Impact2020: July 22, 2020
Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Impact2020 briefing where the battles over mask wearing, Goya beans and convention safety continue 104 days before the general election. Plus, who’s denying shouting about “throwing urine” at the Capitol steps (really).
If someone forwarded this email to you, please consider signing up here for our daily roundup of 2020 election news from McClatchy and other local journalists.
On the Ground
Anti-Biden ad blends beans with anti-socialism
President Donald Trump’s campaign has released a Spanish-language TV ad in Miami that “blends the political controversy enveloping Goya Foods with imagery and soundbites that cast … Joe Biden as an ‘extreme’ socialist akin to Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro,” David Smiley and Mario J. Pentón report for the Miami Herald.
Well-known Cuban actress Susana Pérez narrates the ad, which begins running today, that “seeks to capitalize on calls this month from the left to boycott Goya Foods after CEO Robert Unanue said … that the U.S. is ‘blessed’ to have Trump as president.”
“We sacrificed a lot to be free and respected, and now, the left has launched an act of repudiation against Goya, the brand we love, just because Goya is working with President Trump,” Pérez says in the ad. “The Democrats and Joe Biden are too extreme. Socialism. Cutting police funding. Getting rid of charter schools. And Joe Biden is too weak to defend us.”
The ad comes as Trump and his allies have been publicly supporting Goya in response to the called-for boycott. Smiley and Pentón also note that the Hispanic outreach arm of the Trump campaign is hosting Goya food drives.
Credit: Evan Vucci, AP
Goya is popular in Miami, “where Hispanic voters are a key demographic for Trump’s campaign” in the must-win state of Florida, Smiley and Pentón note.
Biden’s campaign also announced plans to spend $15 million in television over the next week, including new Spanish-language ads “featuring different narrators native to the markets in which the commercials run.”
Seeing eye to eye
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said that he agrees with Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams that the existing security plan and resources for the Republican National Convention are inadequate, Smiley also reports for the Herald. Curry said he would not be comfortable hosting the event next month unless that changes.
Curry, the Republican co-chairman of the convention host committee, said they continue to plan for the Aug. 24 - Aug. 27 event but “those efforts must address concerns” raised by Williams.
The RNC moved most of its events to Florida from North Carolina in hopes Trump would be able to accept the party’s presidential nomination in a filled venue, but the surge in coronavirus cases in Florida forced it to downsize its plans.
The “constant evolving of the venues” complicated the city’s ability to create a security plan, and “made it more difficult to bring in hundreds of outside law enforcement officers to help police the city,” Smiley writes.
‘No problem’ wearing a mask
During his first press briefing devoted to the coronavirus pandemic in months, Trump defended his late endorsement wearing masks in public, McClatchy’s Michael Wilner reports.
Trump said that infectious disease experts were late to support the idea themselves. “Now, we have experts who have said in the recent past that masks aren’t necessarily good to wear,” he said. “You know that. But now they’ve changed their mind. If they change their mind, that’s good enough for me, so I wear it when appropriate.”
Wilner notes that “top experts on the White House coronavirus task force, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, … asked Americans to refrain from buying masks at the outset of the pandemic when there was a national shortage of the personal protective equipment needed for frontline workers.”
But now, “scientists are increasingly confident that spread of the respiratory illness is inhibited by face coverings.”
Meanwhile, Biden’s campaign released a teaser for an upcoming “socially distanced conversation” with former President Barack Obama. McClatchy’s Summer Lin reports that they talk “about Biden’s bid for president, as well as … Trump’s time in office and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.”
The full video will be available on Thursday.
Trail Mix
Battleground state watch
The current and former attorneys general of Wisconsin are leading a campaign to expand absentee voting and to make it safer to vote in person, Molly Beck reports for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Trump’s desire to keep immigrants residing in the U.S. illegally from being included in the Census count used to determine House seats could hurt Florida, Alex Daugherty reports for the Miami Herald.
The Charlotte Observer’s Rick Bonnell reports that the Bank of America Stadium and Spectrum Center, which are the homes to the city’s NFL and NBA teams, will serve as early-voting poll sites this fall.
Battle for Congress
Retiring Sen. Pat Roberts endorsed Roger Marshall in the Kansas GOP primary for his Senate seat after initially saying he’d remain neutral in the race, Bryan Lowry scoops for the Kansas City Star.
Lowry also has a story for the Star to help you sort out the differences between the 11 Kansas Republican Senate candidates on the Aug. 4 ballot.
Texas GOP Rep. Roger Williams denied yelling at New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about “throwing urine” as she was arguing with Florida GOP Rep. Ted Yoho, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Anna M. Tinsley reports.
Yoho took the House floor on Wednesday, denying calling Ocasio-Cortez a vulgar name, reports McClatchy’s Summer Lin.
The Miami Herald’s Erin Doherty and Alex Daugherty report that Republican Carlos Giménez filed bank records in an effort to put to rest a legal dispute over the check — with a misspelled name — that he submitted to qualify for the ballot in Florida’s 26th congressional district.
Veepstakes
North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Cal Cunningham said he told the Biden team he wants a woman of color on the Democratic ticket, Brian Murphy reports for the Raleigh News & Observer.
Number of the Day
65%
That’s how many Americans who said the option to vote early or absentee should be available to any voter without requiring a documented reason, according to a new Pew Research poll.
For Planning Purposes
July 22
President Donald Trump delivers remarks on “Operation Legend: Combating Violent Crime in American Cities”
Joe Biden participates in an SEIU “walk-a-day” and virtual roundtable
Vice President Mike Pence meets with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem
July 23
Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth participates in Biden campaign roundtable in Michigan
California Sen. Kamala Harris holds a Biden campaign roundtable in North Carolina
A new episode of Beyond the Bubble podcast is released. Download: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts
July 24
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar participates in virtual Biden campaign roundtable
Jill Biden holds virtual event in Texas
Pence visits Indianapolis, Indiana
July 31
Trump holds a fundraiser in Tampa
August 1
Trump holds a fundraiser in Miami
August 4
Primaries in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington
“You’re taking the stand on the wrong side”
Credit: Eddy Binford-Ross/Clypian via Storyful
Federal officers showed up after protesters argued over whether lighting a federal courthouse on fire in Portland, Oregon was productive or not.
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 11:56 AM.