How Arizona Hispanics View Biden and Trump on the Border Issue: From the Politico Desk

Welcome to the online edition From the Political Deskis an evening newsletter bringing you the latest coverage and analysis from the election campaign, the White House and Congress from the NBC News political team.

In today’s edition, national political reporter Ben Camisar analyzes the latest focus group with Latino voters in Arizona who oppose Joe Biden and Donald Trump, plus senior political reporter Jonathan Allen examines the message Nikki Haley sent to Trump after she said she would vote for him.

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How Arizona’s Latino voters rate Biden and Trump on the border

Ben Camisar

New focus groups with Hispanic voters in Arizona shed light on why the border has become such a politically charged issue for President Joe Biden.

Former President Donald Trump’s hardline rhetoric on immigration and actions during his time in office were far from unanimous in praise from the 12 participants in the latest NBC News Deciders focus group series, produced in collaboration with Engagious, Syracuse University and Sago.

The focus groups specifically recruited participants who were dissatisfied with both Biden and Trump – a key swing cohort in key battleground states.

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But from their perspective, many felt that Biden has struggled to manage immigration while Trump has a clearer view on the issue, with one attendee calling the current president’s border policy a “total chaos.”

“Even if I don’t agree with Trump’s specific approach to border control, at least he did something about it,” said Melissa G., 43, of Phoenix, who supports Robert F. Kennedy Jr. when the opportunity arises and Trump otherwise.

RFK Jr. Factor: Overall, focus group participants were very disappointed with the candidates from both major parties, with more people saying they would vote for Kennedy than any other candidate in a five-person race that also included Jill Stein and Cornel West. Kennedy has not yet qualified to be on the ballot in Arizona, but a super PAC supporting him says it has gathered enough signatures to qualify.

“I definitely will not be voting for Biden. He does not align with my beliefs at all,” said Nicole G., a 39-year-old Glendale resident. She said she “really struggled to vote” for Trump in 2016, but ultimately voted because he “aligned with a lot of our family’s beliefs, morals and values” and she hoped he would be the right person for the presidency.

“Then he became president and I felt ashamed that I voted for him,” continued Nicole G. “I will never vote for him again because he is a reckless leader and should never be in leadership.”

Abortion Ballot Measures: Arizona voters are also likely to vote this fall on an amendment to add a right to abortion to the state constitution. Few focus group participants had a clear understanding of the state’s current abortion laws, but even those who described themselves as “pro-life” expressed concerns about allowing the government to restrict access to abortion.

“I’m going to teach my daughters what I believe is right, and I hope they’ll follow that, but at the end of the day, they’re going to do what they want to do,” said Enrique M., a 48-year-old from San Tan Valley who said he’ll vote for Trump.

“Do we want them to go to jail for violating it? Probably not,” he said.

Read more about the focus group here →

Nikki Haley’s message to Trump

Jonathan Allen

Donald Trump takes Nikki Haley, and most of her supporters, for granted.

That was the message sent by Haley yesterday when she said she would vote for Trump despite voicing her opposition.

“Trump was not perfect on these policies, I’ve made that clear many times,” Haley said in a speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., where she blasted Democrats’ wavering support for Israel and Republicans’ wavering support for Ukraine. “But Biden was a disaster, and that’s why I’m voting for Trump.”

And it urged Haley to do exactly what Trump failed to do to win her vote.

“That being said, I stand by what I said in my suspension speech,” Haley said. “Mr. Trump would be wise to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me and continue to support me, and not assume that they will simply support him.”

But as NBC News’ Vaughn Hilliard and Ali Vitali reported Thursday, Trump hasn’t spoken to Haley since she dropped out of the race in early March. There’s no need to call her, write her a letter, or say nice things about her from the podium. Haley had nowhere else to go if she wanted to stay politically viable.

She called Biden a “disaster.” In detailing the dangers she believes Biden poses to the United States in her speech, she did more than create a license for voters to support Trump. Her attack on the incumbent president was so harsh that she implored voters to fly MAGA flags on flagpoles on their manicured lawns.

This was no surprise to Trump, who had hired her as his ambassador to the United Nations and correctly predicted she would comply, and it also shouldn’t have come as a shock to Biden, who is well aware that a majority of voters break down along partisan lines in election campaigns.

But the past two elections were decided by tens of thousands of voters in a handful of states, and if the same thing happens this time around, every vote will count.

So even if Trump could take Haley and most of her supporters for granted, it would be a mistake to ignore them entirely: Part of Haley’s base, including those who voted for Biden last time, will be the ones the Democrats will be fighting for between now and November.

Trump doesn’t need to convince Haley, but he will have to counter Biden, likely using some of the same talking points Haley made on Wednesday.

That’s all from the Politics Desk. If you have any comments, please email us here. politicsnewsletters@nbcuni.com

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