Joe Biden’s reelection campaign will look to use the Copa América soccer tournament to reach Latino voters, spending seven figures on ads in battleground states and organizing watch parties that will also serve as a chance to promote the president’s bid for another term.
The media blitz comes with a fresh ad from the Biden team in both English and Spanish that slams the president’s 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump, for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Four years ago, we were shut down, stadiums were empty, Trump failed us,” the ad's narrator says over images of empty soccer stadiums. “But then Joe Biden took over.”
The 30-second spot will run on TV, digital and radio platforms around the tournament, which the campaign notes is expected to be the most watched Spanish-language TV program of the year before the election. The campaign pointed out there are matches scheduled to take place in the key battleground states of Georgia, Arizona and Nevada as well as states Biden’s team hopes to turn blue, including Florida and North Carolina.
In person, the Biden camp will also deploy campaign staff, volunteers and surrogates to host or attend events centered around watching the matches where they will facilitate conversations about Biden’s reelection bid and work to sign up voters.
Events will take place at spots where the campaign says people will already be going to watch games, such as sports bars and restaurants starting in Nevada and Arizona. Volunteers will also be given “bilingual toolkits” to spark conversations about the president during watch parties at home.
They are also rolling out new merchandise, specifically T-shirts, for the occasions.
The Biden campaign says their on-the-ground efforts and media presence around matches will serve as a way to reach key voters when they are most engaged.
“Throughout the next few weeks, we will harness the energy of Copa to mobilize and reach the Latino voters who will decide this election in their communities, on the airwaves, and at Copa matches – all with a simple message: President Biden has had our back for his whole career and is fighting for our community every single day, while Donald Trump has spent every chance he gets fighting for himself, while attacking and failing our community,” Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.
While Democrats have historically enjoyed solid support from Latino voters, data from recent election cycles show Hispanic voters may be increasingly more open to the GOP’s message. Recent polls show Biden and Trump are close when it comes to support from such voters.
A poll from Equis released on Tuesday, which surveyed Latino voters in seven swing states, found that 38% trust Biden on immigration while 41% trust Trump. It came as Biden on Tuesday unveiled a plan to protect some people without legal status who are married to U.S. citizens from deportation and streamline a path for them to seek permanent residence and ultimately citizenship. Over the last few months, polls have shown immigration and the border moving up on voters’ list of key issues heading into the November election.
For his part, Trump used a campaign rally in Las Vegas in battleground Nevada earlier this month to launch his strategy to court Latino voters under a new name: “Latino Americans for Trump.” Previously, the Trump team called the effort just “Latinos for Trump.”