Biden campaign targets Pennsylvania Latinos with ad
WASHINGTON — A new Biden campaign ad in Pennsylvania and other battleground states targets Latino voters and others by focusing on former President Donald Trump’s controversial policy of separating migrant families.
The ad, which comes as Republicans hammer President Joe Biden on immigration amid record illegal border crossings, highlights Mr. Trump touting the 2018 policy as a deterrence. Mr. Trump, who is heard describing immigrants as “animals” and “rapists” who are “destroying the guts of our country,” has pledged to bring back the policy and launch the “largest deportation operation in American history” if elected in November.
Mr. Biden says during a clip in the ad that the policy “violates every notion of who we are as a nation.”
If Mr. Trump returns to the White House, he will bring back “chaos and cruelty” and “go even further to attack and demonize immigrants, while doing nothing to address” a broken immigration system, the Biden campaign said.
The ad comes at the sixyear anniversary of the policy.
More than 5,000 children were separated from their parents before Mr. Trump ended the policy after just three months following a barrage of bipartisan criticism, according to New York Magazine.
“To this day, President Biden is still working tirelessly to reunite children with their families — it’s the enduring legacy of Trump, who made it his mission to go after mothers and kids under the guise of being ‘tough’ on immigration,” Biden campaign manager JulieChavez Rodriguez said. “Separating families isn’t ‘tough’ — it’s the work of a weak, desperate man whose only grip on power is by attacking the most vulnerable.”
A new digital and TV ad by the conservative organization Americans for Prosperity-Pennsylvania running in Pennsylvania targets both U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Aspinwall, for their support of Mr. Biden’s economic policies.
“Pennsylvanians just can’t afford to keep paying more and getting less,” state director Ashley Klingensmith said. “With summer just around the corner, families are canceling vacations, cutting back on activities, and looking for ways to make their dollar go further because of the reckless spending that Senator Casey and other members of the Pennsylvania delegation voted for at our expense. Unfortunately, families across the Keystone State are the ones paying the price.”
In other Washington news:
Kelly pushes to expand telehealth
Several health care professionals beyond doctors have had temporary authorization to provide telehealth services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. But lawmakers, including a Western Pennsylvania Republican, are pushing to make those services available permanently.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, RButler, recently introduced bipartisan legislation that would permanently authorize physical and occupational therapists, speech language pathologists and audiologists to provide telehealth to patients in need.
The push to expand the list of approved practitioners comes as families across the country, particularly in rural areas, have come to rely on electronic and virtual care in several fields, with Mr. Kelly saying the practitioners “play a vital role in caring for our communities.”
“Seniors now have the convenience of seeing their doctor from the comfort of their own home,” Mr. Kelly said. “Families with children have new flexibility to work around their busy lives. This bill makes great strides towards delivering modern solutions to our constituents’ future health care needs.”
Guest at White House state dinner
Among the guests at the White House State Dinner on May 2 was Ryan D. Hardesty of Beaver County.
Mr. Hardesty, who teaches social studies at Highland Middle School in the Blackhawk School District, is Pennsylvania’s teacher of the year, and he joined honorees from other states at the dinner.
First Lady Jill Biden, a teacher herself, and President Joe Biden attended the dinner as well.
“The idea that we can’t do more in education seems to me to be a ludicrous notion. You know, how can we be the most powerful, most meaningful country in the world without having the best education system in the world?” Mr. Biden said to applause.
Mr. Hardesty and the other teachers received a brass bell from the first lady, and a gold painted apple was the place card holder for each teacher.
The menu, according to White House pool reports, included a lady apple, walnut, and celery root salad; lobster ravioli; and coconut custard cake with nectarines.