President Joe Biden arrives in Phoenix on Election Day ahead of East Valley event
Mar 19, 2024, 4:43 PM
US President Joe Biden waves after speaking at Stupak Community Center on March 19, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Biden delivered remarks on making affordable housing more available for American families. He arrived in Phoenix the same day. (Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
PHOENIX — President Joe Biden arrived in Phoenix on Election Day on Tuesday, a day before he will speak at an event in the East Valley.
The president, who started his day in another battleground state, Nevada, arrived at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at about 4:20 p.m.
Biden is scheduled to speak at the Intel Ocotillo Campus in Chandler on Wednesday.
Before that, he will likely win the Democratic side of Arizona’s Presidential Preference Election. Biden and former President Donald Trump clinched their party’s nominations ahead of Arizona’s election.
Why is Biden visiting Arizona?
In addition to touting computer chip manufacturing, Biden is looking to connect with Latino voters in the state.
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His arrival in Reno coincided with the launch of Latinos con Biden-Harris (Spanish for Latinos with Biden-Harris). Campaign ads ran in English, Spanish and Spanglish, a blend of the two languages, as did two Spanish-language radio interviews with the president. Biden is also emphasizing his pro-union, pro-abortion rights message during the trip.
“The Latino community is critical to the value set we have,” Biden said on “El Bueno, la Mala y el Feo” (“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”) on Univision Radio. “I plan on working like the devil to earn your support.”
Latinos con Biden-Harris will formally launch at Biden’s Phoenix stop and include other campaign events, such as volunteer trainings and house parties, in other battleground states including Nevada, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Wisconsin later this week. The campaign already has similar groups geared toward women and college students.
“This isn’t stuff that you can just stand up. This is stuff that requires work,” Quentin Fulks, principal deputy campaign manager for the Biden campaign, said in an interview. “It does require training. It does require making sure that your volunteers and supporters have what they need on the ground.”
Biden’s push to connect with Latino voters is part of the campaign’s broader efforts to lay the groundwork to reengage various constituencies that will be critical to his reelection bid. That effort is all the more crucial as key parts of Biden’s base, such as Black and Hispanic adults, have become increasingly disenchanted with his performance in office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
