Biden and Trump offer Latino voters different visions of America — and of each other

In Spanish-language ads targeting Latino voters, President Trump amplifies fear, and Joe Biden attacks Trump’s record.

The Trump campaign warns of Latin American-style “socialism” and of police not answering 911 calls — and portrays Biden as not a strong enough leader. The Democratic nominee’s ads excoriate Trump over his handling of a pandemic that is disproportionately affecting people of color, contrasting Biden as the one with a plan, and show the president as mistreating immigrants and refugees.

With just weeks before election day, both campaigns are spending millions on Spanish-language ads in battleground states like Arizona and Florida, where turnout among Latinos could decide the outcome. In September alone, both campaigns have channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Spanish-language TV market in Florida, a state Trump needs to win.

So far, the Biden campaign has put out more unique ads than Trump’s and in nearly twice as many Spanish-language media markets. Biden has spent nearly $6.7 million running Spanish-language TV ads, compared with Trump’s approximate $4.9 million from June to mid-September, and both have targeted cities like Miami, Orlando and Phoenix, according to the ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics. The Biden campaign has also outspent Trump on Spanish-language radio, with about $885,000 in ad buys to the Trump campaign’s $32,500, according to the firm’s tracker.

Weekly spending on Spanish-language TV ads in 2020

Most of the Biden and Trump campaigns’ efforts to reach Spanish-speaking voters via TV ads focused on Florida and Arizona. The spending ramped up in June.

Florida

Primary

Miami (total)

Miami

$2,239,321

$2,452,321

12/31

9/21

Orlando

Orlando

$1,363,795

$792,879

Tampa

Tampa

$756,380

$670,894

Fort Myers

Fort Myers

$136,114

$27,120

West Palm Beach

$63,385

Arizona

Phoenix

Phoenix

$1,254,013

$920,901

Tucson

Tucson

$319,219

$211,740

Yuma

$31,615

Other markets

Philadelphia

Chicago

$213,620

$82,050

Las Vegas

Reno

$200,310

$81,475

Raleigh, N.C.

Milwaukee

$106,536

$13,725

Albuquerque

$2,775

Weekly spending on Spanish-language

TV ads in 2020

Most of the Biden and Trump campaigns’ efforts to reach Spanish-speaking voters via T.V. ads focused on Florida and Arizona. The spending ramped up in June.

Florida

Primary

Miami (total)

Miami

$2,452,321

$2,239,321

12/31

9/21

Orlando

Orlando

$1,363,795

$792,879

Tampa

Tampa

$756,380

$670,894

Fort Myers

Fort Myers

$136,114

$27,120

West Palm Beach

$63,385

Arizona

Phoenix

Phoenix

$1,254,013

$920,901

Tucson

Tucson

$319,219

$211,740

Yuma

$31,615

Other markets

Philadelphia

Chicago

$213,620

$82,050

Las Vegas

Reno

$200,310

$81,475

Raleigh, N.C.

Milwaukee

$106,536

$13,725

Albuquerque

$2,775

Weekly spending on

Spanish-language TV ads

Most of the Biden and Trump campaigns’ efforts to reach Spanish-speaking voters via T.V. ads focused on Florida and Arizona. The spending ramped up in June.

Florida

Primary

12/31

9/21

Miami (total)

Miami

$2,452,321

$2,239,321

Orlando

Orlando

$1,363,795

$792,879

Tampa

Tampa

$756,380

$670,894

Fort Myers

Fort Myers

$136,114

$27,120

West Palm Beach

$63,385

Arizona

Phoenix

Phoenix

$1,254,013

$920,901

Tucson

Tucson

$319,219

$211,740

Yuma

$31,615

Other markets

Philadelphia

Albuquerque

$213,620

$2,775

Las Vegas

$200,310

Raleigh, N.C.

$106,536

Chicago

$82,050

Reno

$81,475

Milwaukee

$13,725

In some instances, the campaigns have used similar techniques and settings, but with vastly different messages. In Phoenix, both have run TV ads featuring Mexican American restaurant proprietors.

In a Biden ad, chef Silvana Salcido Esparza says her restaurant is struggling during the pandemic and that the Trump administration failed to help businesses like hers, but helped the rich instead.

“La pandemia, totalmente, mató mi negocio,” Salcido Esparza says in the ad. “The pandemic completely killed my business ... It’s obvious that President Trump doesn’t listen to the experts. He doesn’t listen to the science.”

