President Joe Biden is pulling out all the stops to reinvigorate his winning 2020 coalition ahead of a toss-up rematch with former President Donald Trump in 2024.
No minority voting bloc is a monolith, and while polling data conducted ahead of Biden-Trump round two generally show Asian, black, and Latino voters still leaning Democratic, yet numerous samplings show the president’s margins over Trump among nonwhite voters noticeably slipping.
The Biden campaign and the White House have spent months if not years waving off polls outlining an enthusiasm problem within Biden’s 2020 coalition, yet the campaign has taken considerate steps in recent weeks to message directly to minority and female voters in efforts to draw contrasts between himself and Trump.
On Tuesday, Biden headed out west for a multiday campaign tour of Arizona and Nevada, two battleground states with considerable Latino populations, where the president unveiled his new “Latinos con Biden” program.
“You’re the reason why in large part I beat Donald Trump,” Biden said at a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix. “I need you badly.”
Biden then travels to Texas for a number of high-dollar fundraisers later this week. Campaign officials believe that Biden’s abortion stance, in particular, will give him a leg up on Trump in those states.
“Nevadans and Arizonans are gathering signatures for ballot initiatives to give voters the opportunity to protect abortion access in their states’ constitution in 2024. Nevada is one of the most pro-choice states in the nation, and the vast majority of Arizonans support abortion access, as well,” a Biden campaign aide told reporters ahead of the president’s trip. “Issues of democracy are particularly potent and top of mind in both states. Trump’s allies in Arizona launched their infamous election audits after his loss in 2020. The state Republican Party in Nevada is literally run by Trump’s indicted fake electors. Democrats, independents, and moderate Republicans have come together to defeat the far-right candidates in these states who have parried Trump’s lies.”
Before departing for his Western tour, the president sat for a pair of radio interviews on Monday with stations that cater to Latino populations.
“[Trump] despises Latinos — I understand Latino values,” he stated in an interview with Univision. “You know, we just celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. I hope you’re not offended by me saying this, but the thing about the Irish that came here, they’re about family, they’re about faith, they’re about decency, and that’s exactly what the Latino community is all about.”
“Latinos were essential to my win in 2020, and again, they’re essential, working hard to earn their vote,” Biden continued. “Earliest ever ad campaign to communicate directly with Latino voters about what we’ve done, in English and Spanish. The campaign is organizing on the ground in our Latino communities.”
The president also signed an executive order at the White House on Monday that designated $200 million toward research advancing women’s health initiatives.
“These directives will ensure women’s health is integrated and prioritized across the federal research portfolio and budget, and will galvanize new research on a wide range of topics, including women’s midlife health,” White House officials said in a statement.
Biden maintains a considerable cash advantage over Trump. His campaign announced that his coordinated groups brought in more than $50 million in donations in February alone and ended the month with more than $150 million on hand, a significant tranche of which is being directed toward targeted minority outreach ads.
To date, Biden’s campaign has purchased $30 million in ad space targeting Asian, black, and Latino voters on television, radio, and digital mediums.
The latest ad in this campaign, titled “Better and Better,” highlights Jenny Poon and Odeen Domingo and the married couple’s small business in Phoenix, Arizona.
“When the economy slowed down, we were hanging on by a thread,” Poon says in the spot. “The Biden-Harris administration is really working hard to lower the barriers. Biden is investing in businesses like ours.”
Still, the Biden team has taken some glaring messaging missteps while pursuing minorities in the past.
In May 2020, the president claimed during an interview with Charlamagne Tha God that if voters “have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”
Biden later apologized for his comments during a call with the U.S. Black Chambers.
“I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy,” he told listeners at the time. “I shouldn’t have been so cavalier.”
In 2012, while running for reelection alongside then-President Barack Obama, then-Vice President Biden suggested that Republican lawmakers wanted to put black people “back in chains.”
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And in 2022, first lady Jill Biden offended many by using “breakfast tacos” as a ham-handed metaphor meant to complement the Latino community.
“The diversity of this community — as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio — is your strength,” she said during remarks delivered in San Antonio, Texas. Jill Biden’s office apologized for the comments.
