{"id":14206,"date":"2024-04-04T17:32:10","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T17:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=14206"},"modified":"2024-04-09T14:59:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T14:59:05","slug":"abortion-vs-immigration-fuels-heated-biden-trump-rematch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=14206","title":{"rendered":"Abortion vs. immigration fuels heated Biden-Trump rematch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Hannah Knowles<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Donald Trump planned his campaign schedule this week to spotlight what he calls \u201cBiden\u2019s border bloodbath\u201d \u2014 which he recently labeled \u201cthe biggest\u201d issue of the election, even more pressing than the economy. When a reporter shouted a question about abortion at Trump\u2019s event here, the audience drowned it out with boos and yelled \u201cfake news!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But abortion was top of mind for President Biden\u2019s campaign and its allies, with a six-week ban newly cleared to take effect<\/a> in Florida. In a new ad, Biden blitzed battleground states with footage of Trump declaring he was \u201cproud\u201d to have helped overturn Roe v. Wade. <\/em>In a news conference, Democratic leaders in states with bans said Trump was to blame. Scores of other Democrats added their voice in cable news interviews, social media posts and statements putting it at the heart of their election year case to the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI absolutely think reproductive freedom is still front and center,\u201d said Rep. Hillary J. Scholten (D), who represents Grand Rapids and flipped her battleground seat in 2022 amid backlash to a statewide abortion ban eventually overridden by popular vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats and Republicans are battling over the basic terrain that 2024 will be fought on and trying to push their strongest issue to the forefront. Trump is capitalizing on dismal approval ratings for Biden\u2019s handling of the southern border, while Democrats are hammering the issue Trump hardly talks about \u2014 hoping to re-create their success in so many elections since a trio of Trump-appointed justices on the Supreme Court helped overturn Roe<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many voters have said they are focused on other topics, such as inflation, Biden\u2019s age, Trump\u2019s criminal cases and the war in the Middle East. But each side is betting that immigration and abortion \u2014 which have sparked impassioned, personal debates like few other issues in recent years \u2014 will be especially galvanizing for their supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immigration has risen in importance for voters in recent months and now ranks as the top issue affecting Americans\u2019 choice for president, according to some public opinion polls. Illegal border crossings have soared <\/a>since Biden took office, and Trump\u2019s campaign has been eager to trumpet the administration\u2019s struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presumptive Republican nominee fills his rallies with apocalyptic warnings of an \u201cinvasion\u201d; descriptions of some migrants as \u201canimals\u201d who are \u201cpoisoning the blood\u201d of the country; promises to carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history; and detailed accounts of killings attributed to undocumented immigrants \u2014 which Democrats like Scholten acknowledge are playing into broad voter concerns, even as they accuse Trump of demonizing migrants at large and exploiting tragic cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you see someone who is killed in our community and you recognize that there was a person here who did that who shouldn\u2019t have been here, you\u2019re right to question our system of keeping Americans safe,\u201d Scholten said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The battle played out on the sidewalk outside Trump\u2019s event in Grand Rapids. Across the street from the convention center where Trump spoke, 60-year-old Susan Linker protested with a homemade black-and-orange sign \u2014 \u201cTrump for Prison\u201d \u2014 and immediately said \u201cwomen\u2019s reproductive rights\u201d when asked what issues are most important this election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Napier, an 80-year-old Trump supporter, walked up as Linker gave a reporter her phone number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you know how many women are raped at the border?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you know how many women in America are raped by American men?\u201d Linker retorted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Napier accused Biden of \u201cdoing nothing\u201d about the border and soon walked off in disgust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou women are dumb as posts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview later, Napier said he generally opposes abortion bans: \u201cIt\u2019s not my body.