Cristela Alonzo weighs in on why the Rio Grande Valley voted for Trump
Alonzo said Republicans gained influence in South Texas “through the church,” an observation echoed by political organizers in the region.
Across The Americas is the newsletter of independent journalism from the Rio Grande Valley.
Actress and stand-up comedian Cristela Alonzo appeared on “The Daily Show” last week, days after the release of her latest Netflix special, “Upper Classy,” which the Los Angeles Times called her most personal and political work to date. As a Mexican American, Alonzo's comedy centers on her upbringing in San Juan, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, where she was raised by a working-class immigrant mother.
Alonzo now lives in Los Angeles, one of the cities where the Trump administration has deployed National Guard and military personnel, including active-duty Marines, to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. In September, the Supreme Court upheld ICE’s authority to stop people there based on "apparent ethnicity" and whether they speak English, while a lawsuit challenging the policy moves forward.
Her conversation with senior Daily Show correspondent Ronny Chieng, who is originally from Malaysia and whose comedy also explores ethnic identity and immigration, touched on representation in comedy and how personal stories can be a bridge across sociopolitical divisions.
“Being specific in your story actually makes it universal to so many people,” Alonzo said. "You realize that while you might not be Latino, while you might not be a woman, you actually relate to the way that I grew up. And that's the thing that we need to talk more about. Right now, the country is so divisive, but really, the more different we are, the more alike we are."
Alonzo trailblazed to prominence in 2014, creating, writing and starring in the ABC television series Cristela, becoming the first Latina to helm her own primetime U.S. network sitcom. In 2019, Alonzo published the memoir “Music to My Years,” where she tells the story of growing up in poverty in the Rio Grande Valley, finding her voice through comedy, and navigating life as a first-generation Mexican American.
After Chieng asked why many Latinos voted for Trump, the interview turned to the role of faith in politics. As an example, Alonzo pointed to the Rio Grande Valley, where in Starr County, people who a decade ago voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a 60 point margin, gave Trump 55.6% of their vote last year.
"The Latino voting bloc is the largest-growing MAGA voting bloc in the country," Chieng said. "How do you square those ideas with these people who are immigrants themselves, or their parents were immigrants, or their grandparents were immigrants, and they know what it was like?"
“What happened, especially where I’m from in South Texas, is that MAGA and a lot of Republicans decided to go through the church,” Alonzo said. “They actually infiltrated churches, and that’s how they got a lot of people to change their perspective.”
Alonzo’s commentary echoes the analysis of longtime political organizers in the region. Danny Diaz, a Democratic precinct chair in Hidalgo County, said in August that years of heavy investment from national Republican groups, especially in faith-based organizations, were a major factor in Trump’s gains in a region long dominated by Democrats.
Diaz said outside Republican groups brought evangelical-style political activism into the Rio Grande Valley, blending faith and politics in new ways inside local Catholic churches, where “politics from the pulpit” has not traditionally been strong. Diaz said the influence of outside money focused on national issues is clear, as all four counties in the Rio Grande Valley voted for a Republican president but elected Democrats to all other local offices.
"It did work," Alonzo said. "Because, you know, what is scarier than going against the teachings of God?"
Chieng noted there were no cheers from “The Daily Show” audience when Alonzo said she is a left-leaning Catholic who loves God and family, but the crowd erupted when she added, “But I love weed!”
Alonzo called for more spaces where people like her can reach across the political divide “where they can say, ‘You know how you love religion? You know how you love your family? You know how you love this country? I do too. So how do we work together?’”
In the Rio Grande Valley, city mayors are now joining together to call for legal pathways to employment for undocumented workers as ongoing ICE raids devastate the local economy in a region that supported Trump's election and the immigration enforcement policies that now hold local communities there under constant fear and anxiety.
Alonzo’s full interview on “The Daily Show” is worth watching and especially resonant now, not only as the Trump administration presses ahead with its campaign promise to deport millions before the end of the current presidential term, but also because the Latino support Trump gained in 2024 shows signs of coming apart even as Democrats struggle to understand and connect with these voters.
“Coming on stage, I was thinking, ‘You’re hosting The Daily Show tonight. I am the daughter of immigrants,’” Alonzo said. "And for the next couple minutes, immigrant families, they're the stars of the Comedy Central channel right now."
Watch Cristela Alonzo on The Daily Show
Watch a short clip of Cristela Alonzo's comments on the Rio Grande Valley posted on X. Or watch the full Daily Show segment published on YouTube below.
About Across the Americas
Across The Americas is the newsletter of independent journalism from the Rio Grande Valley, covering the Texas-Mexico region and the deep roots its people share across the continent.
Join four-time award-winning journalist Pablo De La Rosa as he reports on the global forces shaping these regional communities today.
Pablo's voice has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, Texas Public Radio, The Border Chronicle, The Texas Standard and Lighthouse Reports documentaries. In 2022, Pablo helped launch and host the first daily Spanish-language newscast in public media for Texas, broadcasting from the Rio Grande Valley for San Antonio’s NPR member station.
