Axios

MILWAUKEE – Latino GOP voters can relate to Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance's personal "American dream" story and lean towards former President Trump over President Biden, two Republican lawmakers said in an interview at an Axios House event.

• Catch up quick: Axios House hosted an event during the week of the Republican National Convention on Tuesday about the power of Latino voters, through a media partnership with Noticias Telemundo.
• Next month, Axios House will host events at the Democratic National Convention with Democratic party leaders.

Florida Rep. Maria Salazar said Vance's modest upbringing allows Hispanics to identify with him.

• "Vance was able to escape poverty in a very difficult rural area in Ohio. Not only that, he had a very cruel and difficult childhood that you know sometimes can cripple a person. And he had the internal fortitude to come out of that."
• "We Hispanics, we can look up to him and say, 'Well if he did it, we can too,' because the opportunity is there. Because this country gives you that opportunity."

The Latino voter population is increasing and is projected to account for 14.7 percent of all eligible voters in November. Of that group, young Hispanic voters account for roughly 31 percent of the eligible demographic.

• "The younger population– they don't connect with Biden and one of the reasons has to do with age. So I believe that Hispanics, españols, especially young ones will be connecting with President Trump this cycle," said Texas Rep. Monica De La Cruz.

In fact, De La Cruz said the attempted assassination over the weekend increased Latino support for Trump, calling what happened "political persecution."

• "Many families…fled Latin America because of political persecution. And to see it happen to President Trump in the United States of America, the greatest country on the planet, they say 'No jamás. We want the American dream, we want a safe country and we will not tolerate this.'"

A new Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll reveals that Latinos lean towards supporting Trump because of the opportunity he brings to rebrand the GOP around "upward mobility" for Latinos.

• Republican Latinos' strongly believe in being able to work hard to achieve the American dream, which is an idea Trump campaigns on.
• "There is an outdated portrait of the Republican party among Latinos to some extent; they do see a 15-point gap largely on being out of touch with ordinary workers or being perceived as sort of the party for big business. But you insert the candidates into this, it's a different discussion," said John Gerzema, The Harris Poll CEO.
• "I think at the end it's who can deliver the American dream," said Alfonso Aguilar, director of Hispanic engagement for the American Principles Project and Political Analyst for Voz Media. "Republicans and independents believe the majority that Trump is in a better position with his policies to lower inflation and provide a better life for their families."

President Biden tested positive for COVID on Wednesday while campaigning in Nevada and is experiencing mild symptoms, according to the White House.

The big picture: Biden has been hitting the campaign trail hard with events in Las Vegas, including a speech at the NAACP convention on Tuesday and multiple radio interviews.

An overwhelming majority of Latino voters in a recent survey said they feel used as pawns by politicians who don't actually care about them.

Why it matters: Latino voters are a key and rapidly growing part of the electorate, yet both parties have faced criticism for poor engagement efforts and for side-stepping issues that Hispanics say matter to them, including inflation and personal economics.

A few days out from Venezuela's July 28 presidential elections, many Venezuelans fear the Maduro government will find more ways to undermine the election — and what might happen then.

Why it matters: As a yearslong economic crisis that has forced millions to emigrate persists, recent polling shows that about 74% of Venezuelans want the elections to result in a change in government.

Private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg is based in Manhattan, thousands of miles away from a criminal fraud investigation in Austria that centers on a former portfolio company called Schur Flexibles.

• Out of sight isn't always out of mind.

The latest: A U.S. federal appeals court last month affirmed a lower court ruling that Lindsay Goldberg must turn over internal documents related to Schur, at the behest of the pissed-off Austrian company that bought most of Schur in 2021 at around a €900 million enterprise value.

Thomas Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, warned Mexican cartels on Wednesday that former President Trump, if re-elected, would wipe them "off the face of the earth"

Why it matters: The former president has said he'd tap Homan, who had a role in the controversial Trump-era family separation policy, to serve again if he wins a second term.

Geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China are gripping the chip sector at a time when demand has never been higher.

Why it matters: Uncertainty around U.S. policy puts enormous pressure on an industry already strained by labor and capacity — but one that is critical to nearly all areas of the economy, as well as for national defense.

