During the Las Vegas Rally, Biden promotes keeping promises
After an overwhelming victory in South Carolina's Democratic primary, President Biden rallied supporters in Nevada on Sunday and said 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 Westside neighborhood, home to an African American community that is in critical battleground state. He rattled off statistics about reducing child poverty among Black, Latinx 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 at a time when his approval rating had fallen. sunk below 40 percent
“I know, we know, we have a lot more to do,” Biden said. “Not everyone is yet feeling the benefits of our investments and progress.”
The president has been working to shore up his support among black and Hispanic voters, who are key Democratic constituencies, as Trump, his likely Republican opponent in November, seeks to make inroads among 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 opposition here. One 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 made his trip 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 Biden trailing Trump by 10 points in Nevada.
The president's allies are trying to support him. A pro-Biden super PAC recently announced it would set aside $250 million in ads in seven battleground states, including Nevada — a record amount.
Shelby Wiltz, the president's campaign manager in Nevada, said in a statement that the state's “diverse communities” had won the White House for Mr. Biden.
In his narrow victory in Nevada four years ago, Mr. Biden was greatly helped by the state's influential unions, which represent workers in the hospitality and casino industries. Many of these workers are Spanish. Last month in Las Vegas, Mr. Trump said that Mr. Biden had “economically devastated the Latino community” and that Hispanics had been “better off” financially under the Trump administration.
Mr. Biden last visited Nevada in December, when he announced $8.2 billion in funding for passenger transportation projects. He criticized Trump's approach to infrastructure, saying the former president had failed to deliver results. The Biden campaign is heavily promoting a bipartisan infrastructure bill that Mr. Biden has championed as a cudgel against Mr. Trump, though it could take years before voters see the results of such projects.
Democratic National Committee member Artie Blanco from Nevada called Biden the most “pro-labor president we've seen in generations” but said he and his campaign must “make sure the working class knows what he's done.”
As it has become more likely that Mr. Trump will win the Republican nomination, Mr. Biden has shifted into campaign mode, holding rallies to glorify his administration's reputation. So far, he has faced few hurdles in the primaries. He won New Hampshire as a write-in candidate last month and went on to capture 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 this weekend to commemorate the birthdays of his sons Beau and Hunter.
Before heading to the West Coast, he visited the site of Beau's grave in Delaware on Saturday. Beau Biden, born on February 3, died in 2015 at the age of 46.
On Sunday, Mr. Biden had brunch with Hunter, who turned 54 on Feb. 4, at a restaurant in Los Angeles. Hunter Biden is charged in two federal criminal cases that could go to trial during the presidential campaign.