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August 24, 2016

PFAW Launches “Trumpublicans” Campaign with Bilingual Radio Ads

Today, People For the American Way (PFAW) is launching its new campaign, “Trumpublicans: Reject Trump and the Republicans” / “Trumpublicanos: Rechaza a Trump y los Republicanos,” with radio ads, digital ads, and an event in Arizona with civil rights leader and PFAW board member Dolores Huerta. The campaign, aimed at Latino voters in Arizona, North Carolina, and Florida, emphasizes the importance of voting against Trump and Republican Senators standing with him.

“Donald Trump has made clear time and time again that he’s campaigning for the presidency on the backs of Latinos and immigrants. His hateful rhetoric began on Day One of his campaign, and we won’t let him take his bigotry to the White House,” said civil rights leader and PFAW board member Dolores Huerta. “But it’s not just Trump. Republicans – even those who at times have criticized him – are still voting for him and are still blockading President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee in the hopes that Donald Trump will fill the seat. At the ballot box, Latino voters will make our voices heard against the anti-immigrant, anti-Latino Donald Trump and the Republican Party by voting against them.”

“Republicans can’t have it both ways. We know that anyone who stands with Donald Trump stands against us,” said PFAW Director of Latinos Vote! Lizet Ocampo. “We’ve launched our ‘Trumpublicans’ campaign to hold Donald Trump and the Republicans responsible for demonizing our communities and standing against our priorities. They’ve failed us at every level, from blocking comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship to opposing raising the minimum wage to voting against efforts to make college more affordable.”

The bilingual radio ads began running this morning in North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona. Each features a child speaking in English and Spanish, asking her mother, who speaks in Spanish, if Trump will win the election. The mother emphasizes that through voting not just against Trump, but against Republicans down ballot, Trump and Republicans will lose. “We take a multigenerational approach in this innovative ad to reflect the times we live in. We see more and more families where older generations speak primarily Spanish to their children and grandchildren, who often speak both English and Spanish or Spanglish,” explains Ocampo. While the ads are similar in theme, each is locally tailored. Listen to the ads and read the transcripts here.

Later today, civil rights leader and PFAW board member Dolores Huerta will join Latino leaders in Arizona to denounce Donald Trump and John McCain. Huerta will tell the story of how the Si Se Puede / Yes We Can chant started there with the organizing she and Cesar Chavez did with the United Farm Workers there. She'll address how Latino voters can again use their power, this time to decide the outcome of this November’s elections in Arizona.  You can also read her op-ed in the Arizona Capital Times published earlier this week, "Latino voters deciding the election? Si se puede!" To schedule a remote or in-person interview with Dolores Huerta, please email media@pfaw.org.

In addition to the radio ads and the event, PFAW will  target Latino Twitter users through paid posts in Arizona, North Carolina, and Florida. Here are the graphics we'll be promoting in Arizona:

 

For questions about the campaign or to speak with Dolores Huerta or Lizet Ocampo, please email media@pfaw.org.

People For the American Way is a progressive advocacy organization founded to fight right-wing extremism and defend constitutional values including free expression, religious liberty, equal justice under the law, and the right to meaningfully participate in our democracy.

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August 25, 2016

Dolores Huerta Joins Arizona Latino Leaders to Get Out the Vote Against Trump, McCain

PHOENIX—Today, civil rights leader and People For the American Way (PFAW) board member Dolores Huerta joined Arizona Latino elected officials and community leaders for a press conference kicking off PFAW’s new campaign, Trumpublicans: Reject Trump and the Republicans / Trumpublicanos: Rechaza a Trump y los Republicanos. The campaign targets the anti-immigrant, anti-Latino extremism of Donald Trump and Senate Republicans. In addition to the press conference today, PFAW launched radio and digital ads in Arizona, North Carolina, and Florida making clear that Trumpublicans / Trumpublicanos — those who are supporting Trump whether by voting for him or helping him implement his agenda — stand against Latinos.

