Ex-top California Democrat says 'wokeism run amok' is why Biden is hemorrhaging Latino support

The Democratic Party is losing touch with Hispanic voters because President Joe Biden's policies are too "woke," says a former California Democratic leader.

Gloria Romero, a former state senator who served as Democratic majority leader from 2001 until 2008, told "Fox & Friends First" that Biden is losing Latino support because his party has left behind values shared by those voters.

"My message is of extreme disappointment. I represented one of the most Democratic Latino districts in California, East L.A., and whether we are Cuban-American in Florida or Mexican-American in South Texas, Nevada, or here in California, we are sending a very powerful message to the Democratic Party that enough is enough," Romero said in an interview on Friday.

"We have choices and we are looking beyond the Democratic Party," she said, adding that Democrats no longer resemble the party of JFK or even of former President Barack Obama when he was elected in 2008.

"Today's party is complete wokeism run amok," Romero said. She criticized the Biden administration's use of terms like "birthing people" in place of "mothers" or "women" as an example of how Democrats are moving too far away from traditional values shared by Hispanics and Latinos.

Her comments come as recent polling has shown a precipitous drop in Biden's approval rating among those voters.

Only 26% of Hispanic voters approve of Biden's job performance, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll. The president is disfavored by 54% of Hispanics, with an eye-popping 41% saying they "strongly disapprove" of the job he's doing.

Biden's overall approval rating was at 35% among registered voters surveyed, the lowest level of support recorded by Quinnipiac since Jan. 12, 2022. A 55% majority of voters disapprove of the president's job performance.

Romero said traditional Latino Democrats want the president to take action on the issues they care about.

"We're looking at the economy, we're looking at approaches to immigration. We're looking at language, my God. Here in California, amongst the Latino community, we not only celebrate Mother's Day, we celebrate two Mother's Days. So the birthing people lingo doesn't cut it for us," Romero said.

"We're a very entrepreneurial people. We are interested in prosperity. We value citizenship, we are a patriotic people. We are very much interested in ensuring that the Democratic Party, or any party, stands for opportunity, liberty, freedom, and the ability to achieve the American dream. Not to be given a handout, but to have an opportunity, a fair opportunity to achieve that dream if we hustle and work hard."

The challenge for Republicans who want to earn Latino support, Romero said, is to show the party believes "brown lives matter."