The Unexpected Wave

This place, Starr County, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border. It might seem almost like an outpost to a lot of Americans. It's about as far south as you can go within the continental United States. It's a gritty, working-class place, and it's full of patriotic, salt-of-the-earth Americans.

It's also the most Hispanic county in all of America, about 97%, basically all Latino. This region of America also explains one of the most consequential shifts in the history of U.S. politics, with the recent rise of patriotic populism. Here in South Texas, this move, this tectonic shift, really, toward America first principles and politicians Explains so much about the promise of this young political movement. And the potential for restoring and reclaiming our great republic. Steve, last night, Texas Republican Maida Flores was able to flip a House seat in a special election.

The Houston Chronicle reporting she'll be the first Mexican-born congresswoman. Significant. We have seen county after county, whether it's in this district or some of the districts to the west of it, where voters have moved 10, 20, 30, 40 points away from the Democrats and toward the Republicans. Maida Flores, we're here in Starr County. The U.S.-Mexico border, you are the first.

Female, Mexican-born person to sit in Congress, correct? That's right, yes. That was an amazing experience, and I will always be grateful to the people of Texas 34 for giving me the opportunity of serving them in Congress. What was it about Trump that so intrigued you, that you found so fascinating? He was just authentic, and that's something that, you know, I gravitate to. We need more people in politics to be authentic, to be themselves. This Rio Grande Valley is overwhelmingly Mexican-American and Latino, and people here are very understandably, very rightly, really proud of their Mexican heritage, right?

Of their culture, their food, their faith, all of it. But at the same time... Want to be Americans. We are very thrilled to be on this side of the border, for good reason, right? Yes. I mean, the struggle is real for a Mexican-American, because, you know, for a Mexican, we're not Mexican enough, and for the Americans, we're not American enough. And so, it's very difficult, I would say. I was born in Mexico. I'm very proud of my heritage and how I was raised, but I'm a proud American, and I would always put this country first.

Yeah. Amen. People tell me, Myra, why are you Republican? Weren't you born in Mexico? Well, because I was born in Mexico is that I am Republican, because I was raised with strong conservative values, and I'm not willing to put them aside for a political party, and I'm not loyal to a party. I'm loyal to God. I'm loyal to my family. I'm loyal to my community, and I tell the people in South Texas, who are you loyal to? Are you loyal to God, or are you loyal to the Democrat Party?

And they tell me, no, I'm loyal to God. Okay, well, let's stop being loyal to a party who's done nothing for us for over 100 years. Now, let me ask you about President Trump taking office and getting serious about border enforcement again. All the people I've spoken to here in the Rio Grande Valley and Stark County, They're thrilled. Yes. They don't view this as being anti-Latino at all. No, not at all, because under the Obama administration, there were thousands of deportations every single day.

I mean, Obama was known as a deporter-in-chief, and President Trump ran on border security. He said he was going to start deportations on day one. He's doing exactly what he said. We voted for this. We want those that are in this country illegally committing crimes. We want those people. to be immediately deported. Do Hispanics not see what the liberal media sees, that he supposedly is an anti-Latino bigot? The liberal media is just disconnected.

They're not down here talking to the people. They're not paying attention to us. And we saw millions of people crossing illegally, feeling entitled to housing and care while most Americans struggle to pay their bills. So no one likes to be put second place. And that's how the people... Here in South Texas, and throughout the country, felt like. They felt like they were, you know, second-class Americans. It seems to me that Hispanics, who are overwhelmingly a working-class constituency in this country, the Biden inflation nightmare was worse for them than it was for other Americans.

Was that a big driver of why Trump made such incredible gains among Hispanics? Absolutely, because, see, those who were struggling didn't have the luxury to vote for someone that they liked. They're going to vote for the... that is going to give them more money in their pockets, and they knew that under President Trump, they had more money in their pockets. He started treating us like Americans, too. Yeah. You know, he wasn't separating us. I think that's important. We care about the same things that everyone does.

