Trump Faces Tough Questions From Hispanic Voters, but Largely Defends or Dodges

In a town hall that Univision broadcast on Wednesday night, Donald J. Trump did not directly answer many frank questions on climate change, immigration, abortion rights and other topics.

Halfway through a town hall hosted by Univision on Wednesday, Ramiro Gonzalez stood in front of Donald J. Trump and told the former president that he had lost his support.

Mr. Gonzalez, 56, a self-described Republican, said he was alarmed when a mob of Mr. Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. He did not like Mr. Trump’s leadership during the coronavirus pandemic, and he was dismayed by the chorus of former Trump administration officials who no longer support him. “I want to give you the opportunity to try to win back my vote,” Mr. Gonzalez, of Tampa, Fla., said.

Mr. Trump declined to take it.

Instead, he defended his actions on Jan. 6, offering a picture often at odds with reality. He insisted the crowds who came to Washington “didn’t come because of me, they came because of the election,” ignoring his own role in stoking election denialism. And he added: “Some of those people went down to the Capitol — I said, ‘peacefully and patriotically.’ Nothing done wrong. At all, nothing done wrong.”

Then, after criticizing the Biden administration and pivoting to the border, Mr. Trump addressed Mr. Gonzalez’s plea. “Maybe we’ll get your vote,” he said. “Sounds like maybe I won’t, but that’s OK, too.”

Mr. Trump faced blunt, direct questions in both English and Spanish from undecided Hispanic voters throughout the town hall, which ran starting at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Men and women from across the country came to Univision’s Miami-area studio in Doral, Fla., and questioned the former president’s positions on climate change, gun control and abortion rights, and his baseless claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio.

The voters’ questions were polite yet pointed, and Mr. Trump kept his composure, avoiding the hostility he often exhibits when similarly questioned by the news media.