Although evidence indicates that President Donald Trump has bolstered his support among Miami-Dade’s traditionally conservative Cuban exile community, Democrats have mounted an effort to demonstrate there are thousands of Cuban-Americans in Florida who believe Trump does not deserve another term, the Miami Herald reported on Monday
“This country has been abused for the last four years,” said George Marrero, a retired police officer who explained why he would not vote for Trump again. “[Democratic nominee] Joe Biden is going to bring back, like he’s said, the soul of America. It’s been lost.”
Other prominent Cuban Americans have issued similar criticism, with TV sitcom writer Luis Santeiro warning in a Miami Herald opinion piece that “when we label someone we disagree with a communist, a fidelista or a reactionary, we only echo the intransigence of the regime we fled.”
Mike Rivero, one of the organizers of a pro-Biden car caravan over the weekend, said “hats off to the Trump campaign, they’ve done a great job stoking the fears of socialism and communism in our community,” before emphasizing that “Enough is enough. We’re not gonna be manipulated.”
The caravan in Hialeah, a Republican bastion in the Miami area where more than half of the 240,000 residents are Cuban, has been outsized by much larger similar events by Trump supporters.
But while few expect Biden to win the Cuban vote in Florida, Democrats sense an opening to attract enough of them to make a difference in capturing the crucial swing state.
Hialeah has been among the worst hit in Florida by the coronavirus, and there have been scenes of long lines seeking unemployment benefits, as well as the nation's highest rates for enrollment in the Obamacare marketplace.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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