As campaign heats up, Trump woos Latino, Black voters
ATLANTA, Ga. — With fewer than 40 days left before the election, President Donald Trump unveiled his second policy plan in as many days as he tries to chip away at his Democratic rival’s support among Black and Hispanic voters and in key battleground states.
At a “Black Voices for Trump” event in Atlanta, Georgia, Trump’s campaign said that in a second term, he would push for economic development and loan money for Black people and designate Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, is so named because June 19, 1865, is when slaves were freed in Galveston, Texas.
Trump was on a two-day campaign swing that ticked off a long list of boxes, both geographically and with key constituencies.
He unveiled what aides termed a “vision” for health care in North Carolina, where polls show him and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden effectively tied. He held a rally in Jacksonville, Florida, one of the most hotly contested battleground states.
On Friday, he courted Hispanic voters near Miami and Black voters in Atlanta, and he was holding another rally Friday night in Newport News, Virginia. Biden is well ahead of Trump in that state, but the location is close to key North Carolina counties that are difficult for the president to visit, according to the campaign, because not all airports can accommodate Air Force One and its landing requirements.
Trump has tried to contrast his jam-packed schedule with Biden, who has made just 12 visits outside of Delaware since his Aug. 11 selection of California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, worrying some Democrats with his low-key approach.
Trump complained in Atlanta that Biden “never goes out!” and said losing the Nov. 3 election would sting even worse if he lost to a man who never campaigns.
Trump also made rare references to the recent killings of Black men and women at the hands of police. Trump said the nation grieves for the “senseless” deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.
“Our hearts break for their families and for all families who have lost a loved one. ... But we can never allow mob rule,” he said of protests over the killings.