I don't care if you're an African American. Why? You know, it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, we're all Americans, and we care about the same things, and I think that he didn't separate us. He included us, and that makes a big difference. The Democrat Party, it seems to me, has become totally inhospitable to cultural conservatives. Is that part of why Hispanics are rallying so much to America First? Absolutely. The Democrat Party has walked away from the Hispanic communities, values, and morals.

That's who we are. It's in our DNA. But I also think that the Republican Party started investing in the Hispanic community. Hispanics didn't change. They've always been conservative. Our values have changed. Always align more with the Republican Party, which is, a lot of them just didn't know. You know, they're Republicans, but they didn't know. You know, for example, my dad. I was very upset when I told him that I was going to start voting Republican, and my dad said, you know, how can you vote Republican?

You know, I was born in Mexico, and so he thought in his mind, we have to be Democrats. I said, Dad, you raised me as a Republican. You don't even know that, but everything that you've instilled in me aligns with the Republican Party, and it took him a long time to see, and in 2016, you know, he... Didn't support President Trump, but in 2020, he did, because he started seeing as well how the Democrat Party wasn't aligning with his values. Just here in Texas alone, Democrats thought that when Hispanics were the majority, they were going to be able to take Texas back, and that didn't happen.

We're the majority, and guess what? It's getting redder. That's a beautiful thing to say. Share what you wish for, Democrats, right? That's right. Star County is not only basically all Hispanic, but it also was historically heavily Democratic, like most of the Texas border areas, and frankly, like most Hispanic areas of the country as a whole. But... Not anymore. But did you hear about the actual star counting? It's in Texas, on the border, 95% Hispanic. Hillary Clinton won it in 2016 by 60 points.

Biden won it by 5. That's a 55-point swing towards President Trump in one election cycle. Since the days of the Tea Party, and then the ascendance of Donald Trump to leadership of the movement, the Republican Party has been... A cause that represents the interests of forgotten and often disrespected Americans who have been abused by the globalists and their policies, and disrespected and dismissed by radicals who have overtaken the Democrat Party of the 2020s.

This emerging majority represents real, organic diversity, not the fake and forced variety of the left that necessitates quotas and manufactured boxes to be checked, but rather the power of ideas and an America-first agenda that galvanizes support from citizens all across ethnic and racial boundaries. This organic diversity...

Flows from the renewed focus on the citizens of this country, and our movement that prioritizes a secure border, safe streets, and the ability of a family to once again thrive on a single income. These are the just demands of a great people, as citizens of a great republic. In places like this one. The resulting political earthquake. It's almost hard to believe because it has been so thorough. And so swift. So, let's talk the numbers. Trump lost this county, where I am, to Hillary Clinton by a whopping 60% in 2016, a throttling politically, as the hardworking Hispanic citizens of Stark County stayed hugely with their historic preference for Democrats.

But then, by the end of Trump's first term, everything changed here. The bad hombres and the proud Latinas who live and work and play and worship here, they found in Trump. A champion, a fighter, a fighter for them, someone who insists on protecting the interests of Americans, blue-collar workers, middle-class families, worried parents, and the bravest among us who guard America, whether in the military or in law enforcement, including, of course, the Border Patrol, many of whom are Hispanics.

Kathy and Alberto Olivares are ranchers and retired Border Patrol officers. Albert and Kathy, thank you so much for having me to your wonderful home in South Texas. Some of the Democrat politicians in Washington, D.C., they want to project a narrative that Border Patrol is somehow racist, that it's somehow anti-Latino. What's your response?

They need to look at the statistics and what makes up the force, because I think Border Patrol is probably close to 50% Hispanic. So, Donald Trump won Starr County, the most Hispanic county in all of America. Why do you think that Donald Trump won this historically very Democratic county? This area is very conservative, and when they see the Democrats taking on agendas...

That don't meet the values of the younger generation here and the older generation here, I think that played a really big part. The Democrat Party of the 2020s is not your parents' or your grandparents' Democrat Party, right? It's very, very different, way more radical.

