Trump comments make Florida GOP scramble

The Washington Post President Donald Trump’s vulgar comments disparaging Haiti, El Salvador and African countries reverberated across the country Friday — including one immigrant-rich state central to the GOP’s political fortunes where the party was already facing head winds: Florida.

Trump’s comments sent Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a close ally the president is courting to run for Senate, scrambling to distance himself from the controversy. Republican lawmakers issued stronglyworded statements condemning what the leader of their party said. And GOP strategists and activists worried about the fallout in a battleground that is home to one of the country’s largest populations of Latin Americans.

Some Florida Republicans quickly condemned Trump’s remarks. Sen. Marco Rubio issued a series of tweets Friday praising Haitian Americans for their contributions to the country. Hours earlier, Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., who is running for reelection, tweeted “Under no circumstances is it acceptable to degrade, denigrate, or dehumanize” immigrants in the United States under what is known as temporary protected status.

On Friday, Florida Democrats remained focused on Trump’s “shithole” remark. People are listening carefully to what the president is saying, and they’re internalizing the racism, xenophobia and hatred he is spreading,” said Lauren Baer, a Democrat who is running for Congress in Florida’s 18th district. “I think that will effect what they do in the ballot box.”

According to a 2010 census publication, of the estimated 830,000 people in the United States in 2009 with Haitian ancestry, about two-thirds lived in Florida, with around 376,000, and New York, with 191,000.