Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that nominating Donald Trump could alienate Latino voters from the Republican party.
Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper, the Kentucky senator said that Trump’s rhetoric against minorities, particularly Latinos could hurt Republicans.
“I think that the attacks that he’s routinely engaged in…was a big mistake,” McConnell said. “What he ought to be doing now is trying to unify the party and I think attacking people once you have won, it’s a time to be gracious and try to bring the party together.”
McConnell compared Trump to 1964 Republican nominee Barry Goldwater, saying that the billionaire could have a similar effect in alienating Latino voters in the 2016 election as Goldwater did with African-Americans.
McConnell did salute Trump was in regards to the current Senate fight over choosing a nominee to the Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away in February.
“One thing Trump did that I do like is he came up with a list of very qualified, credible nominees from which he would likely pick Supreme Court vacancy,” he said. “I think that was reassuring, I think the Supreme Court is a big issue in this election.”
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