MIAMI — Hispanic Trump supporters from communist and formerly leftist countries in the Americas gathered at the historic entry point for Cuban refugees in the 1960s on Saturday to cry foul, claiming election fraud and thanking their “titan” leader, President Trump, in the waning days of his mandate.
Trump had an outsize success in historically blue Miami-Dade County, and many political analysts believe it could be permanent. The fear of communism coupled with dismal Democratic Party organizing and outreach to Hispanic voters in the state is believed to have been a major factor.
Voters from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua, and other left-leaning countries are believed to have peeled hundreds of thousands of votes away from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 vote totals, enough to push Trump past the 1-percentage-point margins of the previous several Florida elections, for a decisive Trump win in 2020 by 3.3 points.
“Here, there is no violence,” Cuban expatriate and Vietnam veteran Julio Martinez, 78, told the Washington Examiner in a Spanish-language interview. “We believe in the United States of America, and the violence is for the other countries where I went to kill communists.”
The former mayor of majority-Cuban Hialeah boasted the work of his local GOP party volunteering at early voting centers and registering voters to help Trump win Florida and 81% of his city.
“We are here to give thanks for the four years of Trump,” he added.
Martinez highlighted the president’s pre-coronavirus accomplishments regarding the economy and job creation, and he said he would wait “for all investigations to complete” before lending credence to President-elect Joe Biden’s Nov. 3 victory.
Biden’s vote has been certified, and he will be sworn in on Wednesday.
Most adamant among the dozen or so Trump loyalists eliciting car horns and thumbs-ups from cyclists and joggers was the self-declared “Diva for Trump,” Susy Taylor, 40, an Ecuadorean national dressed in an American flag corset, pinstriped boots, and a Trump flag worn as a cape.
“It hurts us, everything that is happening in this country,” she told the Washington Examiner in Spanish.
“We elected our president. He was elected,” added Taylor, who said she fled the leftist Ecuadorean government of Rafael Correa 10 years ago and first cast for Trump in 2016. “It has made our patriotism vulnerable, our vote, the legitimacy. Who are we going to put in the White House? This Mr. Biden has a corrupt son. They are corrupt — imagine these dishonest people without values!”
Jotting down the number of positive and negative reactions from passersby on a yellow legal pad from a lawn chair was self-described gay, Jewish activist Bob Kunst, 78.
“Trump won. Biden stole it,” said the registered Miami Beach Democrat, who said he was attending his 208th Trump event.
In the rally’s first 40 minutes, Kunst said that he tallied 65 positive reactions and four negatives.
“And that’s not bad,” he added before turning back to Biden. “Biden’s problem, if he had any integrity and if he had any honesty, he would call for the investigation if he is so sure of himself.”
More than a half-dozen police cars cordoned off the area, with at least a dozen officers standing at the ready. No counterprotesters were visible, and the crowd disappeared precisely at 1 p.m. to transfer to a regular weekend protest spot over the past year, the Cuban La Carreta Restaurant in Little Havana.
Before they scattered, however, protesters made clear that Trump remains a leader to be reckoned with, whether he retains a role in the GOP or not.
“Trump’s movement is not the Republican Party. It never has been, OK? Trump’s movement is America,” said Kunst.
Directing her ire at the near-empty streets and calmly bristling palm trees, Taylor declared that Trump will remain a force.
“He is our titan of patriotism. He is our leader!” she yelled. “He will continue! He will not stop! He will continue!”
