As Delaware Democrat Joe Biden’s coalition shows cracks following a series of gaffes and shaky performances, the largest Democratic super PAC is voicing its support — not by backing the president, but by lampooning his opponents.
Priorities USA, which says it “exists to build progressive power and engage all voters in our democracy” and is “100% focused on engaging voters online,” has bought YouTube ads in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona in time for next week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“The five-figure ad campaign will target Black, Latino and young voters and counter the themes of each day of the Republican National Convention,” Priorities said.
“Trump is backThe ad features a caricature of the former president and strings together some of his words taken completely out of context in a parody of his usual rally closing remarks.
“We’re going to make America sick again. We’re going to make it heartless again. Weak again. Mean again. Deadly again. And we’re going to win for four more years,” Trump vows. The crowd chants “four more years,” a mantra typically heard from a sitting candidate.
The montage features a flurry of retro imagery from the Trump era, including pandemic-era ideas about mask-wearing, testing and quarantining, the famous scene in which the former president brandished a Bible after protesters were cleared from a Washington park during the 2020 George Floyd protests, snapshots of Russian President Putin and Trump, protesters against his immigration policies, and plenty of footage of the various street protests that have taken place around the country.
The ad makes no mention of Joe Biden, as if he hadn’t served as president for the past three and a half years, and as if the ad’s creators thought it would be easier to make a case against the former president than to make a case in favor of the current president, or even a potential ballot swapping campaign.
This negative ad, without a positive counterpoint, is an attempt to hurt Trump among groups where he has made some progress but still has room to grow.
Latest AP-NORC The poll found that roughly 70% of black voters have an unfavorable view of Trump, and half of Hispanic voters also have an unfavorable view.
But the Associated Press noted that exit polls showed that only 8% of black voters and 35% of Hispanic voters supported Trump in 2020.
It’s also worth noting that Hispanic voters in particular are not monolithic: Different communities’ political views can differ radically, suggesting that these broad categories are themselves simplistic.
Other recent polls have shown Biden’s problems to be particularly severe in battleground states, including but not limited to the four states covered by Priorities USA’s buys.
a signal Polls in battleground states have shown Biden’s image among black voters dropping 16 points, but young men in those states are currently more likely to vote for Trump, 53% to 30% for Biden.
Meanwhile, as The Washington Post reported Thursday, the Biden campaign is sticking to internal polling results that show a 20-point margin of support among Latino voters and a 17-point margin of support among registered voters.
but, The New York Times/Siena College The survey, conducted June 28-July 2, found a statistical tie among Hispanic voters nationwide (Biden 47%, Trump 46%), but Trump won among registered voters 50% to 41%.
