President Biden completed a two-day tour of Nevada and Arizona on Wednesday, courting voters from Western states crucial to his re-election bid, with a focus on Latinos, housing affordability, taxes and his 2024 predecessor and rival , former President Trump.

In a series of official White House events and political rallies, Biden blasted Trump for cutting taxes on the wealthy, widening the federal budget deficit and failing to implement plans that could help the nation.

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‘Remember when my predecessor kept talking about ‘Infrastructure Week’ for four years? Well, he didn’t build a damn thing,” Biden told supporters at a Las Vegas community center on Tuesday. “I proposed and signed into law the most significant investment in our nation’s infrastructure in generations, which would now mark an ‘Infrastructure Decade,’ 47,000 new projects to modernize America’s roads, bridges, ports, airports, public transportation… 3 $.4 billion in projects here in Nevada.”

Winning Arizona and Nevada in November, two states that Biden narrowly won in 2020, is crucial for Democrats’ reelection efforts. But according to Real Clear Politics, polls in both states show the incumbent president trailing Trump by more than five points in each state.

These states also figure prominently in some of the most critical issues in this year’s elections, such as border security, abortion rights and election denial.

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and concerns about declining support for the Democratic ticket among Latino voters, a crucial part of the coalition that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris must maintain to win reelection.

Highlighting policy successes that he said have boosted both states’ economies, Biden announced Wednesday that Intel has received up to $8.5 billion in grants and $11 billion in loans to boost semiconductor chip production in Chandler, Arizona. and in other states. across the country, an investment expected to create tens of thousands of jobs.

“There’s nothing America can’t do if we put our minds to it,” Biden told cheering supporters at a construction site in Chandler. “It will put us on track to produce 20% of the world’s most advanced chips right here in the United States by the end of this decade.”

Following Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this month, Harris immediately traveled to Phoenix and Las Vegas to promote their message, a reflection of Democrats’ need to strengthen their relationship with Latinos, which Democratic leaders in these states recognize.

We haven’t talked to people about the issues that President Biden has addressed and that’s what we’re committed to doing, Democratic Party of Arizona

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her wife Yolanda Bejarano told reporters after Biden spoke at a campaign event in Phoenix on Tuesday.

Among the Biden administration’s accomplishments that should be highlighted are creating jobs, capping insulin prices and protecting rights, Bejarano said. She added that while Trump can be entertaining, Arizona will be a battle in November and Democrats should emphasize what will happen if he is elected to another term.

People like [to] laughing at his meetings, you know, it’s like going to a circus. They listen to him and joke about very, very serious things, she said. We just have to be very focused and make sure that Latinos understand exactly who Donald Trump is and the danger he poses to us.

Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez identified the Western battlegrounds as one of three parts of the country on which the president’s reelection bid will hinge, in a campaign memo released Tuesday.

The campaign will have more than 40 staff on the ground in the two states by the end of March, she wrote.

“We are investing early to reach these voters and highlighting the Biden-Harris administration’s work to lower costs, create good-paying jobs and keep their families safe, rather than treating them as grassroots voters left at the last minute. need to be involved at this moment,” said Chavez Rodriguez. wrote.

On Tuesday, Biden’s campaign announced a new ad aimed at Latino voters, appearing in English, Spanglish and Spanish, as well as the launch of Latinos

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Biden-Harris, an effort to mobilize Latino voters in the 2024 elections.

“You are the reason why, in large part, I defeated Donald Trump,” Biden told supporters Tuesday night at El Portal, a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix, who shouted, “Viva Biden.” “I really need you.”

Republicans felt the effort was too little, too late.

Democrats have taken the Hispanic community for granted for far too long, and no amount of money the Biden campaign spends will change the fact that Biden and Harris have been a disaster for our community, from the failing economy to the border crisis and the uncontrollable increase in population. of crime in our neighborhoods, Jaime Florez, director of Spanish-language outreach and communications for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement.

Republicans will continue to welcome with open arms thousands of Hispanics who are switching to our party, disappointed in Democrats and their policies, and will be fundamental to Republican victories across the country in 2024.”

he said.

The Biden campaign also focused on union jobs created since the pandemic wiped out employment, a particularly salient point in Nevada.

The state’s tourism industry was decimated by the 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns and has yet to fully recover. Historically, labor has been a huge booster of Democrats in the state, and of more than one in 10 workers

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were unionized in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Supporters repeatedly called Biden the most pro-union president in history.

One of the policy proposals put forward by Biden and his campaign during the trip was a $10,000 tax credit for a first home.

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buyers, build and renovate more than

two 2

million homes, expanding the child tax credit and raising taxes on the wealthy.

Biden also twice touted a high-speed rail project that will connect Las Vegas to Southern California, funded by billions of federal dollars.

Guess? he told supporters at the campaign event in Reno. “It’s coming.”