There's another real estate tycoon in the presidential race – and he's Latino
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Published January 10, 2017
He’s a rich, real estate tycoon who’s running for president as a political outsider. And his name isn’t Donald Trump.
It’s Rocky.
And just like the movie character, Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente is seen as a major underdog in his quest to become president of the United States.
The 61-year old Democratic candidate from California joined the race for president in October last year – five to six months after his rivals former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders started their campaigns – but that has not dissuaded him. In fact, during a campaign season dominated by those outside the usual political circles, De La Fuente said that he is the only candidate who could really shake-up the U.S.
“They don’t see anybody else out there as an alternative,” De La Fuente told the Daily Dot. “If they want a business person, if they want a hard-working person who uses his mind to think before he speaks and is logical and has street smarts … and he has accomplished more things than Mr. Trump has ever dreamed of, then I am the option.”
Trump – and his inflammatory comments towards Mexicans and other immigrants – was one of the big reasons De La Fuente decided to join the race in the first place.
“I think the guy is a clown, and he’s a joke,” De La Fuente said. “He has insulted every man, woman and child. I believe the guy’s dangerous. I would put him in the same category as Hitler.”
De La Fuente, who was born in San Diego but grew up across the border in Tijuana, says he holds his Latino roots and heritage very close to his heart. He studied in Mexico City and has opened 11 currency exchange storefronts on both sides of the border “to allow free-flowing trade between Mexico and the United States,” according to his campaign website.
The candidate said that his upbringing – and the fact that he owns two miles of land along the border with Mexico – makes him compassionate toward undocumented immigrants.
“I’ve seen firsthand what happens on my property,” he said.
De La Fuente has been vague in terms of immigration policy proposals but has said that there eventually needs to be a system in place to provide a path to citizenship, and that the taxes that undocumented immigrants pay could help the U.S. overcome its deficit.
He is also vehemently against the proposal by Trump and other Republican candidates to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I won’t collect a pay check until we create a logical and smart immigration policy,” De La Fuente announced on his website.
On other issues important to Democratic voters, De La Fuente is more mixed. He is pro-gun – although he wants to restrict assault rifles to the military – but he is also pro-choice.
While De La Fuente is the longest sort of longshot – he received 95 votes in the New Hampshire primary – like Rocky Balboa, he plans to give it his all.
“I was before the [Sylvester Stallone] movie. I’ve had Rocky since 1954. I was before “Rocky and Bullwinkle!,” he said. “The only [Rocky] who can beat me is Rocky Marciano.”
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