Cuban Americans and the 2024 Election: The Trump Train on Calle Ocho

The Trump train is getting crowded in Miami. This year’s FIU Cuba Poll[i] leaves little doubt. Cuban Americans are all in on the Trump maniacal mystery detour.

Back in 2016, right before the fateful election that created the persona of Donald Trump as king and king maker of the Republican Party, most Cuban American remained uncharmed. In that year’s FIU Cuba Poll, 36% of south Florida Cubans reserved a ticket to ride on the Trump train.

The support for Hillary was one traffic light (4 percentage points) away from catching up. We concluded data gathering for that poll a good two months before the election so most of the voters in that 15% undecided group probably boarded the Trump train at the last minute but who knows.

Then 2020 rolls around and President Trump goes mano-a-mano with perhaps the most experienced career politician in the country. Joe Biden started his run for president, one could say, in 1972, when he was first elected to U.S. Senator from Delaware. Around the same time, Donald Trump’s father names him president of the family’s sizable real estate business.

The two future opponents carry on in separate lanes, each contributing in his way to “the system.” Their fates would intertwine at the intersection of personality cult and ancien régime during the 2020 elections.

By 2020 many more Cuban Americans are holding on to the handrails of the Trump train. About 60% said they would…