Washington — GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida said on Sunday that she urged President Trump to "preserve that fortune that you have brought to the party" with support from Hispanic voters, after warning in a campaign ad that his immigration enforcement policy has "gone too far."
"Sir, you have this moment in history where you can keep the pot of gold that you brought to the GOP in 2024," Salazar said she told the president.
Last week, Salazar released a campaign ad that gained widespread attention as she warned that Hispanic voters who propelled Mr. Trump to the White House in 2024 "feel betrayed" by his administration's immigration policies. Salazar, who is Cuban American, has been critical of the administration's deportation efforts in the past, but the ad marked a new distance the Republican put between herself and the White House just weeks before the midterm elections.
Salazar told "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sunday that she spoke to the president after releasing the ad, describing it as a "very good conversation" in which Mr. Trump was "very receptive."
"No other president was able to convince the Hispanics to vote 55 points for a GOP president," Salazar said she told the president. "Please preserve that fortune that you have brought to the party. Why? Because we need to continue winning elections. Because we have this very big threat called the socialists on the Democratic side."
Salazar cited her closeness to the Miami community, noting that she's the daughter of political refugees and a first-generation American. She said she wants to "preserve the American values that are entrenched in the GOP and that the Hispanics share."
In the ad, Salazar pointed to the administration's sweeping immigration enforcement campaign, which has resulted in some cases in individuals being detained who have no criminal record. The Florida Republican called immigration a "very complex topic," citing public support for immigration reform, while distinguishing between "the narco and the nanny and the gangster and the gardener." She argued that the president understands that distinction.
"He is a construction and hospitality guy. He gets it more than anybody. And I told him during our conversation, you could fix this mess that has been happening for 40 years," she said. "He's the only person, because he gets it, he's a businessman."
Salazar argued that the president's advisers may be to blame, warning that they are "compromising his legacy."
"There are no attacks here," she said. "I'm just forewarning him and advising him as a member of Congress from the South Florida area that some of his advisers are just not presenting the whole picture."
Salazar has been in Congress since 2021 and is seeking reelection in November in a Miami-area district where nearly three-quarters of the population is Hispanic, according to Census Bureau data, and which leans Republican. She said she's a "proud Republican."
"I'm coming from a good place," she added. "I'm telling him, 'Sir, look what you did. Don't squander it.'"
Salazar is facing Democratic candidate Eliott Rodriguez, a former news anchor for CBS News Miami, in November.
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