Largest Democratic PAC portrays Trump as strongman in bilingual Florida ad

The country’s largest Democratic PAC is doubling down on its portrayal of President Trump as a Latin American strongman while casting presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as a gentleman in a new ad targeting Florida Hispanics.

Priorities USA is unveiling its new ad campaign Tuesday, with a spot published in English and Spanish titled “caballero,” the Spanish word for “gentleman.”

The new ad builds on the group’s portrayal of Trump as a “caudillo,” or strongman, which debuted in a campaign in June.

“Our families didn’t come to America to trade one caudillo for another,” says a voiceover at the open of the English language ad, over images of Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

The ad then cuts to clips of Trump saying things like, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody,” from a 2016 speech and “When somebody is president of the United States, the authority is total,” from a White House briefing in April.

The montage harkens back to the June ad, when Priorities USA used the same device to portray Trump as a caudillo.

“We don’t need a caudillo, we need a caballero like Joe Biden,” interrupts the narrator in the new ad.

It then cuts to a montage of Biden sound clips overlaid over images of him shaking hands with constituents, and celebrating with former President Obama as the former vice president delivers a line on health care.

The montage ends with Biden saying, “I will not abandon you,” picked from a June speech on health care in Lancaster, Pa.

The narrator then closes the ad with, “We need leadership. We need Biden.”

Like the previous Priorities USA ad, the focus on caudillos is based on a Latino Decisions survey that showed a majority of Hispanic voters in Florida disagree with Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Trump’s erratic leadership and his tantrums are endangering our lives and our economy, ” said Daniela Martins, Priorities USA Action national press secretary and Hispanic media director.

“Latinos have had enough. We’re ready for steady and trustworthy leadership to steer us through these trying times, and that leader is Joe Biden, a true caballero,” Martins added.

Ken Farnaso, deputy national press secretary for the Trump campaign, pushed back against the ad’s main premise.

“In the words of former Obama Administration Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joe Biden ‘has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,’” wrote Farnaso in an email to The Hill.

“Hispanic Americans can see through Biden’s smokescreen and know that he is running on an extreme socialist platform the likes of which have failed counties like Cuba and Venezuela. President Trump has undoubtedly delivered on his promises for the Hispanic community with lower taxes, safer communities, and the recent announcement of the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative. While Biden is focused on winning over American socialists, appeasing Latin American dictators, and taking the Latino vote for granted, President Trump will continue to build on his record of success,” added Farnaso.

According to a press release, Priorities USA has spent nearly $2 million a week advertising in battleground states, part of a $200 million commitment through the 2020 election cycle.

–This report was updated on July 15 at 10:40 a.m.