Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden wasn’t subtle in his pitch to Florida Latinos as he barnstormed the electoral vote-rich state five days before the election.
Biden, the two-term vice president and 36-year Delaware senator, told supporters President Trump’s Cuba policy had failed to bring the socialist country “closer to freedom and democracy.” Instead, there were more political prisoners, Cuba’s secret police were more brazen, and Russia was once more “a major presence” in capital Havana.
“President Trump can’t advance democracy and human rights for the Cuban people, for the Venezuelan people, for that matter, when he has embraced so many autocrats around the world, starting with Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un in North Korea,” he said at Broward College in Coconut Creek.
The former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman talked up his career of standing up for democracy and human rights while standing against dictators, “whether they’re Left or Right.”
“Trump is the worst possible standard-bearer for democracy in places like Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea,” he added.
Biden, comparing his record to Trump’s, slammed the sitting president for “deporting hundreds of Cubans and Venezuelans back to dictatorships.”
“Trump loves to talk, but he doesn’t care about the Cuban and Venezuelan people. He won’t even grant Temporary Protected Status to Venezuelans fleeing the oppressive Maduro regime,” he said.
Biden has been lagging with Hispanic and Latino voters, particularly in Florida, where the demographic makes up a crucial component of the electorate. Critics often blast the Obama-Biden administration for forcibly removing 3 million people during their time in office.
Former President Barack Obama similarly broached Cuba during his own swing through Florida this week to stump for his ex-lieutenant. Obama was responsible for the Cuban thaw, or the controversial normalization of relations between the two nations starting in 2014 that Trump rolled back in 2017.
“Joe Biden wouldn’t coddle dictators. He’ll promote human rights around the world, including in Cuba,” he said in Orlando. “Joe will restore our battered standing around the world because he knows our true strength comes from setting an example that the world wants to follow: a nation that stands with democracy, not dictators.”
Florida is home to 29 electoral votes and is a pivotal state for Trump’s path to 270 and the White House. Biden has an average polling lead on the incumbent of 1.4 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics.