In a Trump ad, Jorge and Betty Rivas sit inside their restaurant and echo the campaign’s disparagement of Biden. “Joe Biden no es un gran líder,” Jorge says. “He doesn’t have the energy and the capacity to be the great leader that this country needs,” Rivas continues in Spanish.

“Latinos have to vote for Trump. Donald Trump will do an excellent job,” says Betty, wearing a Trump cowboy hat.

Both campaigns are also investing heavily in digital ads on Facebook and Instagram, with most ads reaching a Florida audience. Facebook doesn’t release the precise amount of money that organizations spent on political ads. Based on the information the company makes available, from Jan. 1 to Sept. 21 Biden’s team has spent as much as $160,000 circulating about 300 digital Spanish-language ads. The Trump campaign has spent about $116,000 promoting 690 ads in the same time frame, according to a Times analysis.

Online, the Biden campaign’s strategy is similar to its TV messaging, reminding Florida Latinos about Trump’s lack of a national strategy on the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 205,000 people in the U.S.

Facebook ads by topic and gender

Trump 688

Biden 296

Men 498

Women 190

Men 92

Women 204

Most of the ads viewed by women were about registering to vote in Arizona.

Most of the ads by the Trump campaign were about selling merchandising.

On issues, Trump mostly pushed opportunities for immigrants, especially toward 25- to 34-year-olds.

Facebook ads by topic and gender

Trump 688

Men 498

Women 190

Most of the ads by the Trump campaign were about selling merchandising.

On issues, Trump mostly pushed opportunities for immigrants, especially toward 25- to 34-year-olds.

Biden 296

Men 92

Women 204

Most of the ads viewed by women were about registering to vote in Arizona.

Facebook ads

by topic and gender

Trump 688

Men 498

Women 190

Most of the ads by the Trump campaign were about selling merchandising.

On issues, Trump mostly pushed opportunities for immigrants, especially toward 25- to 34-year-olds

Biden 296

Men 92

Women 204

Most of the ads viewed by women were about registering to vote in Arizona.

Trump paints Biden and Democrats as “extremistas”

Trump’s digital ads in the state have largely aimed to sell “Latinos for Trump” campaign merchandise. The ads that do mention issues focus mostly on religion, Trump’s antiabortion stance and attacks on Democrats. Facebook said it does not provide information on targeted demographics, but a Times analysis of the tech company’s Ad Library found that the Trump campaign’s Spanish ads are viewed more often by men and Biden’s more often by women.

Spanish is the second-most spoken language in the U.S., and with Latinos expected to make up the largest voting bloc of color this year, both campaigns are aware that a path to a victory means winning a percentage of the electorate, experts say.

“Candidates are not going to try to get 100% of the Latino vote because ... there’s so much diversity,” said Bryan Kirschen, an assistant professor of Spanish linguistics at Binghamton University in New York. Language is one of the unifying elements among Mexicans, Venezuelans, Cubans, Colombians and others, but connecting to each community means understanding the nuances of how to appeal to them, Kirschen said.

He noted the Trump campaign’s Spanish ads target Latinos whose home countries were led by socialist or communist leaders.

In one ad, the campaign shows Biden smiling with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a socialist who has presided over his nation’s humanitarian crisis. The 2015 image was captured in a crowd when both men attended a swearing-in in Brazil. This January, Biden criticized Maduro as a dictator and condemned his government’s “violent takeover” of the country’s legislature.

Still, the ad attempts to draw parallels between the two, and it flashes images of progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), followed by communist revolutionary Che Guevara. “Extremistas,” the ad declares. The campaign has spent more than $223,000 airing the ad more than 1,000 times in the Miami and Orlando and Tampa TV markets, Ad Analytics found.

A digital ad uses the same image and a sound bite of Biden saying he would be one of the most progressive presidents in U.S. history, followed by clips of Hugo Chávez, Fidel Castro and Gustavo Petro talking about progressives or “progresistas.” “Progresista = socialista,” the 30-second ad concludes.

“It serves the purpose of creating fear,” Kirschen said. “We’re seeing language being used to divide the country in many ways, and this is nothing new.”

It may be a stretch to paint Biden as a socialist, but the Trump campaign is trying to portray the former vice president as beholden to the radical left, said Geraldo L. Cadava, an associate professor of history who specializes in politics and Latino studies at Northwestern University.

