As the November 5 election draws near, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both focusing their campaigns on the pivotal state of Michigan this Friday.
Harris is set to kick off her day in Grand Rapids, followed by events in Lansing and Oakland County, which is situated northwest of Detroit.
Meanwhile, Trump plans to hold his own event in Oakland County during the afternoon, culminating the day with a rally in Detroit.
During a recent speech at the annual Al Smith charity dinner in New York, Trump took aim at Harris and other Democratic leaders, delivering a scathing and at times contentious address. Harris participated in the event through a virtual connection.
In related news, singer Marc Anthony has released a new television advertisement supporting Harris, criticizing Trump for his actions regarding disaster relief for Puerto Rico following the devastation of a hurricane in 2017.
The ad, which was launched on Friday and targets Latino voters, features harrowing visuals of Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria and includes footage of Trump tossing rolls of paper towels into a crowd during a visit to a church on the island after the disaster—an action that many found offensive and dismissive.
Anthony, who has Puerto Rican heritage, expressed in the ad, “Even though some have forgotten, I remember what it was like when Trump was president. I remember what he did and he said about Puerto Rico, our people.”
Throughout his tenure, Trump was embroiled in a public dispute with San Juan’s mayor because of her harsh critique of his administration’s handling of the hurricane’s aftermath, which resulted in approximately 3,000 lives lost and the withholding of billions in disaster aid that had been approved by Congress.
Ultimately, he agreed to release $13 billion in relief just weeks before the 2020 election, while claiming, at that moment, that he was the “best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico.”
The Harris campaign announced that this new advertisement will air on popular Spanish-language networks Telemundo and WAPA America during this Sunday’s broadcast of the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards, as well as in Pennsylvania on Telemundo and Univision.
Historically, Latino voters lean towards the Democratic Party; however, Republicans have made some progress in appealing to this demographic in recent years.
Although residents of Puerto Rico, which has a population exceeding 3 million, are unable to vote in general elections, there are more individuals of Puerto Rican descent residing on the mainland U.S. than on the island itself; this population could significantly influence the outcome of the elections on November 5.