The Biden administration sent a private warning to Iran last month expressing serious concerns about Iranian research and development activities that could be used for the production of a nuclear weapon, three U.S. and Israeli officials told Axios.

Why it matters: The U.S. and Israel have both detected suspicious nuclear activities by Iranian scientists in recent months. Officials fear they could be part of a covert Iranian effort to use the period around the U.S. presidential election to make progress toward nuclear weaponization.

MILWAUKEE – Top GOP lawmakers said former President Trump's decision to select Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate will help them win in battleground states and relate to the needs of working class Americans in interviews with Axios reporters this week.

• Catch up quick: Axios House hosted an event during the week of the Republican National Convention on Monday about the cost of living crisis, sponsored by Save The Children. Next month Axios House will host events at the Democratic National Convention.

Unequivocal support for Vance as the VP resounded among lawmakers, many of whom noted Vance's personal story as the "American dream."

• National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman and Montana Sen. Steve Daines, said Vance will be able to uniquely appeal to "lunchbucket Democrats" and will be able to help Republicans in down-ballot Senate races.
• Indiana Rep. Jim Banks said, "President Trump is the leader of the Republican party and the 'America First' movement. J.D. Vance is the next generation of it."

Separately, Alabama freshman Sen. Katie Britt called the GOP the party of hardworking Americans and families while addressing the high cost of childcare.

• "I remember when my husband and I were looking to send our kids to daycare. I mean, it felt like we needed to take out a second mortgage. I'm not kidding."
• "If entering the workforce or re-emerging into it– if an impediment to that is that you cannot afford childcare, then we as a nation have got to figure that out and do better."

As more information comes out about the attempted assassination of Trump, Daines told Axios' Stef Kight that this is a moment to "take the temperature down" when it comes to political divisiveness.

• "Hateful rhetoric…is not a one-party problem, this extends across both parties."
• "I think the American people are yearning for more of a policy debate versus a personality kind of contest."
• Meanwhile, Banks told Axios' Sophia Cai how Trump "won't back down, he won't stop doing whatever it takes to win," and pointed to the moment on Saturday where Trump raised his fist in the air right after being shot.

In other news, Daines also said there needs to be more of a conversation about ​​Trump's plan for aggressive tariffs on China.

• He said that he'd be "more inclined to do targeted type tariffs…versus something that's just universal" and that "unilateral" tariffs are "something you want to be thoughtful about."
• Trump's tariff plans could increase the cost of living for middle-income households by $1,700 per year, according to Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Content from sponsored segment below:

In a View From the Top conversation, Save the Children Action Network founder and special advisor to the Save the Children president, Mark Shriver, discussed their new polling which shows that the cost of living challenge is a priority for many voters no matter what party they're tied to.

• "These issues matter to people, to working families. They matter to Republicans and Democrats and independents. Yet the political leadership does not make this a priority. That's the thing that's most surprising to me."
• "It's not just urban settings– it's rural America, very strong support in rural America, in urban settings, and in suburban areas, but we have not figured out how to get that message out and to find enough political leadership on the federal level that will push these issues."

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took her long-promised swim in the River Seine Wednesday in an effort to demonstrate the river's cleanliness ahead of the opening of the Paris Games next week.

Why it matters: France's long and costly effort to clean up the Seine in order to host swimming competitions during the Games had become an ongoing and disappointing saga.

Russia's surreptitious war in Europe, relying on new-school digital attacks and old-school sabotage, received special attention at last week's NATO summit, including from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the alliance's boss, Jens Stoltenberg.

Why it matters: This coordinated chaos — cyberattacks, propaganda, arson, weaponized migration — harries efforts to arm Ukraine as it battles back.

Guo Wengui, a self-exiled Chinese billionaire with links to Trump allies, was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and fraud charges in U.S. federal court in New York on Tuesday.

The big picture: Also known as Ho Wan Kwok, Miles Guo and Miles Kwok, he rose to prominence in 2020 when he and ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon announced plans to overthrow China's government.

Years of efforts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to mend relations with former President Trump may have shown some progress in the wake of the assassination attempt against Trump.

The big picture: Netanyahu allies have met with Trump on at least four occasions over the past three years to try to repair ties, which deteriorated after Netanyahu congratulated Biden for his victory in the 2020 election.