GOP strategist, political contributor to CNN and Telemundo, and co-host of ABC’s The View, Ana Navarro gave a talk on Wednesday as part of the Fresno City College Speakers Forum in which she discussed the latest hot button issues in politics, gave the audience an insider’s view of the upcoming election and a roadmap of the country’s direction.

The webinar, which was funded by a grant from the California Endowment, was held on Zoom after Navarro’s scheduled on campus appearance in April was canceled due to the COVID-19.

Reflecting on her family’s background, Navarro shared that she attributes her Republican political persuasion to her family’s settling in Miami, Florida after they left their home country of Nicaragua in 1980.

“I am not sure that if I had settled in California where you all are and had lived through Pete Wilson, I would be a Democrat,” Navarro said. “I came to a city and a state which was represented by very inclusive Republicans,” she said, adding that foreign policy toward countries like Nicaragua was high priority in their local politicians’ agenda.

As for the current political climate and how the upcoming elections will shape America moving forward, Navarro expressed that we are in a terrible place as a country.

“Practically every week and every month we are watching racial tensions bubble up to where there are protests and looting and they are happening again and again,” Navarro said citing the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

To add to the ongoing list of issues that the country is facing, Navarro also addressed the lack of confidence that Americans feel toward government institutions. She includes elections, saying that there are a lot of “shenanigans” going on. But she does foresee a record-breaking voter turnout of groups like African Americans, Latinos and women this election in contrast to four years ago.

“Different people of different groups are looking at different priorities and interests,” she said, noting the recent voter participation. “There is great enthusiasm for this election from both sides,” Navarro said. “There is great enthusiasm by Trump supporters to keep him there, and there is great enthusiasm by Trump opponents to not keep him there and get rid of him.”

As a Republican strategist, Navarro shared her reasons for not supporting President Trump. “Before being a Republican, I am a woman, a Latina, an immigrant and the sister of a special needs man,” she said.

“When I heard Donald Trump called Mexicans rapists and criminals, even though I may not be Mexican, he is talking about people like me,” she said. “When I saw him mocking that disabled reporter, to me it was like the time I would see children staring at my very disabled brother and mocking his sounds and his gestures,” Navarro said, adding that she had never seen an adult do that kind of thing.

“When I heard him boast about sexual assault in his own words through the Access Hollywood tapes, those things to me spoke of a lack of character,” Navarro said, adding that those words were more important than any ideology or party label.

“To me, character matters more than a conservative on the Supreme Court, a tax or a trade policy,” Navarro said. “To me, it is the fundamental building block on which the presidency and leadership across the world should be built on.” 

Although minorities are often sought after for their votes, Navarro shared that both presidential candidates do not play the same way to try to win them over. “Donald Trump has actually reached out a lot to the Cuban American community in Miami where I live,” she said, citing the great returns that he has obtained as a result.  “He has got a greater level of support amongst Cuban Americans than he did in 2016,” she said. 

“It is actually one of the few groups where his level of support has increased,” she added. “That is why you see Cuban Americans at the Republican convention and visiting the White House.”

Navarro continued by saying that Trump identified that group and focused on being responsive to them which is something that he has not done toward other Hispanic groups like Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans, noticing the divisions among Latinos resulting from this distinction and the use of immigration as a wedge issue.

As for presidential candidate Joe Biden, Navarro believes he has a lot of work to do with regards to minorities. “He has represented a state, Delaware, who really doesn’t have much of a Latinx community. It has more African Americans, and that is why you see Biden do so much better with that group because he has represented them for so long,” she said.

“I think that he is aware of that,” she said, making reference to recent polls where, according to Navarro,  Biden is not doing as well with both Latino and African American male voters compared to Hillary Clinton four years ago, but has managed to address that issue.

“One of the things that minority groups don’t like, is for people to remember that we exist six weeks before an election,” Navarro said. “Showing up, having a record and being recognizable, matters,” Navarro said, stating that this is where Biden has been playing catch up.

Navarro concluded the webinar with a message to all young voters.

“I think that young voters have more at stake than I do,” she said. “If you are 20 years old, you’ve got 70-80 years left on this planet, so it behooves you to make sure that it is still around in a healthy way. Either that or buy some swimming gear or Scuba gear because the tides and erosion are going up,” she said as she referenced Hurricane Zeta hitting Louisiana.

“If you are 20 years old and that does not concern you, I do not know what you are thinking about. If you are 20 years old incurring huge college debt to get a degree, you have a huge stake in this election,” Navarro emphasized.

Navarro shared that she has huge hope in the younger generations and that it is in their best interest to cast their vote in huge numbers. “Frankly, we screwed everything up and I hope that they come and clean up our mess.”