Trump will be a ‘loser’ again, Biden says on Florida visit
JUPITER, Fla. — Donald Trump’s private jet, emblazoned with his last name in bold white letters, was parked nearby when Air Force One landed in Florida, where President Joe Biden labeled his predecessor and potential opponent in this year’s campaign as a “loser” while raising money Tuesday for his reelection.
It was a typical jab from Biden, but it came with extra punch on Trump’s home turf. The first fundraiser of the day was held at the Pelican Club in Jupiter, a wealthy enclave less than an hour from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
“You’re the reason Donald Trump’s the defeated president,” Biden told donors, “and you’re the reason we’re going to make him a loser again.”
Biden said Republicans were determined to undo his administration’s progress, such as limiting the cost of insulin and other prescription drugs, and he accused Trump of “threatening our very democracy.”
The Democratic president has been buoyed by positive economic news as fears of a recession have faded. Now he’s eager to stockpile campaign cash to help him promote his record and target Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, in what is expected to be a grueling and expensive election year.
A second fundraiser was held in the Miami area in the evening, hosted by Chris Korge, the national finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee. He said the event raised $6.2 million.
Biden warned the audience to “imagine the nightmare if Trump returned to office.”
Although Florida’s wealthy donors make the state an important stop for Biden, it’s unlikely to swing his way in November. President Barack Obama won Florida in 2008 and 2012, but Trump carried the state in 2016 and 2020.
In addition, Republicans routed Democrats in Florida in the 2022 midterm elections, when they won campaigns for governor, U.S. Senate and other statewide positions by about 20 percentage points across the board. Voter registration, which favored Democrats by 600,000 a little more than a decade ago, now shows Republicans with an 800,000-voter margin.
Biden nevertheless expressed optimism, telling donors in Jupiter, “I think we can win Florida.”
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, dismissed Biden’s chances in the state, saying “he’s just as delusional as Nikki Haley thinking she has a shot to be the nominee,” a reference to Trump’s last remaining opponent in the Republican primary.
Florida’s rightward lean reflects the arrival of retirees from the Midwest and Northeast who generally favor Republicans, but also the political preferences of the state’s Latino population. AP VoteCast found that Biden won just 54% of the state’s Latino voters in 2020, down substantially from his national average of 63%.
Inflation is also much more of a challenge in Florida, where residents tend to drive more and the economy depends on tourism. Although consumer sentiment has improved and inflation has eased, higher prices have been a persistent weight on Biden’s approval numbers. The consumer price index for the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area jumped 5.7% in December from a year ago, compared with 3.4% nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Still, White House spokeswoman Olivia Dalton told reporters aboard Air Force One that Florida’s economy had benefited from Biden’s policies, saying they have led to infrastructure projects and spurred $9 billion in private-sector investment. She noted that Florida’s unemployment rate is below the national average at 3% but was 5.9% when Biden took office.
Kevin Wagner, a Florida Atlantic University political science professor who runs the Palm Beach County school’s polling operation, said Biden has a chance in Florida given the high number of independents, who make up about a quarter of the electorate.
“The assumption that Florida will necessarily be an easy victory for Republicans is questionable,” Wagner said.