Labor activist Dolores Huerta says Trump “does not know history” with past comments on Mexican people

Longtime labor activist Dolores Huerta says President Trump’s disparaging remarks about Mexicans show he “does not know history,” and called on Latinos in California, Texas and other states to push for change in the November elections.

“I just want to say that this is our moment,” the 96-year-old told CBS News. 

She recalled the beginning of Mr. Trump’s first presidential campaign: “You know, the first thing when [the president] came down that escalator, he attacked Mexicans. … He does not know history. He does not know that Texas was once part of Mexico.”  

Mr. Trump said in his 2015 campaign launch speech that Mexico was “not sending their best” to the United States, alleging: “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

Huerta has been active in politics and civil rights activism since the 1960s, when she and Cesar Chavez co-founded the group that later became the United Farm Workers. She is known for popularizing the Spanish-language slogan “si, se puede,” which has been widely adopted by political and labor movements over the decades, including in 2008, when Barack Obama’s campaign used its English translation: “Yes, we can.” Earlier this year, Huerta drew attention for becoming the latest person to accuse Chavez of sexual misconduct.

Huerta, who spoke at the Texas Democratic Convention over the weekend, was enthusiastic about Democrats’ uphill battle to win their first statewide races in the Lone Star State in decades. State Reps. James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa are the party’s nominees for senator and governor, respectively, taking on Republican candidates Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott. 

A New York Times / Siena College poll released Tuesday had Talarico and Paxton tied at 47% each, while Abbott, a three-term incumbent, was leading by single digits over Hinojosa. Talarico had the support of 61% of Texas Hispanics, a crucial voting group that went to Mr. Trump by a 55% margin in the 2024 presidential race in the state.

Republicans have sought to cast Talarico as too far to the left for Texas, highlighting his past statements on gender and other issues. Huerta told CBS News that she thought the “attacks” that Republicans have lobbed against Talarico are “ridiculous.”

Pointing to the power of Latino electorate, Huerta noted that both Hinojosa and the Democratic nominee for governor of California, Xavier Becerra, are Hispanic. Becerra is favored to win in heavily Democratic California.

“So, if it can happen in California, it can happen in Texas,” she added.

California’s electorate is far bluer than that of Texas. But Hinojosa noted in an interview with CBS News that 2018 Texas Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke received 64% of the Latino vote, according to exit polling, helping him come within 2.6 points of unseating GOP Sen. Ted Cruz. “When I get 64% of the Latino vote in 2026 I win,” Hinojosa argued.

“People want change,” Hinojosa said. “What is happening in Texas is there is this anti-incumbency energy.”

“The billionaires who own the social media algorithms, who own the cable news networks, who own the politicians fighting on our screens, they are turning neighbor against neighbor, weakening that spirit of friendship that makes Texas so great, they divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion, so we don’t notice that they’re picking our pockets,” Talarico said at the convention. “It is the oldest strategy in the world: divide and conquer, but Texas will not be conquered at a time when these billionaires are dividing us into different tribes.”