\u201d State-level referendums affirming abortion rights have passed even in red-leaning states, underscoring that plenty of Republicans have concerns about post-Roe<\/em> restrictions that elected officials in their party enacted. But Napier, like many Trump backers, is more concerned about the border and the economy than abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats are trying to blunt Trump\u2019s advantage on immigration by attacking his role in tanking a bipartisan border security deal \u2014 which led even some Republicans to argue that Trump is more interested in campaigning on the problems at the border than passing a solution. Some have also criticized the dehumanizing language he uses to describe some undocumented immigrants \u2014 \u201cI don\u2019t know if you call them people,\u201d he said<\/a> last month while discussing those accused of crimes \u2014 and the hard-line policies he and his allies are talking about implementing in a second term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Biden\u2019s success in November could hinge on his ability to elevate another subject where public opinion is on Democrats\u2019 side: abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abortion consistently boosted Democrats in midterm races and subsequent special elections and could help turn out a coalition that, right now, is hobbled by low enthusiasm. Democrats argued that the issue has risen on voters\u2019 radars after a nationally watched court ruling<\/a> in Alabama that threatened to shut down in vitro fertilization in the state by holding that frozen embryos are people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Trump sidestepped a Tuesday question about Florida\u2019s abortion ban \u2014 \u201cWe will be making a statement next week on abortion,\u201d Trump said \u2014 Biden responded on his main X account, noting Trump\u2019s past boasts that \u201cwithout me, there would be no 6 weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou already made your statement, Donald,\u201d Biden wrote.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans are hoping that immigration will not just rally their base but also net them swing voters. GOP strategist John Yob this week predicted in a memo that a recent Grand Rapids homicide, which authorities attribute to an undocumented immigrant, will help turn \u201csoccer moms\u201d into \u201csecurity moms.\u201d Trump designed his border event \u2014 in a swing county in hotly contested Michigan \u2014 to train national attention on the killing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials say the accused, Brandon Ortiz-Vite, had been arrested previously and was deported in 2020, during Trump\u2019s presidency. He returned to the United States illegally, they say, and fatally shot his girlfriend, 25-year-old Ruby Garcia, last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe suburban housewives actually like Donald Trump. You know why? Because I\u2019m the one that\u2019s going to keep them safe,\u201d Trump said in Grand Rapids with members of law enforcement lined up behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Trump\u2019s efforts to spotlight the Garcia case backfired when the victim\u2019s sister denied to The Washington Post and other news outlets Trump\u2019s claim that he spoke with the Garcia family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sister, Mavi Garcia, also criticized Trump\u2019s framing. \u201cNobody really speaks about when Americans do heinous crimes, and it\u2019s kind of shocking why he would just bring up illegals,\u201d she told <\/a>the local news station Target 8. \u201cWhat about Americans who do heinous crimes like that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats\u2019 case against Trump encompasses far more than abortion. They are talking up Biden\u2019s economic record and amplifying a wide range of Trump policies and rhetoric that have made him a singularly galvanizing opponent for Democrats since he pulled off an upset against Hillary Clinton in 2016. Biden himself rarely says t<\/a>he word \u201cabortion,\u201d which has disappointed some activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Biden\u2019s campaign and its allies spent much of their energy this week on abortion amid the news of the ban in Florida, where about 1 in 12 <\/a>abortions in the country take place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s campaign released a statement from adviser Brian Hughes that shied away from taking credit for the ban, underscoring its political risks. \u201cPresident Trump supports preserving life but has also made clear that he supports states\u2019 rights because he supports the voters\u2019 right to make decisions for themselves,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump and Biden are not just fighting each other over the focus of the election. They are also facing voters who, in many cases, see the presidential race as a disappointing choice between two unpopular men rather than a high-stakes policy battle. In interviews at grocery stories and shopping centers, voters in the Grand Rapids area hesitated over Trump\u2019s criminal charges, Biden\u2019s age and a broad disillusionment with politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m just upset that it\u2019s between one geriatric man and another geriatric man,\u201d said Anna Kelly, 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some voters who would usually vote easily for Democrats were upset by the Biden administration\u2019s handling of the Israel-Gaza war, which has drawn particular blowback in Michigan due to its significant Arab American population. Lavora Barnes, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, acknowledged the dismay in Democrats\u2019 traditional coalition. \u201cI know the president\u2019s listening,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u201cin the end, these folks are Democrats,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cThese folks understand the issue in front of them and the very simple binary choice they have between Donald Trump and Joe Biden in November.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Hannah Knowles Donald Trump planned his campaign schedule this week to spotlight what he calls “Biden’s border bloodbath” — which he recently labeled “the biggest” issue of the election, even more pressing than the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,73],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-slider","8":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14206"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14211,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14206\/revisions\/14211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}