a latino grocery on the west coast of central florida, el mariachi loco, has been celebrated for two decades in the local media as a symbol of the region<u+2019>s growth and diversifying population. its homemade tacos and sopes left one reviewer feeling <u+201c>wonderful to be alive.<u+201d> then last week, the store<u+2019>s facebook page was hammered with criticism about stale bread, poor customer service and an invasion of roaches. but the complaints weren<u+2019>t due to an actual infestation or rancid food at the sarasota, fla., business. it was because a donald trump yard sign was on display at the home of the store<u+2019>s owner, who is a colombian immigrant. <u+201c>i pray god knocks some sense onto that fragile head of yours,<u+201d> one person wrote on the facebook page. <u+201c>hope trump comes to your store and buys a bag of chips. ha-ha. you<u+2019>re gonna need every dollar after today. have a nice night.<u+201d> emotions run high in the final days of any presidential election. but the antagonism and animosity americans have aimed at one another over the contest between mr. trump, a republican, and democratic nominee hillary clinton <u+2014>two of the most disliked candidates ever to be nominated<u+2014>have been boiling over for weeks. among hispanic voters, their passion is occasionally manifested in vitriol aimed at those supporting the republican nominee. they have an unusually high level of interest in the election compared with other demographic groups and are largely united behind mrs. clinton, polls show. mr. trump, who supports aggressive deportation measures and a wall along the southern u.s. border, is favored by fewer than one in five hispanic voters , according to a wall street journal/nbc news poll in october. trump<u+2019>s immigration plans shocked some hispanic leaders. while americans in general view mr. trump as better or just as good as mrs. clinton when it comes to dealing with the economy and handling trade issues, hispanic voters overwhelming give the edge to the democratic nominee. asked which candidate is more honest and straightforward, mr. trump has an advantage of 4 percentage points over mrs. clinton among all registered voters. among hispanic voters, mr. trump has a 34 percentage point disadvantage. perhaps most troubling for mr. trump: 69% of hispanic voters said they are interested in this year<u+2019>s election, up 1 percentage point from four years ago. almost every other voting bloc is less interested, according to the poll. the trump campaign didn<u+2019>t respond to a request for comment. the avalanche of anger from fellow latinos targeted at the grocery owned by rosalia holmlund, a 65-year-old american citizen, came despite the fact that she doesn<u+2019>t even support mr. trump. the yard sign was installed by her husband, 79-year-old kenneth holmlund, who is a longtime republican and isn<u+2019>t hispanic. that her husband<u+2019>s benign display of political preference triggered an upbraiding of the family business on social media is, for her, an example of how the country<u+2019>s political leaders have failed to inspire the country. <u+201c>now, i<u+2019>m paying for the consequences,<u+201d> she said. interviews with more than a dozen of mr. trump<u+2019>s supporters at recent rallies show that his backers largely agree that a southern border wall will stop illegal immigration. many of them are just a generation or two removed from naturalization of their own parents or grandparents, but say they worry that a new wave of immigrants is bringing crime and drugs into their communities. <u+201c>there are all kinds of people against us,<u+201d> said elma sanchez, a 60-year-old trump supporter who wore a <u+201c>hillary for prison<u+201d> pin to a rally in pueblo, colo. <u+201c>but we haven<u+2019>t changed<u+2014>they<u+2019>ve changed and the politicians have changed,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>they don<u+2019>t keep their promises, so i<u+2019>m going to go with trump and see what he can do.<u+201d> many of them said their support for mr. trump has put a strain on their relations with family and friends. <u+201c>oh yeah, a lot of relatives and friends laugh at me,<u+201d> john elizondo, a 65-year-old chauffeur in summerlin, nev., said about the reaction from friends and family to his support for trump. mr. elizondo said his mother was born in mexico. at a recent trump rally near las vegas, he carried a package of toilet paper with a homemade label on the front: <u+201c>time to wipe the crap out of washington.<u+201d> <u+201c>trump is right<u+2014>some of the immigrants coming in are rapists, and some are criminals,<u+201d> mr. elizondo said. <u+201c>but it<u+2019>s not just the mexicans. it<u+2019>s the south americans, it<u+2019>s the muslims, it<u+2019>s whatever. <u+201c>and when he builds that wall,<u+201d> he added, <u+201c>i<u+2019>ll be the one laughing.<u+201d> <u+2014>carol e. lee contributed to this article. write to michael c. bender at mike.bender@wsj.com and miguel gonzalez at miguel.gonzalez@wsj.com
hispanic backers of donald trump face backlash - wsj
michael c. bender