Online search interest in former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro’s presidential candidacy spiked by more than 2,400 percent amid the first Democrat primary debate.
Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio, Texas, generated more than 200,000 search inquires on Wednesday—an increase of more than 2,400 percent, according to metrics by Google Trends. The candidate, who has struggled to gain traction since jumping into the 2020 race in January, drew the most interest in his home state of Texas as well as the liberal states of California, New York, and Vermont.
The results indicate that Castro was able to stand out from the 10 other candidates on the debate stage by unapologetically tacking left on the issues. From decriminalizing illegal border entries to expanding abortion access to trans women, Castro rivaled progressive icons like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
On immigration, in particular, Castro issued an early and stringent rebuke of President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Watching that image of Óscar and his daughter, Valeria, is heartbreaking,” the candidate said, citing two immigrants who recently died attempting to enter the country. “It should also piss us all off.”
He proceeded to accuse Trump’s administration of “playing games” with migrants seeking asylum, before calling for a total overhaul of the nation’s immigration system.
“If I were president today, I would sign an executive order that would get rid of Trump’s zero tolerance policy, the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy and the metering policy,” Castro said. “This metering policy is basically what prompted Óscar and Valeria to make that risky swim across the river.”
Trump, however, was not the only target of Castro’s ire. Another breakout moment occurred when Castro confronted his fellow Texan, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), for appearing to not understand the intricacies of immigration law.
“Let’s be very clear, the reason that they are separating these little children from their families is that they are using section 1325 of that act, which criminalized crossing over the border, to incarcerate the parents and then separate them,” he said. “Some of us on this stage have called to end that section, to terminate it, some, like Congressman O’Rourke, have not.”
“I think you should do your homework on this issue,” Castro added. “If you did your homework on this issue you would know that we should repeal this section.”
Section 1325 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which Castro implored his fellow candidates to support repealing, makes it a criminal misdemeanor to enter the U.S. without papers. In April, Castro called for America to stop treating migration as “a criminal justice issue” when unveiling his immigration proposal. Castro’s plan is heavily centered around gutting border enforcement and making illegal entry a civil penalty, rather a than a criminal offense punishable by jail time.
Decriminalizing border crossings is considered radical, especially since immigration offenses like those covered by the law constitute a majority of federal criminal prosecutions.
Towards the end of the debate, Castro drew attention for saying his healthcare plan would cover the cost of abortion for transgender individuals.
“I don’t believe only in reproductive freedom, I believe in reproductive justice,” he said. “What that means is that just because a woman — or let’s also not forget someone in the trans community, a trans female, is poor, [it] doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the right to exercise that right to choose… I absolutely would cover the right to have an abortion.”
It is unclear what exactly Castro meant since transgender females were born male and do not have uteruses. Not everyone, however, appeared perplexed by the statement, with some even applauding Castro for including transgender individuals in the abortion discussion.
Castro’s debate performance also appeared to receive praise from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) for using Spanish in his closing statement.
On Thursday, Castro told reporters the debate was likely his best fundraising day since entering the race. Castro added that he only had goal prior to the debate.
“Coming into the debate, it was clear that I had to introduce myself to the American people,” he said. “There were a lot of voters who didn’t know who I was, what I’d like to do if I’m elected president.”
“And I accomplished my goal for the debate,” Castro added.
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