hillary, usted es una maldita mentirosa!” Gutierrez said, calling her a “damn liar.” He turned his attention to fellow Latinos not yet on the Trump Train. “¡Y a mis paisanos, 'Ya dejense de hacerse mensos, ya dejense de chingaderas!” The crowd erupted in approval of Gutierrez's tough talk.
Over the next hour, speakers took to the podium to profess their love for the Donald while insisting that their families immigrated to the United States from Peru, Colombia and Mexico “the right way.” Francisco Gonzalez, a Newport Beach resident, rallied the crowd with his words on immigration. “Donald Trump isn't going to deport me; he's going to deport illegals!” said Gonzalez, himself the son of immigrant parents. “As a Latino, I proudly say, 'Build the wall!'” The chant broke out at City Hall. “Who's going to pay for it?” Gonzalez added, taking a line from his hero. “Mexico!” the crowd responded.
The rally continued without much fanfare in the form of a counter-protest. The last time Trump supporters gathered at Anaheim city hall, both sides broke out the pepper spray and stun guns while exchanging heated words. Perhaps with that in mind, Latinos For Trump barely put out a flyer for the event on Saturday, complete with a misspelling of its location at “Aneheim” Boulevard! Only an occasional passerby delivered a middle finger to the crowd or yelled “Fuck Donald Trump.” Hell, maybe anti-Trump Latinos can see the burrito for the beans and aren't as motivated to protest his supporters as before.
Gutierrez, who helped put the event together, was pleased with the results. “We want to deliver a message to the world that there's no monopoly of Hispanics,” he told the Weekly. “They can think for themselves and decide whatever they want.” The lifelong Republican works as a real estate agent and became a U.S. citizen in 2003. He didn't start taking a liking to Trump until President Barack Obama burned the billionaire during a routine at the 2011 White House Press Correspondents dinner. Gutierrez says there's many more Latinos like him, including his brother who is a closet Trump supporter. “His wife told him that if he supports Donald Trump or me, she's going to divorce him,” Gutierrez says.
When the speakers wrapped up, the Trump faithful took to the streets waving flags and signs at cars driving by. Back at City Hall, Rose Riggio picked up scattered Trump signs. Like Gutierrez, Riggio catches flak from family, especially her primos, for supporting Trump. Wearing an embroidered Mexican peasant blouse, she proclaimed a love for her culture and Trump.
“I see what's going on with the border because my mom lives three blocks from there in Tijuana,” says Riggio, a second-generation Mexican-American and evangelical Christian. “The last time I was there about three weeks ago, there were four or five Kenyans sitting on the border with backpacks waiting to cross over.”
Latinos For Trump ended its rally with a call to action. After booing Telemundo and Univision, the group pledged to translate Trump's speeches into Spanish so that their fellow Latinos could find out what he's really about away from Spanish media bias. More rallies are being planned for the future in other states like New Mexico and Florida.
Here's some tips, Latino Trump lovers: at least get Clinton piñatas to bash, hire some salseros and definitely bring in a taquero for the next shindig! Anything else is unconvincing…and muy aburrido!