But what issues specifically do you think? Is it border? Is it gender confusion? You know, what motivated people to say, wait, this isn't really my party anymore? We had our son have a teacher aide. Who was wearing women's clothes, and when I brought it up at the school, they acted like I was the problem.

And I think that maybe other people saw that, too. It stays with you, and when you're in the ballot box, you think of those things, of how it affects you and your family. So, Albert, what was the best part of being in Border Patrol? You were removing the worst of the worst, people that, one, shouldn't have been here, but after they got in, they decided to commit criminal acts, you know, sexual assaults, DWIs resulting in manslaughter, all kinds of stuff. And so, removing people like that, that had no reason to be here to begin with, and then on top of that, they went out and committed these horrific acts, being able to put cuffs on them and remove them, to me, that was very rewarding.

One of those people, one of the most horrific examples is Jose Ibarra, Jose Antonio Ibarra, who crossed the border illegally into the United States, committed two additional crimes in New York City and in Athens, Georgia, both so-called sanctuary cities. He then killed Lake and Riley in a totally unprovoked, vicious, monstrous attack. What is your reaction to the Biden-Harris administration allowing an open border, allowing a monster like Jose Ibarra to cross? Pretty freely into this country. It's those policies that resulted in the defeat of the Democratic candidate, I think, in this election.

You can't have an open border. There's a reason that laws are enacted. You know, we go through the process, introducing a bill, passing it in the House, passing it in the Senate, signed by the President. It becomes a law. That's how we govern. That's what our process here in this country. And then to have a single person sign an executive order to not enforce, in some cases, support these sanctuary cities and states, it just goes against the will of the people.

It seems to me it's not just about enforcing the law, which is, of course, important, but it's the deterrent effect of telling those criminals or telling the potential illegal migrants in the United States, hey, don't come here. We're going to get you, and we're going to send you home. How important is that, given your experience? Well, you have to have follow-through, right? You can't tell one person you can't cross illegally, and then the person that crossed illegally, you let them go, because you're telling a different story.

When you give benefits, when you give... If you give incentives to people to break the law, people will break the law, but they see an opportunity, and when you say one thing and you do another, they're speaking loud and clear. Turn away from border issues for a moment. What has the inflation scene been like for the last four years under Biden?

Where do you start? Groceries? Gasoline? Feed for livestock, it's everywhere. Inflation is, I think, something that really maybe was the Achilles, too, for the Democratic Party in this past election. I was a senior advisor to Trump's 2020 campaign, and after seeing firsthand the incredible successes that we earned among Hispanics in that race, I predicted that we would win Stark County in 2024. Well, we did, but even I would not have guessed by how much. Trump won by plus 16% in 2024 here, a staggering move of plus 76% total over eight years for Trump.

These massive increases among Hispanics, those gains meant that Texas overall was a blowout win for Trump, with a giant plus 14% margin overall, almost three times the 5% winning margin that he had earned in 2020. But these wins, they weren't just confined to Stark County or to Texas. Instead, Trump saw massive increases in Hispanic vote totals nationwide.

Even in deeply blue places, like his home borough of Queens, New York, the south side of Chicago, and border districts in very blue California, over 1,000 miles west of here in that region, Imperial County, California, on the state line with Arizona and the border with Mexico, Trump lost badly there in 2020 by minus 34%, but this time in 2024, He won Imperial County, California, an overwhelmingly Hispanic, gritty, working-class part of America. The general election results from November are officially certified in Imperial County.

In a bit of a surprising result, the majority voted in favor of President-elect Trump, just over 49%, compared to Kamala Harris getting slightly over 48%. On a nationwide basis, Trump won the Hispanic male vote. As with other ethnicities and races, he did especially well among young men. So, what explains this giant political shift, and what does it mean for America going forward? The first driver is economics, as it normally is in politics. Working class people have been crushed by globalism, offshoring, and a crooked economic model in this country that worked terrifically for the credentialed elites, but smashed the prosperity and the confidence.

