January 23, 2013 02:20 PM UTC

Tancredo Thinks Romney Got 40% of the Hispanic Vote in Arizona

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• by: ProgressiveCowgirl

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Tom Tancredo, immigration hater extraordinaire, seems to have crossed the line from making up his beliefs to making up his own facts to support them. His interaction last night with our very own Elliot Fladen was caught on video, which was posted today by Latino Rebels: Tancredo makes up Hispanic voter statistics.

As you’ll see from the video, the topic of discussion was “Do Hispanics vote based on a candidate’s immigration policies?” Tancredo attempts to defend his thesis that they don’t, by highlighting Romney’s 40% of the Hispanic vote in Arizona. The only problem is, that never happened. In fact, Romney got just over half that percentage.

Mountain state Hispanic voters have not historically rewarded anti-immigrant rhetoric. In Colorado, Tancredo’s own gubernatorial campaign, as the American Constitution Party candidate in 2010, drew about 14% of the Colorado Hispanic vote. Romney did a little better, with 25% in 2012, but neither candidate came close to McCain, who drew a whopping 38% of the Hispanic vote in 2008. Although occasionally spitting out the expected anti-immigrant rhetoric on the presidential campaign trail, McCain is a longtime supporter of comprehensive immigration reform.

As for Arizona, Romney walked away with… 22%.

Except when he was running against other Republicans. He did manage to pull 38% of the Hispanic vote in the 2012 Arizona GOP primary race (possibly accounting for Tancredo’s confusion) — but even against his own party, he never topped the 40% that Tancredo, a featured speaker at the Arapahoe Tea Party meeting, claimed.

Looks like Tanc could use a redo.