When Republicans take the stage next week in Miami for their party’s third presidential primary debate, President Joe Biden’s campaign plans to make Florida and some of its most famous residents a central part of its response.
Although former President Donald Trump won’t be on the stage Wednesday, Democrats are expected to focus their message once again on his policies, “made even worse by Ron DeSantis’ extremism,” according to a Biden campaign official.
As part of its presence, the Biden re-election effort will also strategically place billboards around Trump’s expected rally in nearby Hialeah that evening as a way to respond to the counterprogramming, in addition to the main event.
“Higher costs, ripping away freedoms, banning abortion, and lining the pockets of special interests on the backs of middle class families — that’s the Florida Blueprint brought to you by MAGA Republicans, and the American people simply cannot afford that kind of outdated, failed leadership in the White House,” Biden-Harris campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez said in a statement to NBC News.
“This is the MAGA extremism Donald Trump created and every Republican running for president has embraced and emulates. It’s also exactly the kind of unpopular, out-of-touch agenda the American people consistently reject at the ballot box,” she said.
The campaign and the Democratic National Committee have tapped Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to be a high-profile surrogate, along with Reps. Maxwell Frost and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and state Sen. Shevrin Jones.
In addition, Chávez Rodriguez, DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried will be on hand to respond to the Republican debate, which will be hosted by NBC News.
On the ground in South Florida, the campaign and the DNC will host events focused on the Latino community and Black voters, including an event with U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson targeted toward Black men, the Haitian community and the LGBTQ community.
And on debate night, they will run a bilingual rapid response operation from both Miami and Washington, D.C., the campaign said.
The Biden campaign will also roll out some new ads and bilingual billboards aimed at Latino voters, the Biden campaign official said.
