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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s campaign is drawing up a new play to reach Latino voters in key battleground states during the Copa América soccer tournament, which starts in the U.S. on Thursday.
The campaign is aiming to reach the millions of viewers expected to tune in through a seven-figure ad blitz and organizing effort, a Biden campaign official said.
The re-election team hopes that — with international sensations like Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior starring in the tournament — it can score with a diverse and hyperengaged audience that may not be that dialed into politics or the 2024 race, the official said.
A 30-second spot — titled “Gooaalll!” — will air in swing states that are hosting matches over the next month, like Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, according to the campaign. The ads will run in both English and Spanish, the campaign said.
“Four years ago, we were shut down. Stadiums were empty. Trump failed us,” the narrator says, showing huge sporting arenas with vacant rows in a jab at former President Donald Trump’s leadership during the Covid pandemic.
“But then Joe Biden took over. He reopened the country and got us back on track,” the ad goes on to say, touting job creation during the Biden administration and highlighting efforts to try to make communities safer from gun violence.
“Trump talks and talks. Joe Biden gets s— done,” it ends, with a superimposed red card over Trump’s face and the expletive bleeped out. The commercial is set to air on radio and digital platforms in battlegrounds, as well.
“Our campaign knows the power of showing up to earn the Latino vote, and today’s historic announcement to organize and mobilize around Copa América is a perfect example of doing that important work,” said Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.
She added, “Throughout the next few weeks, we will harness the energy of Copa to mobilize and reach the Latino voters who will decide this election in their communities, on the airwaves, and at Copa matches — all with a simple message: President Biden has had our back for his whole career and is fighting for our community every single day, while Donald Trump has spent every chance he gets fighting for himself, while attacking and failing our community.”
The Biden campaign has poured millions of dollars into various ad campaigns in recent months, most recently announcing a $50 million investment highlighting Trump’s recent felony conviction. But the race remains very close, including among Latino voters.
An NBC News poll in January found that the two candidates were virtually tied among Latinos (Trump 42%, Biden 41%), but Biden’s approval rating among Latinos had slipped compared to 2020. Biden fared better in a poll from Pew Research in April, in which Biden won 52% of Latino supporters to Trump’s 44%.
Throughout the Copa América tournament, it will try to take advantage of high-visibility moments around the dozens of games to stand up digital billboards and run ads at bus stops, the official added.
The campaign will also begin selling campaign swag in the style of classic soccer jerseys.
The re-election effort will also host watch parties with top surrogates at various campaign offices in battleground states to recruit volunteers. In a first-of-its kind plan, the campaign will also sponsor organizing events at sports bars and restaurants showing the games, starting in Nevada and Arizona.
The campaign will also offer bilingual toolkits for voters and organizers to host watch parties at home, complete with “half-time” and “cervecita break” conversation guides, “to engage their guests around how President Biden is delivering for Latino families compared to Trump’s anti-Latino agenda,” the campaign said Thursday.
Copa América is scheduled every four years, but it rarely takes place outside South America. Television viewership in the U.S. could exceed 100 million people, which was the number reached in 2016 when it was last hosted in U.S. stadiums and when it aired on Fox and Univision. The final is likely to be the most-watched Spanish-language TV program of the year ahead of the November election, experts estimate.
The U.S. men’s national team plays its first game Sunday, against Bolivia. Its next match in the group stage is against Panama on June 27, just hours before the first general election debate, both in Atlanta. The Biden campaign plans to organize watch parties around the occasion, hoping people will view both events.
Monica Alba is a White House correspondent for NBC News.
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