Trump meets with Hispanic Chamber of Commerce leader

Donald Trump sat down for a private meeting with the head of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday amid tensions with the Hispanic community.

{mosads}The GOP presidential front-runner met with Javier Palomarez of the Hispanic Chamber, the group confirmed Tuesday in a statement. The statement adds that the pair spoke specifically about the Hispanic electorate, immigration and the economy, as well as other issues.

“It’s kind of interesting, the dichotomy between the private Donald Trump and the public Donald Trump. He listened a lot more than he spoke,” Palomarez told CNN, which first reported the meeting. “He never once interrupted me.”

Palomarez added that Trump told him that he thinks he has been “mischaracterized and treated unfairly and [his] name has been slandered to some extent with this audience.” Despite the meeting, Palomarez told the network that the Chamber will not yet lift a boycott of Trump brands that stemmed from the real estate mogul’s statements about Hispanics.

The statement from the Hispanic Chamber says that Trump will attend a public question-and-answer session in October with Palomarez. The group has held those sessions with other 2016 presidential candidates, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-Md.)

Trump has been dogged by criticism over his controversial rhetoric about Hispanics since the moment he jumped into the race in June. He called some Mexican immigrants rapists and other criminals during that speech and has called for the end of birthright citizenship for children whose parents come to America illegally.

He’s also waged war on Univision, one of the largest Spanish-language media companies in America, for its decision to pull out of his Miss USA pageant.

That spilled over into a spat with Univision reporter Jorge Ramos, a popular figure in the Hispanic news media. Trump tossed Ramos out of a press conference for speaking without being called on and told him to “go back to Univision.”

The actions have translated into poor marks for Trump among Hispanics. An August Gallup poll found that his net favorability rating — his favorable rating minus his unfavorable rating — is at negative 51 percentage points.

–This report was updated at 1:30 p.m.