Trump needs to turn out the 30% of the Latino electorate that identifies with the GOP, said Cadava, author of “The Hispanic Republican.”

Trump ads claiming falsely that Biden wants to “defund the police” could be effective messaging to those Latinos. “There’s a long history of Hispanic Republicans thinking of themselves as law-abiding citizens who are patriotic and are grateful for all the opportunities the United States has provided,” he said.

Trump benefits from an early start campaigning in Latino communities, Cadava said. The campaign launched Latinos for Trump in June 2019 in Miami. Biden faces an uphill battle in Florida. Recent polling by Latino Decision for Unidos US shows Trump’s support among Latinos in the state at 41%; he won 35% in 2016. In that election, Trump won 28% of the total Latino vote.

Ken Farnaso, deputy national press secretary for the Trump campaign, said in a statement, “Hispanic Americans can see through Biden’s smokescreen and know that he is running on an extreme socialist platform the likes of which have failed countries like Cuba and Venezuela.”

That’s not the case, said Phillip Carter, director of the Center for the Humanities in an Urban Environment at Florida International University.

“Democrats who are accused of being socialists need to explain in Spanish, especially in south Florida, how the political spectrum from left to right is different from left to right in Latin America,” said Carter, an associate professor of English and linguistics who has studied the use of Spanish in presidential politics.

“In a way, it’s a victimizing strategy to take someone who has had to flee dictatorial political regimes, crumbling failed states, and say what happened in your country is going to happen here.”

Carter noted that the Trump campaign risks alienating some Latinos simply by running ads in Spanish. Trump’s policies have targeted Latino immigrants, and his border wall is “red meat” for Anglo monolingual voters who react negatively to hearing Spanish, he said. It was Trump, after all, who declared in 2015 that the U.S. is “a country where we speak English, not Spanish,” he noted.

“There are a lot of voters who are watching these ads in Spanish who will say, ‘This is absolutely condescending, this is absolutely a political trick,’” Carter said.

So far, the Biden campaign has put out one ad that likens Trump to Latin American dictators. The 30-second ad “Cacerolazo” is named after a form of political protest in which people bang pots and pans. Pots and pans clang in the background, slowly at first, as images flash of COVID-19 patients, protests, and protesters and journalists being hit by police. Trump begins to speak, his words translating into Spanish captions, as the clanging crescendos: “When somebody’s the president of the United States, the authority is total.” Names flash on a black screen: “Fidel ... Chávez ... Maduro ... Trump ... Caudillos de le misma tela.” “Leaders of the same cloth.”

But to Cuban American voters in Miami, the comparison of Trump to the late dictator Fidel Castro is offensive, according to Equis Research, a Democratic Latino polling firm. The comparison was considered “insulting” and could be counterproductive, the firm found.

Biden reaches out to Latino subcultures

Meanwhile, Democrats and Biden are trying to energize Latinos to vote. Latinos overall generally lean left, with the exception of conservative-leaning Cuban Americans, but turn out at lower levels than their Black and white counterparts. In 2016, the number of Latino voters who were eligible but did not vote was higher than the number of those who cast ballots, according to the Pew Research Center.

The campaign will increase paid media in September to reach Latino voters and intends to spend at least $10 million — the campaign said eight figures but would not specify — on placing Spanish-language ads as part of its overall $280 million in ad buys across TV, digital and radio. The campaign is targeting older Latinos in Arizona, Florida and even Wisconsin through radio ads, said Jennifer Molina, the campaign’s Latino media director.

