Politics

Hispanics Emerge As Anti-Lockdown Bloc In Latest Blow To Democrats

Hispanics Emerge As Anti-Lockdown Bloc In Latest Blow To Democrats

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Dylan Housman Deputy News Editor
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Hispanic Americans, once counted on as a key demographic of the Democratic coalition, have turned on the party on yet another issue: COVID-19 lockdowns.

Hispanics were more angered by COVID-19 restrictions than any other demographic group, according to a newly published survey in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network. The survey found that Hispanics were more supportive than any other group of harassing or threatening public health officials due to COVID-19 lockdowns.

Twice as many Hispanics said it was acceptable to harass public health officials as white Americans, with 41.9% agreeing with the practice after more than one year of the pandemic had passed in July and August 2021. They were also the group that was most radicalized by the pandemic, with the rate of Hispanics who said it was acceptable to harass health officials increasing by eight percent since the poll was first conducted in November 2020.

Forty-two percent of Hispanics said that threatening public health officials was acceptable in summer 2021, compared to 28% in November 2020. Only 14% of white Americans said it was acceptable, along with 28% of non-Hispanic black Americans.

Answers were further skewed along party lines. Republicans were twice as likely to say it’s okay to harass public health officials than Democrats, but still less likely than Hispanics as a bloc. (RELATED: Jill Biden Says Hispanics Are As ‘Unique’ As Tacos At ‘LatinX IncluXion Luncheon’)

The question of lockdowns represents another key midterm issue where Hispanics have moved further away from the Democratic Party. From immigration to the economy, polls have shown in recent months that Democrats are drifting further away from Hispanics. President Joe Biden’s support among the demographic has slipped noticeably.