Meet one of the most in-demand influencers in Democratic politics

Carlos Eduardo Espina just might be one of the most in-demand influencers in Democratic politics -- so much so that those widely seen as possible 2028 presidential candidates have invited him to collaborate or to their events in the hopes of being exposed to his nearly 20 million followers.

Espina, a 27-year-old Houston-based content creator and son of immigrants from Uruguay and Mexico, has built his platform by posting videos entirely in Spanish that aim to support and advance the Latino community.

It all began with him posting TikTok videos in 2020, teaching people how to take the American citizenship test.

"I just put a video up on TikTok [on how to] become a U.S. citizen. This is what you have to do. And that video blew up. And, you know, I guess that was the start of my journey," Espina said.

From there, he expanded the topics he discussed on TikTok to include politics and the 2020 election.

In just the past few weeks his account has shown him speaking at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., as the justices heard President Donald Trump's bid to end birthright citizenship, and sharing the news that Annie Ramos, the Honduran-born wife of a U.S. Army soldier, was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Over the past couple of months, Espina has met and participated in events with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and Rep. Ro Khanna of California -- all who have not ruled out running for president in 2028.

In March, Espina joined Gallego during a trip to San Antonio, Texas, where the pair filmed a video about the Texas Senate race, efforts to flip the state blue and the impact of the Latino vote. That same month, he appeared with Shapiro in Reading, Pennsylvania, to announce a 2026 FIFA World Cup Fan Zone.

In February, he joined Khanna in Nevada, where they saw vendors at the Broadacres Market pass out "Know Your Rights" cards to protect immigrants from ICE abuse. He's also met and participated in events with Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Wes Moore of Maryland and JB Pritzker of Illinois -- also part of the 2028 conversation -- over the past year. He even moderated the conversation for 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' book tour in Houston in October and discussed the Trump administration's impact on immigration with her in a TikTok video.

Overall, Espina has collaborated with and participated in events alongside nine Democrats who might run for president in 2028.

It's not hard to understand why many Democrats considering a run for president in 2028 want to be seen with Espina. In 2025, Pew Research found that Espina was one of the top five influencers who U.S. adults consistently turn to for news, behind more-established conservatives Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson.

Espina told ABC News that the majority of his audience is working-class Latinos.

Trump made significant gains among Latinos in the 2024 election compared to 2020, winning 46% of Latino voters compared to 32% in 2020.

Matt A. Barreto, professor of political science at UCLA who also runs polling firm BSP Research, which worked for the Harris-Walz campaign in 2024, told ABC News that there has been "a proliferation of purposeful disinformation in Spanish" and that Espina has become a trusted voice in the Latino community. But he also cautioned that Espina cannot be the only solution to this problem.

"Carlos Espina has a strong Latino following because his content is seen as authentic and trustworthy," Barreto said. "One person is not going to entirely solve this problem, but Carlos represents the type of voices and platforms that are badly needed in the Latino community to create trusted messengers."

"There needs to be 100 times more than just one person and Democrats are far, far behind the right-wing disinformation social media and podcast circuit and they need to catch up badly," he said. "Carlos represents one very important voice in this, but he cannot be the entire solution, nor does he claim to be."

In June 2024, Espina joined then-President Joe Biden at the White House, where he announced executive actions allowing some undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens to apply for permanent residency without leaving the country.

"They told me, like, it was one, if not the most, like, successful piece of content they had made throughout the four years," Espina said. "It reached so many people, and it reached people that they weren't reaching before, like, a different subset of the population, which is the working class, Latino people that I speak to."

Espina was also one of the many content creators who attended the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, even being offered a speaking slot on stage where he shared his upbringing and discussed how immigrants enrich the United States, adding that Trump's rhetoric around immigrants is "dangerous" and "anti-American."

But although Espina takes part in these events and creates social content with Democratic leaders, he made clear that he decides what he does and says in those moments, and what he posts -- emphasizing that he decides how his platform is used and is not influenced by any politician or their political team.

"There's no expectation," Espina said.

Espina has also not limited himself to collaborating only with Democrats -- he did a video with Florida Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar on her dignity plan, which has received bipartisan support and aims to secure the border, reform legal immigration and provide legal status to eligible undocumented immigrants.

He also said he wants to be a player in the 2028 election, telling ABC News he wants to have an impact on immigration policy.

And although Espina has criticized Trump, he has not ruled out partnering with the president to push for better immigration reforms that benefit the Latino community, referencing other elected officials such as Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who have worked with Trump to secure needed policy actions for their constituents despite their criticism of him.

"It just depends on the dynamic. Like, is it constructive? Am I able to get my viewpoint? Are we able to have an actual discussion? And it would depend on those things," Espina said.

"When you represent people bigger than yourself, you have a duty to speak to people even if you don't like them or agree with them," he said.