Chuck Todd

And that became a political identity.

And it would stain the Democrats in the eyes of Cuban exiles for a lifetime.

What does that tell you when you can't fake it?

Now, it didn't happen right away.

What do you mean?

I mean, I was just like, can't you just not hold off a week?

Cubans didn't automatically become Republican right away.

I mean, I had a boss who.

It took time.

In the 60s, the Cuban-American voters were still split.

Had a very strong feelings about Richard Nixon.

The memory's there, but it's not yet partisan.

That changes in 1980.

And when Richard Nixon died.

Ronald Reagan wins roughly 80% of the Cuban-American vote.

And he had worked very closely with Nixon, both closely with that version of the Republican Party, he goes.

He ends up carrying Florida decisively, a state Jimmy Carter carried in 76.

He said, I'm not going to say anything until after he's buried.

He activates the identity, and from that point on, Florida becomes something different, not just a Southern state, but a Cold War state.

And after all the tributes have happened, there was like this, he believed that there was like some level of respect.