Republican leader worries Trump’s attack on San Diego judge could alienate Latinos for years to come

The usually reserved Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced perhaps his strongest worry yet that Donald Trump could lose Latino voters for the GOP for a generation.

Speaking on Friday on MSNBC, McConnell shared his own story of casting a “protest” vote as a young man against Barry Goldwater at the 1964 Republican presidential nominee because of the candidate’s opposition to civil rights.

“My party has been struggling with African-American voters ever since,” McConnell said.

“I don’t want to see that mistake made with Latinos – it’s a big, important part of America,” he said.

McConnell noted that when Ronald Reagan was first elected, the electorate was 84 per cent white voters – today it is 70 per cent.

“For our party to be competitive, we have to be able to reach out to all kinds of people.”