As Donald Trump Riles GOP Race, Marco Rubio Begins to Connect With Voters In Spanish

On the campaign trail this week, Marco Rubio chatted with a woman from San Salvador. Claudia Steele, who is now an American citizen and a voter, eagerly told him she would do everything she could to support his presidential bid. Rubio thanked her, and the two discussed politics and family — all in Spanish.

When Steele told Rubio she was the only Latina member of her local Republican organization, Rubio answered, smiling, "Hay que cambiar eso.” (Translation: “We need to change that.”)

But this wasn’t downtown Miami. It was a western suburb of Des Moines, Iowa.

While Republicans worry recent comments by Donald Trump comparing illegal immigrants to rapists and drug dealers may harm the party’s chances with Hispanic voters during the 2016 election cycle, the 44 year-old Senator from Florida was welcomed with open arms — quite literally — by the Spanish speakers who came to meet him over the course of his three-day swing in Iowa.

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