Democrats have policies that can help Latinos. But they failed to message that.

This is an adapted excerpt from MSNBC’s special coverage on Nov. 6.

When Donald Trump was first elected to the presidency in 2016, many of us were on pins and needles, telling ourselves, “Well, he’s not really going to do what he said he’s going to do.” But then he went ahead and did exactly what he said he would.

And now, in the wake of a second Trump victory, Democrats need to have better conversations with the country about what this all means. The implications of a second Trump presidency will not only fall on the most marginalized among us here in the United States. The implications will reach far beyond our borders.

Trump doesn’t believe in climate change, that will not only impact us here in the U.S. but also people globally. He has sowed doubt about vaccines. He wants to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. oversee health issues in this country. The people who will really suffer from that is Gavi, an international vaccine alliance. This is just devastating.

So in the aftermath of these results, we must take stock and ask ourselves: What didn’t we do? What did we miss?

And I do think that when we talk about where we are in this country, we must acknowledge that there is a new realignment taking place, there’s a coalition forming of folks who are not getting by. 

You have a massive number of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck and they’re not getting the economic relief that they need to feel like they’re going to be better off tomorrow than their parents.

You look at the Latino community, a large section of which works in construction, agriculture or hospitality. They’re trying to say, “You’re telling me that I need to care about X but what I need to figure out is how do I pay rent.”

Trump, whether people like it or not, had that populist message throughout his campaign. And while the Democrats have actual material policies that could them, they failed to deliver that message to the American people.