A nationalist backlash in Mexico against the policies of President Donald Trump has given a boost to the candidacy of presidential hopeful Andrés Manuel López Obrador, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
López Obrador, who lost the two previous presidential elections in close races, has opened up a 6-point lead over his closest rival in polls ahead of next year's vote, although he has not yet officially entered the race.
Trump has angered many Mexicans and insulted their national pride for his insistence that Mexico will pay for a new border wall and his attacks on American companies that open factories across the border.
The tension has heightened as the U.S. last week bolstered an immigration crackdown and intensified deportation raids of undocumented migrants.
López Obrador was in Los Angeles on Sunday to talk with Mexicans for the first of what he said would be several visits to American cities over the next few months to speak with some of the 35 million people of Mexican descent in the U.S.
The visits appear intended to send a clear message that López Obrador will stand up to Trump. López Obrador said the U.S. president gives a misleading account of the trade deficit with Mexico since most of these exports to the U.S. have significant American components.
Ironically, many in Mexico say López Obrador shares similarities with Trump, casting himself as a political outsider challenging corrupt politicians who distrusts globalization and urges Mexico to focus on its domestic economy.
Fernando Belaunzarán of the Democratic Revolution Party, which Lopez Obrador left in 2012 to create his own party, carried the comparison with Trump even further, saying their personalities are also alike.
"His weakest point is his intolerance and arrogance," Belaunzarán said. "Whoever doesn't agree with him is his enemy. He is in the tradition of the Latin American strongman."
A recent example illustrated the extent to which hatred of Trump in Mexico has influence their politics, NBC News reported.
Current Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who has been dogged by low approval ratings, received a boost to his popularity when he canceled a recent meeting with Trump.
López Obrador, who has criticized Peña Nieto for many of his policies, backed the Mexican president in this instance for his refusal to be bullied by Trump.
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