9 (More) Offensive Things Donald Trump Has Said About Latinos

"The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag."

A year ago it seemed unlikely Donald Trump would become the Republican presidential candidate. Yet, over 365 days since the businessman and reality star announced his candidacy for president, here we are.

Trump may have flip-flopped on several issues over that time, but his ability to offend members of the Latino community has remained disturbingly consistent. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed: According to recent polls, Trump holds only 14 percent of the Latino vote compared to Hillary Clinton’s 76 percent.

Last August we collected just nine particularly outrageous things the Republican candidate had said about Latinos around the time of his campaign launch. Now, with the general election in full swing, we’ve compiled an updated list of Trump’s absurd ― and dangerous ― anti-Latino remarks.

Here are just nine ridiculous things the Donald has said about Latinos in the last year.

He said "The Hispanics" and swears Latinos love him

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When Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015, he infamously referred to Mexican immigrants as "criminals" and "rapists" while calling to erect a border wall. A month later, he paid an impromptu visit to the U.S.- Mexico border in Laredo, Texas and explained why "the Hispanics" (As monolithic to Mr. Trump as the blacks and the Muslims) were going to "love" him. “There’s great danger with the illegals,” Trump told reporters, before insisting he had a "great relationship" with Latinos.
He said he’d build a border wall and make Mexicans pay for it

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The GOP candidate has insisted on building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, despite critics, like John Oliver, breaking down why it's an expensive and futile idea. In response, Trump assured voters he’d force Mexico to pay for the wall. He sent a two-page memo to The Washington Post in April explaining his plan, which includes confiscating money that Mexican migrants in the U.S. send to Mexico until the Mexican government agreed to make a one-time payment to the United States of “$5-10 billion.”

Former Mexican presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón promptly fired back at Trump over the proposal. “Mexican people, we are not going to pay any single cent for such a stupid wall,” Calderón said in an interview with CNBC. “And it’s going to be completely useless."
He implied a federal judge was biased and “hostile” because he's Hispanic.

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The ongoing legal battle over whether Trump University is what former employees have called a "fraudulent scheme" took an even uglier turn during a February rally when the candidate implied the judge handling the lawsuits against him was biased because of his Hispanic heritage. First, Trump identified the judge as "Spanish," which is what some erroneously call people who they believe speak Spanish. When in fact, "Spanish" should only be used to describe people from Spain.

The federal judge Trump was referring to is Gonzalo Curiel, who was born and raised in Indiana to parents who emigrated from Mexico.
He insisted Curiel had "an inherent conflict of interest" in the case despite being American

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In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump doubled down on his comments about Curiel and said the federal judge had "an inherent conflict of interest" in the Trump University cases because of his Mexican heritage. More specifically, Trump suggested that the judge would treat him unfairly because of his plans to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He continually ignored the fact that Curiel was an American, born and raised in the United States

In an interview with CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," on June 3, Trump continued his attacks against Curiel with the above statement, followed swiftly by: "I am going to do very well with the Hispanics, the Mexicans --"
He assumed an organization with "la raza" in the name is pro-mexican.

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As proof that Judge Curiel was biased because of his Mexican heritage, Trump repeatedly pointed out that the federal judge was a member of the San Diego chapter of the La Raza Lawyers Association. In an interview with CBS' Face the Nation he named it as a reason for Curiel's alleged bias.

On the topic, San Diego chapter president Luis Osuna told The Huffington Post: “A lot of people are assuming that since it’s called ‘La Raza lawyers’ that it’s only Mexicans. But we consist of 300 members: judges, lawyers, law students, non-legal professionals that work in the legal field.” He added that members are “Latino, non-Latino, Mexican, non-Mexican, Caucasian.”
He called anti-Trump protestors "illegals" and "thugs" without proof.

The protesters in New Mexico were thugs who were flying the Mexican flag. The rally inside was big and beautiful, but outside, criminals!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 25, 2016

When Trump held rallies all over the southwest he was received by waves of anti-Trump protestors, some of whom carried Mexican flags. Sometimes confrontations between supporters and protestors grew violent, and the GOP candidate took to Twitter to call out protestors. "Everybody is talking about the protesters burning the American flags and proudly waving Mexican flags," he tweeted on May 2. "I want America First - so do voters!"

After his rally in San Jose, California the GOP candidate went a step further and portrayed protestors as undocumented without offering proof. "Many of the thugs that attacked the peaceful Trump supporters in San Jose were illegals," he tweeted on June 4. "They burned the American flag and laughed at police."
He pandered to all Hispanics with inauthentic Mexican food

On May 5, Trump posted a photo of himself online eating a taco bowl and pandering to Hispanic voters on Cinco de Mayo, a day on which Americans (try to) celebrate Mexican heritage. "Happy Cinco de Mayo!," he tweeted. "The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!"

Former Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush broke down exactly what was wrong with the image and message to the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad:

“What Trump did was so insensitive. First, not all Hispanics are Mexican. Secondly, not all Hispanics eat tacos. Thirdly, showing your sensitivity by eating an American dish is the most insensitive thing you can do. Fourthly, to say this, next to all things he already said, is a further insult."
He implied immigrants were the ones tearing families apart

Hillary Clinton’s open borders are tearing American families apart. I am going to make our country Safe Again for all Americans. #Imwithyou
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2016

After the Supreme court failed to reach a majority decision on President Barack Obama's plan to defer deportation for millions on undocumented immigrants, Trump said the SCOTUS' deadlock has "kept us safe" on Twitter before claiming that open borders are "tearing American families apart." Given his past comments on building a wall to keep so-called Mexican "rapists" and "criminals" out of the U.S., it's safe to say he's referring to the notion of closing the Mexico-U.S. border.

A Plus reporter Isaac Saul tweeted back at Trump pointing out how ironic the statement was coming from a candidate who promised mass deportation: "Uh.. your unrealistic proposal is to spend billions deporting 11 million ppl n children to rip those very families apart."
He portrayed undocumented immigrants as criminals with victims.

Obama & Clinton should stop meeting with special interests, & start meeting with the victims of illegal immigration.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2016

On the same day of the SCOTUS deadlock, Trump continued to portray "illegal" immigrants as violent criminals. Journalist Jorge Ramos corrected the GOP candidate by tweeting back at him with a link of a study proving "immigrants are less likely to be criminals than the native-born."

"Your facts are wrong," Ramos wrote. "Immigrants are less likely to be criminals than native born. Please check this http://bit.ly/1DbUmw5 "