Carlos Curbelo, a Republican representing a district in southern Florida, believes Donald Trump may be losing to Clinton intentionally. He made his thoughts known during an interview on Monday.
“I have no hard proof for my theory, but I think the relevant question is do people actually think that Donald Trump is trying to win?” Curbelo asked on the Fernand Amandi Radio Show.
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“To all my passionate friends who are Trump supporters,” he continued. “And I understand why, there are a lot of people who are angry and frustrated in this country, they really don’t like Hillary Clinton for some obvious reasons — put together his recent conduct together with the fact he’s a close friend of the Clintons, they attended his wedding, the pictures are there to prove it. Donald Trump spoke to Bill Clinton three weeks before launching his campaign. I mean, again, I don’t have any hard proof, it may be nothing, but is this the conduct of someone who is trying to win? I just, I don’t see it.”
The Florida Congressman also pointed to recent Trump campaign tactics that haven’t made logical sense. He questioned why the Republican nominee would spend time campaigning in Connecticut, a state he has no chance of winning – instead of devoting more resources to legitimate swing states.
Curbelo represents a swing district with a large Hispanic population that isn’t very receptive to Trump’s campaign rhetoric. He became a representative after his election victory in 2014 against incumbent Democrat Joe Garcia. Curbelo will either face a rematch with Garcia or Annette Taddeo - depending on the winner of the Democratic primary. Either way, he has a grueling reelection ahead of him. Roll Call and Cook Political Report rate the district as a complete “toss up”.
Curbelo was one of the first Republicans to announce he would not support Trump for the presidency.