Campaign spending by medium and state

Biden

1 Block = $10K

Television

Radio

Facebook + Instagram

Arizona $1.6M

Florida $519K

Arizona $191K

Florida $80K

Florida $4.7M

Arizona $40K

Nevada $76K

Other $63K

California

$35K

Other $22K

Other $415K

Nevada

$281K

Texas $10K

Nevada $8K

Trump

Television

Radio

Facebook + Instagram

New Mexico $21K

Florida $3M

Arizona $1.1M

Other $41K

Florida $30K

Nevada $24K

Arizona $10K

Texas $5K

California $2.6K

Texas $10K

New Mexico

$2.7K

Campaign spending by medium and state

Biden

1 Block = $10K

Radio

Television

Facebook

+ Instagram

Florida $519K

Arizona $191K

Florida $4.7M

Arizona $1.6M

Arizona $40K

Florida $80K

Nevada $76K

Other $63K

Texas $10K

Other $415K

Nevada

$281K

Nevada $8K

California

$35K

Other $22K

Trump

Television

Radio

Facebook + Instagram

Florida $3M

Arizona $1.1M

New Mexico $21K

Other $41K

Florida $30K

Texas $10K

Nevada $24K

Arizona $10K

Texas $5K

California $2.6K

New Mexico

$2.7K

Campaign spending by medium and state

Biden

1 Block = $10K

Television

Facebook

+ Instagram

Florida $4.7M

Arizona $1.6M

Arizona $40K

Florida $80K

Texas $10K

Other $415K

Nevada

$281K

Nevada $8K

Other $22K

Radio

Florida $519K

Arizona $191K

Nevada $76K

Other $63K

California

$35K

Trump

Television

Radio

Florida $3M

Arizona $1.1M

New Mexico $21K

Texas $10K

Facebook + Instagram

Florida $30K

Other $41K

New Mexico

$2.7K

Nevada $24K

Arizona $10K

Texas $5K

California $2.6K

Campaign spending

by medium and state

Biden

1 Block = $10K

Television

Florida $4.7M

Arizona $1.6M

Other

$415K

Nevada

$281K

Radio

Florida $519K

Arizona $191K

Nevada $76K

Other $63K

California

$35K

Facebook + Instagram

Arizona $40K

Florida $80K

Texas $10K

Nevada $8K

Other $22K

Trump

Television

Florida $3M

Arizona $1.1M

New Mexico $2.7K

Radio

New Mexico $21K

Texas $10K

Facebook + Instagram

Other $41K

Florida $30K

Nevada $24K

Arizona $10K

Texas $5K

California $2.6K

Campaign spending

by medium and state

Biden

1 Block = $10K

Television

Florida $4.7M

Nevada

$281K

Other

$415K

Arizona $1.6M

Radio

Florida $519K

Arizona $191K

Nevada $76K

Other $63K

California

$35K

Facebook + Instagram

Arizona $40K

Florida $80K

Texas $10K

Nevada $8K

Other $22K

Trump

Television

Florida $3M

Arizona $1.1M

New Mexico

$2.7K

Radio

New Mexico $21K

Texas $10K

Facebook + Instagram

California $2.6K

Arizona $10K

Florida $30K

Nevada $24K

Other $41K

Texas $5K

Biden’s team is microtargeting subgroups of Latinos with ads using particular accents and music icons. “It’s about being intentional and understanding the cultural nuances,” Molina said. Ideas are conceived by Latino staff who understand the different Latino communities, she said, not translated from English content.

The campaign recently pushed two ads for different Latino electorates. “Pero Ya No” features a breakup song by Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Bad Bunny. The second, “Decepciones,” features the song by that name from Mexican singer Alejandro Fernández and the Norteño-Banda group Calibre 50.

“Pero Ya No” shows Trump throwing paper towels to survivors after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, and the ad switches between images of ecstatic Trump supporters, then COVID-19 patients, doctors and detained asylum seekers. Bad Bunny sings: “Ante yo te quería, pero ya no, tú me gustabas, pero ya no.” “I wanted you before, but not anymore, I liked you before, but not anymore.”

“Decepciones” shows images of asylum seekers being tear gassed at the border or held in cages as well as Trump at the border wall. The president’s words narrate the ad: “We have to build a wall.” “It’s like an invasion.” “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime.”

“Y si hablamos de decepciones, la tuya creo que ha sido la más fuerte,” Fernández sings in the background. “And if we talk about disappointments, yours has been the greatest.”

Laura Barberena, who has produced Spanish ads for previous nominees and was recently contracted by the Biden campaign, said Democrats have long used microtargeting.

“It’s akin to hearing someone who sounds like you,” said the founder of the San Antonio consulting firm Viva Politics. “It makes the Latino community feel that the message is actually directed to them and their cultural identity.”

The Trump campaign dropped a new ad targeting Puerto Ricans in Orlando this month. Polling has shown Puerto Ricans in the state favor Biden. The ad, featuring a “Boricuas for Trump” slogan, highlights federal disaster funding the Trump administration promised Puerto Rico six weeks before the election and three years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island.

After the storm, Trump had restricted aid to the island and disputed the death toll. Now, Puerto Rican voters, particularly in Ohio and Florida, where many settled after Maria, could be a key force in the election. “Los Boricuas podemos contar con Trump,” the ad says. “Puerto Ricans can count on Trump.”