Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump came under fire Tuesday after Univision anchor Jorge Ramos was ejected from a Trump campaign press conference in Dubuque, Iowa. Among the first to slam Trump was National Hispanic Media Coalition president and CEO Alex Nogales, who called the real estate mogul a “sociopath.”
“I was disgusted by Trump’s demeanor [and] racist attitude… this man is a sociopath,” Nogales told TheWrap. “He doesn’t filter what’s going on around him. He says the most outrageous of things, the most racist of things, thinking that they don’t have a consequence. And words have a consequence.”
Nogales opined that Trump’s statements since entering the presidential race have alienated Latinos, and his statements could repel other demographics as well.
“Regardless of what he envisions, he has alienated the Latino community, he will soon alienate the Asian Pacific-American community. He has alienated women by the words that he has had for [Megyn] Kelly of Fox News, of all people.”
Added Nogales, “He is incorrigible, and he is a sociopath of the first order.”
Ramos’ ouster from the press conference — even though he was eventually allowed back in — won’t do anything to help draw Latinos to the candidate, Nogales asserted.
“He doesn’t seem to recognize that Ramos is an icon in our community, he has been reporting and reports the news in the best of fashion with the best of of journalistic integrity,” Nogales said. “And to say that he was screaming is silly. We all saw that he was not screaming.”
Despite Trump’s strong poll performance, Nogales warned that Trump’s circle of support is shrinking, even among what would seem to be his ideological allies.
“He’s gotta realize that words have a consequence and that not only the Latino community, but the nation as a whole is coming to grips with his action. Even Roger Ailes, for Christ’s sake, of all people, from Fox News, is saying, ‘That’s enough.’ And that’s what we’re all saying: That’s enough. To treat someone like Ramos with that kind of discourtesy, with that kind of rancor … I mean, it’s incredible.”
During the press conference, Trump insisted that Latinos “love me,” but Nogales isn’t buying it.
“He is delusional. He is a sociopath that can’t see the handwriting on the wall,” Nogales said. “What Latino is ever going to endorse him after what he has had to say about Mexicans, about what he has had to say in his immigration plan?”