One of the early races to be called on Election Day was the Florida gubernatorial race when incumbent Republican Ron DeSantis trounced Democrat Charlie Crist by a historic margin, and the key to that victory was flipping historically blue Miami-Dade County red. But according to ABC’s Maria Elena Salinas, the county flipped because Democrats had given up fighting for Florida and the “disinformation” in the Latino community.
Giving the floor to Salinas, Midterm Election: Your Voice, Your Vote 2022 host David Muir spoke for Democrats, asking: “But there's going to be a question in Democratic circles, I mean, have we lost Florida now to the Republicans?”
She confirmed that yes “they have” taken over Florida. “They've been very slowly losing Florida to the Republicans,” she lamented. “And when I see those numbers, blue, Miami-Dade as you can see on that map, Miami-Dade is probably the bluest county in the state. I mean, I see it every day, I look out my window, the blue ocean there and it's very blue, but this time, it looks like it's going red.”
Continuing her analysis, and admitting Florida was no longer a “swing state,” Salinas blamed Democrat inaction against Republican efforts and supposed “disinformation” in the Latino community:
And really, it's the Democrats that have themselves to blame for this, because they really have not fought back. You know that Miami is one of the centers of disinformation, especially among Latino voters. The majority of residents in Miami-Dade are Latinos. And they don't fight back. It seems almost as if they have given up on Florida. And now a lot of people just consider it not a swing state, but a red state.
This was the same shtick she had back in 2020 when she blamed “disinformation” for scaring Latinos into thinking Democrats were “socialists.”
She concluded by trying to reassure Democrats that Republican gains in the Latino community were isolated to Florida:
So it looks like it's turning red and the Latinos have a lot to do with that. But one thing we have to be careful, it's not indicative of the national Latino vote. Florida is a very small fraction of the Latino vote on a national level, so, we have to be careful not to read too much into this. This is just Florida.
We’ll see.
This false excuse of Democrats losing Miami was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Liberty Mutual and LifeLock. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s Midterm Election: Your Voice, Your Vote 2022
November 8, 2022
8:38:46 p.m. Eastern(…)
DAVID MUIR: The other major storyline coming out of Florida – because we called it so early, Maria Elena Salinas, I want to bring you in. I know your home is Miami, you’re here in New York and we’re grateful for that tonight. But there's going to be a question in Democratic circles, I mean, have we lost Florida now to the Republicans? I mean, this was very early tonight and we've seen what it's done the last couple of presidential cycles.
MARIA ELENA SALINAS: They have, David. They've been very slowly losing Florida to the Republicans. And when I see those numbers, blue, Miami-Dade as you can see on that map, Miami-Dade is probably the bluest county in the state. I mean, I see it every day, I look out my window, the blue ocean there and it's very blue, but this time, it looks like it's going red.
And really, it's the Democrats that have themselves to blame for this, because they really have not fought back. You know that Miami is one of the centers of disinformation, especially among Latino voters. The majority of residents in Miami-Dade are Latinos. And they don't fight back. It seems almost as if they have given up on Florida. And now a lot of people just consider it not a swing state, but a red state.
And for the first time, possibly, the Latino vote will go Republican, because even though we talked a lot about that last election, in 2020, Joe Biden still won the Latino vote in Florida. Just by a much smaller margin than the election for Hillary Clinton.
So it looks like it's turning red and the Latinos have a lot to do with that. But one thing we have to be careful, it's not indicative of the national Latino vote. Florida is a very small fraction of the Latino vote on a national level, so, we have to be careful not to read too much into this. This is just Florida.
(…)
