#USAElections2020: How the Cuban-American vote helped Trump in Florida
Republican President Donald Trump is set to take the US state of Florida in the 2020 Presidential elections. With nearly all votes counted in the state, Trump has taken a lead with 51.2% of votes against Democratic rival Joe Biden. With 29 electoral votes, Florida is a key swing state to win the election. Here's how Trump's campaign pulled it off.
Huge boost for Trump in Florida's largest county
Reportedly, Trump got a huge boost in the Miami-Dade County of Florida. With 99% of precincts reporting, Biden took a shrunken 7% lead against Trump. In 2016, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton had won the county by a 30-point margin. Trump's gains (and Biden's losses) in Florida's largest county may have paved the way for Trump to likely win the state.
Trump leading in Florida
According to the Associated Press, with 96% of the votes counted, Trump had a lead in Florida with 51.2% of the votes at the time of writing. Meanwhile, Biden trailed with 47.9% of votes. However, the state has not officially been called yet.
What helped Trump close the gap?
Cubans make up over 25% of the electorate in Miami-Dade County, which has historically leaned more Republican compared to Latinos from other countries of origin. This year, Trump's campaign had focused on the Latino voters, who reportedly remain resentful after former Republican President John F. Kennedy withdrew his support for an operation against dictator Fidel Castro at Cuba's Bay of Pigs in the 1960s.
Trump led strong anti-Biden campaign targeting Latino voters
While Biden's campaign seemingly ignored early warning signs with Latinos in the area, Trump's campaign proceeded to paint him as a socialist, taking advantage of the Latinos' fear of failed socialist regimes. Trump's campaign also focused on Spanish-language ads which compared Biden to Latin-American caudillos like Castro, Hugo Chávez, and Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. Disinformation campaigns painting Biden as a pedophile were also run.
Campaign ads showed Biden as an extremist
One 30-second ad showed Biden and Democrats as extremists and flashed a 2015 photo of Biden with Maduro in Brazil, and a red flag bearing an image of communist Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara. The ad was notably narrated by a Cuban actress.
What are the national results so far?
Biden has won 223 of the 270 requisite electoral votes so far, while Trump has won 174. Trump has won Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wyoming, Indiana, and South Carolina. Biden has taken Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.
