Pence rolls out 'Latinos for Trump,' slams Democrats ahead of debate

Posted By: Staff
June 26, 2019 @ 6:14 am
ABC Politics

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Joe Raedle/Getty Images(MIAMI) — Vice President Mike Pence helped roll out the Trump campaign’s first 2020 coalition in Miami on Tuesday, less than 10 miles away from where Democrats are set to take the stage for their first primary debate a day later.

During the around 45-minute speech kicking off the new effort aimed at turning out Latino voters, the vice president was clearly in campaign mode, often making the event feel like a mini Trump rally — “lock her up” and “build the wall” chants and all. The event took place at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport & Convention Center, with a few hundred people in attendance.

According to campaign aides, the “Latinos for Trump” roll out in Miami is part of the reelection campaign’s counter programming strategy ahead of the this week’s first Democratic debates with a goal of getting the vice president on the ground early in the Sunshine State to paint the Democrats as far-left radicals.

During his speech, Pence offered an early rebuttal to the 20 Democrats who will have two nights all to themselves starting Wednesday night, often pegging the entire group as radicals who want to bring socialism to the country, while shying away from naming or singling out any individual candidate by name.

“Democrats are going to gather here in Miami tomorrow night to begin to make their case to the American people. I mean they’re gonna take they’re going to take the stage,” Pence said.

“They’re actually going to take the stage and advocate more taxes, more regulation — something called Medicare for All,” Pence told the receptive crowd. “I think you all know what Medicare for All really means is quality health care for none. … Latino Americans know better than most about the cost of socialism.”

While Pence didn’t name any 2020 Democrat directly, taking a page out of the president’s reelection speech, he did make a passing reference to former Vice President Joe Biden’s reversal on the Hyde Amendment.

“It’s amazing to think we live in a time when Democrats running for president are out there advocating late term abortion and defending and now probably tomorrow night you’re gonna see there’s now seems to be even a litmus test in the democratic campaign for president, that the taxpayer funding of abortion I guess is now required for all of their candidates to be supported throughout pregnancy,” the vice president said, seemingly alluding to 2020 Democratic front-runner Biden’s recent reversal on the Hyde Amendment.