Key statements from press conference participants:

Civil rights leader and PFAW board member Dolores Huerta:

“In 1972, Cesar Chavez and I were organizing in Arizona. Cesar was doing a 25-day water-only fast to protest an unjust law that prevented farmworks from striking or boycotting in his home state of Arizona. I met with some Latino professionals in the state and we discussed all the barriers they faced to making change, and all the reasons why Arizona couldn’t do it. But I know the power our communities can yield. When they said, 'no we can’t, no se puede,' I said 'si se puede, yes we can!' We’re at a similar juncture now. Can we beat Trump, McCain, and Arpaio and continue to make progress for working families right here in Arizona? Si se puede, yes we can, through our votes!

“There’s no Trump ‘pivot.’ He is the same man still pushing policies of mass deportation and portraying immigrants as criminals. From Day One, Trump has run a bigoted campaign that goes against American values, and that should disqualify him from the presidency. No leader, no matter their party, should be voting for him. Yet to this day, McCain and his Republican Party are blocking any action on President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee. They instead hope that a President Trump will fill it. And Trump, McCain, and the Republicans oppose the policies that we support, like DACA and DAPA, raising the minimum wage and enacting policies to ensure equal pay for equal work.”

Congressman Ruben Gallego:

“While the Constitution is clear that Senators are supposed to advise and consent on judicial nominations, Senators McCain, Flake and their Republican Party are refusing to do their jobs. They’d rather have Donald Trump, who believes immigrants are rapists and doesn’t believe a federal judge can be impartial just because of his heritage, appoint the next Supreme Court justices. We can’t let Trump appoint the next justices and we can’t let Republicans be the ones in control of confirming Supreme Court justices. That’s why Arizona Latinos can and will vote in record numbers to reject Trump and McCain this November.”

State Representative Rebecca Rios:

“Donald Trump seeks to win this election by painting our communities as dangerous. He’s attacked a federal judge because of his Mexican-American heritage, called immigrants 'killers,' kicked Jorge Ramos out of a press conference, and so much more. It’s not just Trump’s hate that makes it so important for us to vote against him. He, McCain, and the Republicans stand against us on so many issues. They deny the science of climate change, for example, even though our state keeps seeing record heat and exorbitant energy bills that are hurting working families and the elderly. And that’s not to mention the public health issues that will only get worse as Republicans continue to ignore climate change.”

Maricopa County Supervisor Steve Gallardo:

“A vote for McCain is a vote for Trump. McCain’s trying to have it both ways: he’ll criticize Trump every once in a while, but ultimately, he’s still voting for him, he’d still like Trump to fill Supreme Court vacancies. Trump’s campaign of painting immigrants as ‘rapists’ and ‘drug dealers’ goes against everything we stand for as a nation. His mass deportation policies are despicable, and I’m ashamed that our Senator is still standing by him. In November, we need to use our votes to send a message to Trump, McCain, Arpaio and their allies. It’s the votes of Latinos in Arizona that could decide this election.”

LUCHA executive director Alejandra Gomez:

“Donald Trump’s divisive, hateful bigotry is reason enough make every effort to turn out to vote and bring our friends and neighbors too. But let’s not forget the damaging economic policies that Trump, McCain, and the Republican Party stand behind. They’re against raising the federal minimum wage, against efforts to ensure women get equal pay for equal work, against paid family and medical leave.”

PFAW director of Latinos Vote! Lizet Ocampo:

“Republicans can’t have it both ways. We know that anyone who stands with Donald Trump stands against us. We’ve launched our Trumpublicans / Trumpublicanos campaign to hold Donald Trump and the Republicans responsible for demonizing our communities and standing against our priorities. They’ve failed us at every level, and that's why we'll cast the deciding votes against them this November."

For follow-up interviews with press conference participants, or for questions about PFAW’s new campaign, please email media@pfaw.org.

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