We hash out the “Democrats are too woke” theory with New York Rep. Ritchie Torres, who tweeted the day after the election: “The far left is a gift to Donald Trump.” Torres, who represents a district that is over 50 percent Latino, explains why he believes Democrats need to shift their position on immigration if they don’t want urban working class neighborhoods to keep shifting to the right. If you'd like to participate in our listener survey, visit TheAtlantic.com/survey. And get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/podsub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Donald Trump lost New York like everyone thought he would, so that's not news.
What is, though, is how much better he did in the city than last time.
Manhattan moved to the right by five points.
Brooklyn by six.
Queens, where I grew up, by 11.
11 points, as my Trump voting brother bragged to it was a shellacking.
I'm Hanna Rosen.
This is Radio Atlantic.
New York.
Miami, Chicago, Philly, Dallas, Detroit, all shifted right.
Trump's message seemed to especially land in urban working class neighborhoods where immigrants
and people of color live.
Now, there are lots of reasons why the country shifted rightward,
and we'll probably be talking about them for a while,
but these are neighborhoods that have voted reliably Democratic,
so the shift is noticeable and surprising, although not to this person.
For me, the far left is a gift to Donald Trump,
and it will be the gift that we'll keep on giving
until there's a serious reckoning with the results of the election.
This is Congressman Richie Torres.