Biden releases his plan for Puerto Rico in Kissimmee
KISSIMMEE — Joe Biden outlined Tuesday how he would revive hurricane-damaged Puerto Rico as he sought to bolster crucial Hispanic support in his battle with President Donald Trump for the WhiteHouse.
“Even after four years as president, Donald
Trump doesn’t seem to grasp that Puerto Ricans are American citizens,” Biden said at an online event held in Kissimmee. “In America, there is no room for the idea of secondcitizens. Period.”
His planwould create a federal working group “whichwill report directly to the President to make sure Puerto Rico has the resources and technical assistance it needs not only to recover but also to prosper.”
It also calls for “providing relief from unsustainable debt” by reworking the unpopular Financial Oversight and Management Board that controls much of the island’s economy, as well as infrastructure initiatives in thewake of Hurricane Maria,
“The Hispanic community holds the destiny of this country in the palms of their hands.”
Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden
which devastated much of the island in 2017.
And it would forgive disaster relief loans, strengthen the island’s damaged power system and improve health care.
Biden said while he personally believed statehood would be the best way for Puerto Ricans to achieve political equality, he said he would respect what the people there decide.
He said Hispanics will decide whether he or Trump wins on Election Day.
“More than any time, the Hispanic community holds the destiny of this country in the palms of their hands,” Biden said. “They may not want to hear it, but it’s true.”
Biden was in Central Florida for a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration that featured actress Eva Longoria and singers Ricky Martin and Luis Fonsi.
“I don’t just want Trump voted out of office, I want the Latino community to be the decisive group to vote him out of office,” said Longoria, a political activist who served as a host for the virtual Democratic National Convention in August. “And that starts right here in Florida.”
The event came after a series of polls and news reports showed Biden’s potential weakness with Florida Hispanic voters and a tightening race between Biden and Trump in the Sunshine State.
A Florida Atlantic poll released Tuesday found 49% of likely voters favoring Biden and 46% for Trump, a 3-point difference that amounts to a statistical tie. A Monmouth University poll also released Tuesday showed Biden up 50% to 45% in the state.
Trump appears to have shored up the vote of traditionally Republican Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade, many of whom remained skeptical of him in 2016.
But U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, and others have argued that Trump remains unpopular with the Puerto Rican community because of his actions after Maria hit the island, including denying the widely accepted death toll of 2,975.
Soto filed a bipartisan resolution Tuesday that would support whatever Puerto Rico decided on a plebiscite on statehood and urge the president and Congress to “take action” in 2021 if the island’s voters choose statehood.
Republicans such as U.S. Sen. Rick Scott have done relatively well with the Puerto Rican vote compared with other members of his party, and the GOP thinks they can carve out more votes for Trump with that group.
“Biden traveling to Florida on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month won’t make up for months of his campaign taking the Hispanic vote for granted,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Emma Vaughn said Tuesday.
Before the event began, Claudia Siri and Sorti Perrero stood by the sign for Osceola Heritage Park, waving Biden’s campaign flag alongside the flag of the Dominican Republic ina group of six people.
“We want to represent the Latinos of Kissimmee and Central Florida,” said Siri, of Kissimmee. “We are Dominicans, Dominicans for Biden.”
Siri said she wanted to catch a glimpse of Biden’s entourage, including Martin, as they arrived to show them the community’s support. By the time of Biden’s scheduled arrival, she’d been standing near U.S. Highway192 for two hours.
Farther down the street, a group of about 25 more Biden supporters waved his campaign flag alongside transgender, gay pride and Black Lives Matter flags and shook plastic noisemakers while passing cars honked.
Nearby, around 50 Trump supporters spaced out along both sides of the stretch of U.S. 192, waving flags and signs proclaiming “Latinos for Trump” and “Women for Trump.”
The local Republican campaign headquarters, across the street from the event center, displayed Trump signs in its front windows.
Pushing a stroller holding her two young children, Courtney Bryant, 31, called Trump “the best president I’ve ever dealt with in my entire life.”
She said she wanted to set an example for her kids, adding that “Trump” was one of her autistic daughter’s firstwords.
“I wanted to show Biden how real supporters show up because when we show up, we showup big,” Bryant said.