Of those of modest means. Claudia Alcazar is a single mom and a proud Hispanic American citizen of the Rio Grande Valley. So, Claudia, you're a lifelong resident of Starr County, born and raised here, single mother, and we want to glimpse into the experience of shopping, of dealing with Biden's inflation, and what it's like for families, what it's like for working-class people.

It's hard. There is no other word for it. Something so simple, right? But that's it right there. It's hard to pay your bills. You have to decide, am I going to pay my gas bill this month, or am I going to pay my water bill? Maybe if I pay half, I'll be able to afford, you know, eggs this month. You're having to make choices that a year ago, two years ago, we didn't have to make. I used to be able to buy a roast.

That's a luxury. That was a cheap cut of meat. Now I got to buy hamburger meat. Do you blame Biden's anti-energy policies for at least a big part of this? Food inflation? I believe so. Some of those policies do not make sense to me. Texas right now, we have a lot of fracking, a lot of jobs that come from that. And that, to me, is something that has helped us incredibly. I need to feed my daughter. You know, I mean, that's the truth.

That's what hurts, and that's what America's hurting right now. You know, what are we going to do? I was a Democrat for many, many years, and I changed for Trump. Yeah. And my family got very upset. And you really changed. I mean, you got involved in party politics. Yes. So, you didn't just become a voter. I became county chair. What was it about Trump that changed you? He's just amazing, and he can rile us up in a good way, make us proud to be American.

He's got the attitude, the determination. He's trying to secure our border. I know everybody talks about the border, but I live. They're real close. They walk through my house. I get up in the morning, I see footprints. And I'm a teenage daughter, so the border is, and that's a big change for me. You've had illegal migrants, you can see the footprints, I mean, literally walking right across your property. So, they leave, like this last time, they left a little child's tennis shoe.

Real nice, and I looked at it, I was like, I wasn't there yesterday. People don't realize I've had people knock on my window, my doors. You don't know who these people are. I'm afraid of what's coming through, because we don't know. We now have to tax us so we can pay for their health care. I can't afford that. I'm really having a hard time with my own bills, and you're going to keep charging me up and up to pay for them?

No, that really gets me. I lived in Mexico, and I had to pay all my bills. Okay, so Butter, $769,000. Do you know what that was? Trump's first term? I don't know. About three. Really? More than double. Oh, yes. About three-something. I'm a baker. This stuff's gone up. These are, I mean, soaring prices. They're not just slightly higher, Claudia. There are certain things I just don't buy. Yeah. Because it's just too expensive. You have items that you'd like to have. Yes, I do, because it's a luxury now that used to be a staple.

Yeah. We've always been one of the poorest counties in the United States. And it's been under Democratic rule for 100 years, and it hasn't gotten better. Starr County is poor, working class, hardworking people, but there's a media narrative, right, that the Republicans and the Trump and the America First movement are a party of the rich.

Yet, Trump won Starr County by 16%, a working class to poor county. So, that tells me there's been a realignment. Yes. Right? And it's the jobs, the oil industry jobs, and that's a Republican governor, and he's taking good care of us, and we're feeling more secure. So, you're telling me, Claudia, that jobs and security, safe streets and jobs matter to working class people, and Trump delivers those, right? Yes, he does. Young people are really rallying to Trump. Yes. They don't like the status quo, and they don't like what's happening.

And he really does care. I mean, he cares about America. He makes us feel proud. I, you know, I love him. Yeah. You know, I mean, he chills. Wonderful. Hispanics, statistically, are overwhelmingly working-class citizens, and not the connected cronies of the ruling class who benefited from this corrupt model. Hispanics also display a real love for entrepreneurship. In fact, we're about twice as likely as other citizens to start new businesses. But startups suffer far more from Biden's runaway inflation than larger multinational firms.

