Biden tells Latino voters they're the reason he defeated Trump in 2020 and says, 'I need you back'

The Democrat highlighted Trumps derogatory rhetoric toward Latinos, from saying during his winning 2016 campaign that many of those coming to the United States from Mexico are rapists to the Republicans more recent claim that migrants are poisoning the blood of our country.Biden said Hispanic unemployment is the lowest its been in a long time because of his policies, highlighted administration initiatives to help small businesses and reduce gun violence, and criticised Trump for wanting more tax cuts for rich people.He wants to get rid of all the programmes we put together, Biden said.

President Joe Biden has personally appealed to Latino voters, saying they're the reason he defeated Donald Trump in 2020 and urging them to help him do it again in November. ''I need you back,'' he told several dozen supporters packed into a local Mexican restaurant on Tuesday.

Biden said the upcoming election isn't a referendum on him, but rather a choice between ''me and a guy named Trump''. The Democrat highlighted Trump's derogatory rhetoric toward Latinos, from saying during his winning 2016 campaign that many of those coming to the United States from Mexico are rapists to the Republican's more recent claim that migrants are ''poisoning the blood of our country''.

Biden said Hispanic unemployment is the lowest it's been in a long time because of his policies, highlighted administration initiatives to help small businesses and reduce gun violence, and criticised Trump for wanting more tax cuts for rich people.

''He wants to get rid of all the programmes we put together,'' Biden said. Biden's push with Latino voters is part of the campaign's broader efforts to lay the groundwork to reengage various constituencies he will need to be reelected. That effort is all the more crucial as key parts of Biden's base, such as Black and Hispanic adults, have become increasingly disenchanted with his performance in office. In an AP-NORC poll conducted in February, 38 per cent of US adults approved of how Biden was handling his job. Nearly 6 in 10 Black adults (58 per cent) approved, compared to 36 per cent 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 that's designed largely to court Latino voters, told supporters at an earlier political stop Tuesday in Reno, Nevada, that he and Trump have a ''different value set''. He also criticised Trump's rhetoric.

''I never heard a president say the things that he has said,'' Biden said. Biden said Washoe County, where Reno is located, and Nevada are ''really, really, really critical'' for the November election. Nevada is among the roughly half-dozen battlegrounds that will determine the next president, and Washoe is the lone swing county in the state.

''We're going to beat him again,'' Biden said of Trump.

Afterward, 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 appearances coincided with the launch of Latinos con Biden-Harris (Spanish for Latinos with Biden-Harris). Campaign ads ran in English, Spanish and Spanglish, a blend of the two languages, as did 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 an indictment of Trump for his language about migrants, most recently saying they are ''animals'' and not people. Biden also noted Trump's pledge to carry out mass deportations.

''We have to stop this guy, we can't let this happen,'' Biden said. ''We are a nation of immigrants.'' Biden's re-election campaign, along with allied Democratic groups, have opened offices in Washoe County and in specific areas of Las Vegas that aides said will help the campaign with Black, Latino and Asian American voters. The president said Tuesday that his campaign will open more offices in the state, and Daniel Corona, the campaign's deputy political coalitions director, said Biden's reelection effort was hiring a political director to focus on rural parts of the state.

Bilingual campaign organisers are already in place in Arizona, and the campaign has opened an office in Maryvale, a major Latino community in Phoenix. The campaign has hired more than 40 staffers in Nevada and Arizona.

The Republican National Committee accused Democrats of taking the Hispanic community for granted. ''Republicans will continue receiving with open arms thousands of Hispanics that are moving to our party, disappointed with Democrats and their policies, and will be fundamental to Republican victories all over the country in 2024,'' said Jaime Florez, the party's director of Hispanic outreach. Biden campaign officials believe that tuned-out voters are starting to pay attention to the reality of a rematch between Biden and Trump now that they are their parties' presumptive nominees. They're trying to boost coalition-building efforts in battleground states now that the matchup is set, using the energy coming out of Biden's State of the Union address this month to jolt their campaign momentum.

Latinos con Biden-Harris formally launched at Biden's Phoenix stop. The campaign has similar groups geared toward women and college students.

''This isn't stuff that you can just stand up. This is stuff that requires work,'' Quentin Fulks, principal deputy campaign manager for the Biden campaign, said in an interview. ''It does require training. It does require making sure that your volunteers and supporters have what they need on the ground.'' Biden is scheduled to close the trip with fundraisers in Dallas and Houston.

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