After a stunning victory in the Democratic primary in South Carolina, President Biden rallied supporters in Nevada on Sunday and declared that he had kept his promises to the Black and Hispanic voters who helped elect him.
Mr. Biden spoke at a community center in Las Vegas’ historic West Side neighborhood, home to an African American community in critical, embattled condition. He recited statistics about the decline in child poverty among Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people, talked about the growth of minority-owned businesses and attacked former President Donald J. Trump for saying immigration was “poisoning the blood” of the United States.
But he appeared to acknowledge that many voters were skeptical of his performance as president as his approval rating dipped below 40 percent
“I know, we know, we still have a lot of work to do,” Mr. Biden said. “Not everyone is yet feeling the benefits of our investments and progress.”
The president has worked to shore up his support among black and Hispanic voters, who make up key Democratic constituencies, while Mr. Trump, his likely Republican opponent in November, is trying to make inroads with both groups.
Nevada will hold its Democratic primary on Tuesday, the party’s second official nominating contest after South Carolina. But Mr. Biden faces little resistance here. A long-term challenger, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota — who finished third in South Carolina on Saturday behind self-help author Marianne Williamson — won’t even be on the ballot.
Instead, Mr. Biden traveled on Sunday with an eye on the general election. Although Nevada has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since 2008, including for Mr. Biden in 2020, it remains a swing state with a recently elected Republican governor. In November, a New York Times/Siena poll showed Mr. Biden trailing Mr. Trump by 10 points in Nevada.
The president’s allies are working to strengthen him. A pro-Biden super PAC recently announced it would set aside $250 million for advertising in seven battleground states, including Nevada, a record sum.
Shelby Wiltz, the president’s campaign manager in Nevada, said in a statement that the state’s “diverse communities” delivered the White House for Mr. Biden.
In his narrow victory in Nevada four years ago, Mr. Biden was helped greatly by the state’s influential unions representing workers in the hospitality and casino industries. Many of these workers are Hispanic. Last month in Las Vegas, Mr. Trump said that Mr. Biden had “destroyed the Latino community economically” and that Hispanics had “done better” financially under the Trump administration.
Mr. Biden last visited Nevada in December, when he announced $8.2 billion in funding for passenger rail projects. He criticized Mr. Trump’s approach to infrastructure, saying the former president had failed to achieve his goals. The Biden campaign is heavily promoting a bipartisan infrastructure bill that Mr. Biden has promoted as a cudgel against Mr. Trump, although it could take years for voters to see the results of such projects.
Artie Blanco, a Democratic National Committee member from Nevada, called Mr. Biden the “most pro-worker president we’ve seen in generations” but said he and his campaign need to “make sure the working class knows what he’s done.”
As it has become increasingly likely that Mr. Trump will win the Republican nomination, Mr. Biden has shifted into campaign mode, holding rallies to underscore his administration’s record. So far he has had hardly any setbacks in the primaries. Last month he won New Hampshire as a write-in candidate and then took 96 percent of the vote in South Carolina.
On Saturday, Mr. Biden met with black entertainment industry leaders at a fundraiser at the Los Angeles mansion of George Lucas, the “Star Wars” filmmaker, before traveling to Las Vegas the next day.
Mr Biden also took time over the weekend to commemorate the birthdays of his sons Beau and Hunter.
Before heading to the West Coast, he visited Beau’s grave in Delaware on Saturday. Beau Biden, born February 3, died in 2015 at the age of 46.
On Sunday, Mr Biden had brunch with Hunter, who turned 54 on February 4, at a restaurant in Los Angeles. Hunter Biden is facing charges in two federal criminal cases that could come in the middle of the presidential campaign.
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2024-02-05 05:09:01
www.nytimes.com