--- title: Prominent Hispanic Intellectuals Criticize Trump Campaign description: More than 50 prominent Hispanic intellectual and cultural leaders signed a statement Tuesday denouncing Donald Trump's campaign. canonical: https://time.com/4098950/hispanic-leaders-donald-trump/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-04T02:54:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:51.099Z article:section: Politics og:title: Prominent Hispanic Intellectuals Criticize Trump og:description: "We refuse to keep silent in the face of the alarming declarations" og:url: https://time.com/4098950/hispanic-leaders-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt670703786dff6205/69886e74bc6cfc5ed83da1cc/donald-trump12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2396 og:image:height: 1348 og:image:alt: Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Prominent Hispanic Intellectuals Criticize Trump twitter:description: "We refuse to keep silent in the face of the alarming declarations" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt670703786dff6205/69886e74bc6cfc5ed83da1cc/donald-trump12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:47 video:published: 2015-06-16 section: politics topics: presidential announcement, immigration, Mexico, border security, jobs and manufacturing, military, veterans, campaign funding, lobbyists and donors, personal wealth genre: speech, announcement tones: confident, combative, boastful, populist emotions: pride (medium), anger (medium), enthusiasm (high) sentiment: negative audience: voters, political observers, campaign supporters, news consumers people: Donald Trump, Barack Obama organizations: Border Guards content_suitability: crime [00:27-00:40]; hate [00:19-00:40]; politics [00:00-01:47]; drugs and alcohol [00:27-00:35] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Prominent Hispanic Intellectuals Criticize Trump Campaign > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1989671a-3e36-4a4e-b399-c8e518cd3615&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Highlights from Donald Trump's Presidential Announcement [Watch (HLS stream): Highlights from Donald Trump's Presidential Announcement](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zZCJ6BIH.m3u8) (1:47)  _Published 2015-06-16. Highlights from Donald Trump's announcement to run for president._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Donald Trump announces his candidacy for President of the United States, saying he will make the country great again. He discusses immigration from Mexico, claiming some arriving people bring drugs, crime and rape. He calls for leadership to restore jobs, manufacturing and the military and to care for veterans. He also comments on his personal wealth and on not relying on lobbyists or donors. ## Key points - Trump officially announces he is running for President of the United States. (00:00) - Trump says the country will be made great again. (00:09) - Trump claims people sent from Mexico bring drugs, crime and rapists. (00:19) - Trump says he speaks to Border Guards who tell him what is being brought across the border. (00:35) - Trump says the country needs a leader to bring back jobs, manufacturing and the military. (00:43) - Trump asserts that veterans have been abandoned and that they must be taken care of. (00:51) - Trump says he is not using lobbyists or donors and is using his own money. (01:23) - Trump states that he is really rich. (01:32) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:19] Presidential candidacy announcement. Trump announces he is running for President and pledges to make the country great again. - [00:19 to 00:51] Immigration and national priorities. Trump describes problems he attributes to people from Mexico and lists what the country needs in a leader. - [00:51 to 01:47] Cheerleader remarks and personal funding. Trump compares the needed leader to a cheerleader, discusses President Obama, and says he is self-funding and wealthy. ## Key quotes - [00:05] Donald Trump: "am officially running" - [00:19] Donald Trump: "When Mexico sends it's people, they're not sending their best." - [00:27] Donald Trump: "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists" - [00:51] Donald Trump: "Our vets have been abandoned." - [01:23] Donald Trump: "I am using my own money. I am not using the lobbyist, I am not using donor's" ## Questions this video answers - Why is Donald Trump running for President? [00:09] - What does Trump say about people coming from Mexico? [00:19] - What does Trump say the country needs in a leader? [00:43] - Where does Trump say his campaign funding comes from? [01:23] - What does Trump say about President Obama as a cheerleader? [01:02] ## Content suitability - crime [00:27-00:40]: Speaker claims immigrants bring crime, drugs and rapists. - hate [00:19-00:40]: Generalizing claims about people from Mexico that may be considered demeaning to a national group. - politics [00:00-01:47]: Entire video is a political candidacy announcement. - drugs and alcohol [00:27-00:35]: Speaker mentions drugs being brought across the border.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 4, 2015 2:54 AM UTC  Donald Trump is pictured on Oct. 23, 2015 in Doral, Fla. Donald Trump is pictured on Oct. 23, 2015 in Doral, Fla. Johnny Louis—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Nov 4, 2015 2:54 AM UTC More than 50 prominent Hispanic intellectual and cultural leaders signed a statement Tuesday denouncing Donald Trump. [The declaration](http://www.univision.com/noticias/opinion/declaracion-de-intelectuales-cientificos-y-academicos-hispanos-contra-xenofobia-de-trump), published on Univision but not affiliated with the network, says: “We refuse to keep silent in the face of the alarming declarations of the candidate for the presidency of the United States Donald Trump.” The letter continues: “His hate speech appeals to lower passions like xenophobia, machismo, political intolerance and religious dogmatism. All of which inevitably reminds us of the past campaigns that have been directed against other ethnic groups and that have resulted in the deaths of millions of people. In fact, the physical aggressions against Hispanics and repeated calls to prohibit the public use of the Spanish language have already started.” The signatures to the letter include cultural leaders such as author Junot Díaz, actor Diego Luna and filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, along with Arturo Sarukhán, the former Mexican ambassador to the U.S.; Jorge Edwards, the Chilean ambassador to France; and professors, scientists and other public figures in the Hispanic community. The declaration now counts its co-signers among a growing legion of Hispanic leaders protesting Trump, who first angered the Hispanic community during his June campaign launch when he said some illegal Mexican immigrants were “rapists.” **Read Next**: [_Protesters At Donald Trump Rallies Face Increasing Violence_](http://time.com/4090437/donald-trump-violence-protests-republican-debate/) ## Transcript [00:00] Ladies and gentlemen, I [00:05] am officially running [ APPLAUSE ] [00:09] for President of the United States, and we [00:13] are going to make our country great again. [ APPLAUSE ] [00:19] When Mexico sends it's people, they're not sending their [00:23] best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. [00:27] They're sending people that have lots of problems and [00:31] they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing [00:35] drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some [00:40] I assume are good people. But I speak to Border Guards. [00:43] And they tell us what we're getting. We need a leader that [00:48] can bring back our jobs, can bring back our manufacturing, [00:51] can bring back our military. Can take care of our vets. Our [00:56] vets have been abandoned. [ APPLAUSE ] [01:02] And we also need a cheerleader. You [01:06] know, when President Obama was elected I [01:11] said, well the one thing I think he'll do well, I think he'll be a [01:15] great cheerleader For the Country. I think he would be a [01:19] great spirit. He was vibrant, I really thought [01:23] that he would be a great cheerleader. I don't anybody's [01:26] money. It's nice. I don't need anybody's money. I am using [01:29] my own money. I am not using the lobbyist, I am not using [01:32] donor's, I don't care. I am really rich. I assure you that. [01:38] And by the way I am not even saying that, to [01:41] [ UNKNOWN ]. That is the kind of mindset, that is the kind [01:44] of thinking you need for this country. 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