The people who lost ground... Include a lot of super hard-working Hispanic entrepreneurs who chase a dream of prosperity, even though they may lack the connections and credentials of some other Americans. For example, here in Starr County, only 13% of adults have a college degree, which is far below the national average. But Trump and our movement, we prioritize the workers of America and demand, for example, that the constant flow of cheap labor coming across this border, that it may not be the case for the rest of the world, that it may not be the case for the rest of It has to stop, and now it is stopping.

On that topic of migration, the corrupt corporate media pushes a lot of narrative, a lot of propaganda, but Hispanics are not soft on law and order regarding migration. For instance, in the latest national polling that I commissioned that used a split Trump-Harris sample universe, Hispanics favor Trump's mass deportation agenda by a plus six percent margin. That support for law and order increases the closer you get here to the border itself. Why? First, the force charged with protecting America and guarding the frontline border, it's nearly all Hispanic here.

So everyone here has a friend or a relative working directly in border enforcement. Secondly, Hispanic citizens of America, especially here near the border, They see firsthand the ravages of an open border, the human trafficking, the abuse of girls and women, the fentanyl, the dangerous terrorists who cross Biden's pretend border from all over the world. And then there's a third reason that Hispanics rally so fervently. To America first. It's because we overwhelmingly reject the cultural radicalism of the left in the corridors of power today.

When major corporations or Democrat oligarch donors spread toxic cultural filth, Hispanics push back. We believe that there are two sexes, for example, created by God and complementary to each other. We believe that mutilating the private parts of children is a horrific abuse. We know that our rights come from the Almighty, and not from politicians, not from bureaucrats, especially the rights of free speech and to bear arms.

Essential rights constantly under attack from leftist radicals like Harris, Pelosi, and Newsom. Tony and Benito Trevino are a married couple living and working in Starr County. Benito's family has been there for over two and a half centuries. Benito and Tony, who is the chair of the Republican Party of Starr County, what would be your response to Democrats, to corporate media commentators who try to claim that enforcing a secure border is somehow racist or anti-Latino? You know, that's one of the things that really disappoints me, especially with Washington politicians, that they seem to assume that because we're Hispanics, We are, we would, we're not law-abiding citizens, and we would turn a blind eye when people from our own culture, and I'm talking even Nicaragua and Venezuela and Mexico, that we're going to turn a blind eye and say, no, no, no, come on, come on.

We're law-abiding citizens. We're just as American as anybody else. It really upsets me when I hear politicians and Washingtons make those kind of statements, that we're racist. It's kind of insulting the Hispanic population that we are truly American low-binding citizens. More Americans now nationally say that the Republican Party is the party of workers versus Democrats. That's a massive shift, right? I mean, because it was the other way for many decades. In our parents' and grandparents' era, working-class folks overwhelmingly were Democrats.

Do you believe that that trend is lasting, and can it be built upon from here, both here and nationally? Oh, yeah, I definitely do. Men and women who live here have found that they can make a good living. Working in the oil and gas industry. And so, when Biden came in, and there was so much animosity towards the oil and gas industry, a lot of those young people lost their ability.

To help support their families. It's good that those young people will have the opportunity to go to work and make a living wage and to be able to take care of their families. And another thing I always tell people that I think people don't understand here is people will always ask my husband, for example, when did your family move here from Mexico? Like, they came last year or maybe 20 years ago. And I always tell people that the majority of people who live here in this area are generational tech.

Texans and Americans, the borders of the countries may have changed, but they have lived here for a generation. But, Edel, to that point, your family has been here since before it was the United States, correct? 1767, land of Spain.

But this is home, and you're an American. This is home, and I'm a true-blooded American, yes, sir, and law-abiding. Amen. Wonderful. Hispanics and other country-loving Americans, of all colors and ethnicities, they embrace the movement to reassert American sovereignty, restore the diffusion of power across the land, and return to cultural normalcy. They're attracted to a muscular, confident, young, forward-facing movement to truly make America great again. Great again from right here. At the banks of the Rio Grande, all the way to the barrios of the northern metropolises.