Former Sanders aides premier pro-Biden ad aimed at Hispanic voters in swing states

Two super PACs run by aides to Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) former presidential campaign launched a pro-Biden ad targeting Hispanic voters in key swing states Thursday.

The ad, which is being released both in English and Spanish, focuses on President Trump’s response to the coronavirus and treatment of the Latino community during his time in office. Part of a seven-figure TV and digital buy, the minute-long clip will be featured in Arizona, Michigan and North Carolina, three states Trump won in 2016 that Democrats are keen on flipping this year. 

“Since the day he announced for president, Donald Trump has been at war with the Latino community, calling us rapists and criminals, attacking Dreamers, separating mothers from their children,” a narrator says. “Trump’s allowed the coronavirus to spread, devastating our community, where we’re dying at a higher rate than other Americans.”

Nuestro PAC, which was founded by ex-Sanders senior adviser Chuck Rocha, and America’s Progressive Promise, launched by top Sanders aide Jeff Weaver, teamed up to produce the ad. The clip is part of the two groups’ efforts to win over Sanders backers, chiefly Hispanics, young people and progressives, who may be skeptical of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s more centrist brand of politics. 

The ad praises the former vice president, saying he will “unite our country and lead us out of this crisis” and noting his experience during the Obama administration of “[putting] the economy back on track.” It also highlights Biden’s support for pay equity for women and Sanders’s endorsement of him. 

“On Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, we set the example of how to do Latino outreach,” Rocha said in a press release accompanying the ad. “We’re starting early, investing in the community and doing so in a culturally competent way by speaking to Latinos where they are and on issues they care about.”

The ad, which is the first of nearly a dozen spots the two groups intend to run, comes as Biden opens up double-digit leads in national polls and substantial leads in key swing states. But while Biden still holds a double-digit lead among Hispanics, some surveys have shown him underperforming former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s showing with that voting bloc in 2016.

“The polls look good for Biden now and we hope they stay that way, but we know from 2016 that things can go bad fast,” said Weaver. “So we have our foot on the gas to ensure victory in November. This campaign to reach Latino voters is central to achieving that goal. Now is not the time for complacency.”