By SEUNG MIN KIM (Associated Press)
PHOENIX (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday personally made an emotional plea to Latino voters, stating that they are the reason behind his victory over Donald Trump in 2020 and asking them to support him again in November.
“I need you back,” he expressed to several dozen supporters gathered in a local Mexican restaurant.
Biden mentioned that the upcoming election is not a judgment on him, but a choice between “me and a guy named Trump.” The Democrat highlighted Trump’s disrespectful language about Latinos, from stating during his successful 2016 campaign that many immigrants from Mexico are rapists to the more recent claim by the Republican that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country.”
Biden pointed out that Hispanic unemployment is at its lowest due to his policies, highlighted administration initiatives to aid small businesses and address gun violence, and criticized Trump for seeking more tax cuts for the wealthy.
Biden said, “He wants to eliminate all the programs we established.”
Biden’s efforts to sway Latino voters are part of the campaign’s broader strategy to reconnect with various groups crucial for his re-election. This effort is especially important as key parts of Biden’s support base, such as Black and Hispanic adults, have grown increasingly dissatisfied with his performance in office.
In an AP-NORC poll conducted in February, 38% of U.S. adults approved of how Biden was handling his job. Nearly 6 in 10 Black adults (58%) approved, compared to 36% of Hispanic adults. Black adults are more likely than white and Hispanic adults to approve of Biden, but that approval has dropped in the three years since Biden took office.
Biden, who is on a three-day campaign swing through Nevada, Arizona and Texas aimed mostly at winning over Latino voters, told supporters at an earlier political stop on Tuesday in Reno, Nevada, that he and Trump have different sets of values. He also criticized Trump's language.
“I never heard a president say the things that he has said,” Biden remarked.
Biden highlighted the critical importance of Washoe County, where Reno is located, and Nevada for the November election. Nevada is one of the roughly half-dozen battlegrounds that will determine the next president, and Washoe is the only swing county in the state.
“We’re going to beat him again,” Biden confidently stated about Trump.
After this, Biden flew to Las Vegas to promote his administration’s housing policies. In Phoenix on Wednesday, he’ll discuss his support of the computer chip manufacturing sector.
Tuesday’s events coincided with the launch of Latinos con Biden-Harris (Spanish for Latinos with Biden-Harris). Campaign ads were aired in English, Spanish, and Spanglish, a blend of the two languages, as well as two Spanish-language radio interviews with the president.
“I plan on working like the devil to earn your support,” Biden said on “El Bueno, la Mala y el Feo” (“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”) on Univision Radio.
In the interview, Biden turned questions about immigration into criticism of Trump for his language about migrants, recently stating that they are “animals” and not people. Biden also mentioned Trump’s promise to carry out mass deportations.
Biden said they need to prevent this person from doing something and emphasized that the United States is made up of people from other countries.
Biden’s campaign for reelection, along with supporting Democratic organizations, has established offices in Washoe County and specific areas of Las Vegas to assist with Black, Latino, and Asian American voters. The president announced plans to open more offices in the state, and Daniel Corona, the campaign’s deputy political coalitions director, revealed that they were hiring a political director to focus on rural parts of the state.
The campaign has already put bilingual campaign organizers in place in Arizona and opened an office in Maryvale, a major Latino community in Phoenix. They have also hired over 40 staff members in Nevada and Arizona.
The Republican National Committee accused the Democrats of taking the Hispanic community for granted.
Jaime Florez, the party’s director of Hispanic outreach, said that thousands of Hispanics are joining the Republican party due to their disappointment with Democrats and their policies, and they will be important for Republican victories in 2024.
Biden campaign officials believe that previously disengaged voters are now paying attention to the prospect of a rematch between Biden and Trump, now that they are the expected nominees for their parties. They are working on boosting their efforts to bring different groups together in battleground states now that the matchup is set and using the excitement from Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this month to energize their campaign. They are trying to enhance their efforts to build coalitions in battleground states now that the matchup is confirmed and are using the momentum generated by Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this month. The campaign is, for example, making sure that there are local groups in place on college campuses so that students can organize, and that campaign offices are open and stocked with yard signs, campaign literature, and other materials. Democrats hope that Trump and the GOP will struggle to catch up in important states. Latinos con Biden-Harris was officially launched during Biden’s visit to Phoenix. The campaign has similar groups focused on college students.
Quentin Fulks, principal deputy campaign manager for the Biden campaign, emphasized that this is not something that can be achieved easily, but rather requires effort, training, and ensuring that volunteers and supporters have what they need on the ground.
Meanwhile, the RNC terminated many staff members after new leaders aligned with Trump took over last week. Those who were let go included individuals who worked at the party’s community centers, which helped build relationships with minority groups in Democratic-leaning areas. However, the committee’s new leadership has stated that those centers will remain open. women and Still, the Biden campaign and the broader Democratic Party are facing challenges of their own, despite having organizational advantages. In addition to Biden’s declining job performance ratings, Democrats are experiencing reduced support from crucial voting groups during elections. While Biden secured 63% of Hispanic voters in 2020, that percentage dropped to 57% for Democratic candidates in the 2022 midterms, according to.
, a study of the entire national body of voters.
Biden campaign officials express confidence that disillusioned members of Biden’s coalition will ultimately support the president once they see the difference between the president’s agenda and Trump’s plans for a second term. Biden plans to end the trip with fundraising events in Dallas and Houston. Follow the AP’s reporting on President Joe Biden at
https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden AP VoteCastBiden is reaching out to Latino voters, stating that they are the reason he defeated Trump in 2020 and encouraging them to help him achieve the same in November.
Biden campaign officials say they are confident that once the contrast between the president’s agenda and Trump’s plans for a second term are presented to disillusioned members of Biden’s coalition, they will ultimately back the president.
Biden is scheduled to close the trip with fundraisers in Dallas and Houston.
Follow the AP’s coverage of President Joe Biden at https://apnews.com/hub/joe-biden.
