Biden heads to Arizona, Nevada to mobilize Latino voters

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden made a campaign swing through battlegrounds Nevada and Arizona on Tuesday in which he touted his administration’s accomplishments and drew contrasts with what his campaign calls “Trump’s anti-Latino agenda.”

Before traveling to Arizona, Biden spoke with local leaders and volunteers in Reno, Nevada, at the Washoe County Democrats’ office where he highlighted job creation and health care.

“We’ve already created tens of thousands of good paying jobs,” Biden said. “Right here in this state as well, by the way, clean jobs, jobs, clean energy jobs. Trump lost millions of jobs, millions when he was president.”

Asked if Americans could expect to again see COVID-era child tax credits, Biden responded, “We’re gonna bring back the child tax credit to cut child poverty in half.”

The event was part of the Biden-Harris campaign’s “I’m on Board” month of action, designed to engage and mobilize voters and volunteers, in which the president, vice president, first lady, and second gentleman are expected to visit every battleground state.

In Las Vegas, Biden spoke about his administration’s efforts to tackle the issue of affordable housing, discussing a provision in his budget proposal that would help build and renovate more than two million homes to reduce costs.

“What my dad used to always say was, the way you build equity in your home was the way you build wealth. So that when you build enough equity in your home, then you have enough money to borrow to get something new and move, and so on,” he said. “And that’s how everybody makes it — everybody, middle-class makes it.”

“We know affordability for housing is a key challenge in Nevada, and it’s one in which the president’s agenda will really help address” a senior administration official said in a call with reporters on Monday.

Later, in Arizona, Biden was scheduled to stop at a Mexican restaurant in South Phoenix to launch a national organizing program called “Latinos con Biden-Harris,” in another effort to mobilize Latino voters ahead of the general election.

Throughout the week, Latinos Con Biden-Harris was holding organizing events, trainings and house parties in Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

“The Latino vote was critical to the President’s victory in 2020, and 2024 will be no different,” said campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, in a press release. “Latinos con Biden-Harris will be essential to activating and mobilizing Latinos across the country, and importantly, is another way we are making clear with action that we are investing aggressively into earning the Latino vote.”

The Biden-Harris campaign launched its “first Latino creative” as a part of a previously announced $30 million paid media buy for spring. The ad, titled “Only One Choice” or “Una Opción,” is a direct-to-camera video from Biden, which will run in English, Spanish, and Spanglish.

Biden spoke to Hispanic Radio stations Tuesday to outline his administration’s efforts to address the needs of Latino communities and slammed former President Donald Trump over his immigration policy, claiming Trump “despises” Latinos.

Trump claims he is gaining support among Latinos.

“He separated kids and parents at the border, and encaged children. Planning mass deportations of literally several million people who are here in the country. Several million people. And he wants to end birthright citizenship. I mean, this guy despises Latinos,” Biden told host Univision host Raúl Moinar.

Biden claimed in the interview with Nueva Network that he wants to allow immigrants to come into the country in an “orderly way” and Republicans are trying to “block” that.

“…We are a nation of immigrants. That’s who we are, from my Irish ancestors to your Hispanic ancestors,” Biden told Nueva Network’s Alex Lucas. “And so, what we might want to do is allow them to continue to come into the country in an orderly way … And what Republicans are trying to do is block all that.”

Biden called out Trump’s weekend comments stating some immigrants who come to the U.S. illegally are “not people” but “animals.”

“But here’s the thing I want to stop. Trump this Saturday, called migrants … he said they’re ‘not people’,” Biden said in an interview with Univision Radio. “He says immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of this country,’ separated children from parents at the border, caged the kids, planned mass deportations systems, tens of thousands of people here and wants to end birthright citizenship. I mean, we have to stop this guy. We can’t let this happen. We are a nation of immigrants.”