On Wednesday, Steve Kornacki, NBC News’ national political correspondent, shared some promising news for the GOP in Pennsylvania. Kornacki revealed that former President Donald Trump is gaining popularity among Hispanic voters as the general election approaches in November. During his appearance on the network, Kornacki noted that Democrats have experienced a significant drop in support in Hispanic-majority cities within Berks County, Lehigh County, and Luzerne County, key areas in this crucial battleground state.
According to Kornacki, Democratic support in Allentown fell from 45 points to 35 points between the 2012 and 2020 elections. Data from the last three presidential elections shows that 54 percent of Allentown’s population is Hispanic.
“Take a look, here’s Allentown. Lehigh County, this has the highest concentration of Hispanics in Pennsylvania,” Kornacki went on to say during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “It’s a 54% Hispanic, and look at this, the trend has been toward Republicans. The state was moving toward the Democrats between ’16 and ’20, but in Allentown, Clinton won it by 42 [points] in ’16, fell down to 35 in 2020. This is an area, we’ve talked so much about the polls showing Trump making more inroads with Latino voters, this is the kind of place where the Trump folks think this trend can continue.”
Kornacki then turned his attention to Hazleton, Pennsylvania, where 63 percent of the population is Hispanic, analyzing past election results from this demographic. He also highlighted Reading, a city with a 67 percent Hispanic population, which has seen a dramatic decline in Democratic support—from 64 points in 2012 to 45 points in 2020.
“Again, look at this trend. It was blue in 2012, Hazleton was for Obama. And then Trump comes along, he carries it by 5, he improves it to 11. Again, this is a kind of place where Trump folks think they can do better,” Kornacki added during the segment. “And again, this is very much a majority Hispanic city. Or Reading … you just take a look right here. Overwhelmingly Democratic, but from 2012, when Barack Obama won re-election, to 2020 when Biden carried Pennsylvania. That’s a drop of basically 20 points in the Democratic margin here in a heavily Hispanic city.”
WATCH:
NBC’s Steve Kornacki Spells Out Good News For Trump, Republicans Among Swing State Hispanic Voters pic.twitter.com/W8cq9d9dyb
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“So the trend in the most Hispanic cities in Pennsylvania, as the state was getting more Democratic in 2020, they were becoming more Republican,” Kornacki said. In the 2020 election, Biden received 50 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania, while Trump received 48 percent. Trump won Luzerne County with 56 percent to 42 percent, as well as Berks County with 53 percent to 45 percent. Biden secured Lehigh County with 53 percent to 45 percent.
“Polls found Biden getting trounced among Hispanic voters regarding key issues, a demographic which has historically been a key voting bloc for Democrats. An Axios/Ipsos survey from April found Trump leading Biden by 22 points on the economy, 11 points on crime and seven points on immigration among Latino voters, while Biden held a nine-point lead on abortion,” The Daily Caller reported.
