Ricky Martin says it's 'really scary' and 'super sad' to see fellow Latinos support Trump

Pop music icon Ricky Martin is disappointed in Latinos who support President Donald Trump despite his notoriously negative treatment of the Hispanic community. The "Livin' La Vida Loca" hitmaker opened up about support for the Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, the importance of this year's election, and his thoughts about Trump's Latino supporters in an upcoming episode of the Variety and iHeart podcast, The Big Ticket. Martin, who was by Biden's side during the former Vice President's first trip to Florida as the Democratic presidential nominee in September, said he's always been team Biden 2020.

"I've been supporting Biden forever," the 48-year-old said on the podcast. "I think he is the only option we have and he is great. He has been in politics all his life. This is the moment. We all need to get together and be loud about the course of this nation." For Martin, supporting Biden is personal. "I am a Latino, gay, married to an Arab living in Trump's America," he said with a laugh, referring to his husband Jwan Yosef. "We check all the boxes."

The Assassination of Gianni Versace actor knows that the Latino vote will be a crucial block for a Biden-Harris win. But he says seeing Latino support for Trump — a president who once said Judge Gonzalo Curiel could not be impartial because he was Hispanic, who separates Latino children from their parents and puts them in cages, and stacked his whole campaign and presidency on building a border wall to push hard-line anti-immigrant policies — is "really scary." At the same time, he chooses to remain positive that the majority of Latinos will vote him out of office.

"It's really scary," he said. "It's super sad. I think. Trumpeters make a lot of noise. And it's scary to see their enthusiasm but us, we're doing what's right, the right way and we'll see what happens in November. But I'm very optimistic." Martin also addressed Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez’s endorsement of Trump earlier this month, albeit only to denounce her and dismiss her influence. "Who is that? Next!" he said. "She doesn't even exist. She wasn't even elected by the people. She's not part of this conversation."

Vázquez came into office in August 2019 following Gov. Ricardo Rosselló's resignation and his successor Pedro Pierluisi being removed by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. Vázquez — who was secretary of justice at the time — was the next in line in order of succession. Talking about the high number of early voters this year, Martin said it's clear from the data that he and his husband aren't the "only ones concerned" about the outcome of this election. "I think when you have 50 million people voting already, it’s because we are not the only ones concerned about this and for that I am extremely happy," he said.

"We just take it one day at a time and we’ve had plans like we might leave the country, but no. We have to stay here and we have to fight for our rights and what we believe," Martin added. This isn't the first time the "Vente Pa' Ca" singer has publically spoken out against Trump. Back in 2015, he wrote a blistering op-ed about the former television show personality in Univision after Trump ejected renowned Latino journalist Jorge Ramos from a press conference. "The fact that an individual like Donald Trump, a candidate for the presidency of the United States for the Republican party, has the audacity to continue to gratuitously harass the Latin community makes my blood boil," he wrote in the op-ed, translated by Billboard.

"Let’s show that our Latin race is to be respected, let’s not allow a political hopeful to plant his campaign in insult and humiliation. Let’s demand respect for those first generations of Latinos who came to the United States and opened a path for us. We have fought for every right that we have today," he continued. "Xenophobia as a political strategy is the lowest you can go in search of political power. This is an issue that unites us and we need to battle it together, not just for us but for the evolution of humanity and those to come."