KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) 鈥 Joe Biden vowed in 2020 to work 鈥渓ike the devil鈥 to energize Hispanic voters, and flew to Florida seven weeks before Election Day to do just that. But, as he stepped to the podium at a Hispanic Heritage Month event near Disney World, Biden declared, 鈥淚 just have one thing to say鈥 and used his phone to play part of 鈥淒espacito.鈥
It was meant to salute the singer of the reggaeton hit, Luis Fonsi, who had introduced Biden. Still, the gesture triggered online backlash from some Hispanics who saw it as playing to belittling stereotypes 鈥 proof that while outreach is important, failing to strike the right tone can undermine it.
鈥淭he details actually matter for people because it鈥檚 respecting their background, respecting their history, respecting their culture,鈥 said Grecia Lima, national political director of the progressive activist group Community Change Action.
President Biden isn't the first politician to strike a sour note trying to connect across cultural lines. But the blowback he encountered illustrates a bigger challenge he faces while seeking a second term.
Hispanic voters, long a core constituency for Democrats, have reliably supported them based on substantive matters of policy, from health care to managing the economy, according to Pew Research Center surveys. But recent signs that Republicans have made inroads with those voters is adding to the sense that Democrats must work to maintain their advantage.
Democratic candidates won 57% of Hispanic voters during last year鈥檚 midterms, a smaller percentage than the 63% of Hispanic voters Biden won in 2020 and the 66% of Hispanic voters supporting the party in 2018, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of the national electorate.
Meanwhile, 39% of Hispanic voters backed Republicans last year, a tick up from the 35% who supported former President Donald Trump鈥檚 reelection bid.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican considering a White House run, said Democrats have hurt themselves by adopting terms like Latinx, a gender-neutral alternative to 鈥淟atino鈥 and 鈥淟atina.鈥
鈥淭hey鈥檝e created a tremendous opportunity for Republicans,鈥 Suarez said.
Democrats believed harsh rhetoric from Republicans during and after the presidency of Trump 鈥 who in his campaign launch in 2015 declared immigrants from Mexico to be rapists and criminals 鈥 would give them a boost. Instead, even modest swings toward the GOP could mean millions more Republican votes next year. Hispanics made up 62% of total growth in the nation鈥檚 eligible voters , according to Pew.
鈥淎re they behind?鈥 asked Javier Palomarez CEO of the United States Hispanic Business Council. 鈥淵es.鈥
Democratic strategist Maria Cardona said nearly every cycle features 鈥渁ctivists with their hair on fire: 鈥楾he campaign鈥檚 not doing enough, we鈥檙e not hearing from enough people.鈥樷 She said Biden鈥檚 campaign is neutralizing those perceptions with 鈥渉istoric strides and investments鈥 in Hispanic voter mobilization.
Biden supporters also say substantive issues, rather than incidents like playing 鈥淒espacito,鈥 are what resonates with Hispanic voters.
鈥淧resident Biden has spent his first two years in office focusing on the issues facing many Latino families 鈥 lowering health care costs, creating good-paying jobs, getting our small businesses and schools reopened, and fighting gun violence in our communities,鈥 Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for Biden鈥檚 reelection campaign, said in a statement.
Still, 鈥淒espacito鈥 wasn鈥檛 the Biden camp鈥檚 only misstep.
First lady Jill Biden flubbed pronouncing the 鈥淪i Se Puede,鈥 during a speech in California last spring. Then, in Texas last summer, she said the Hispanic community was as 鈥渦nique as breakfast tacos here in San Antonio," prompting another backlash and an apology from the first lady鈥檚 office.
Matt Barreto, who does polling for the White House and the Democratic 好色tv Committee, said Hispanic outreach programs have intensified.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been learning our lessons, and constantly improving,鈥 he said.
Democrats were hindered in 2020 by the pandemic limiting on-the-ground organizing. But those efforts resumed in 2022, when Democrats nonetheless lost key House races in some heavily Hispanic areas.
The shift toward Republicans was particularly , where over half of Hispanic voters backed Republican Gov. , now a candidate for president.
In Florida鈥檚 Broward County, still a Democratic stronghold, Richard Ramunno, a 31-year-old business owner of Argentine and Chilean background, remembered Biden鈥檚 鈥淒espacito鈥 episode but laughed it off. He said he worries more about policy decisions Republicans are making at the state level, including the Parental Rights in Education law signed by DeSantis, which makes it easier to challenge a book over its content.
鈥淭he laws they are passing are very conservative right now,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ooks are being removed from schools.鈥
Melissa Morales, founder of Somos PAC, which supported last year's reelection of Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, the first Latina elected to the Senate, said the midterms showed the importance of economic policies like affordable housing and healthcare 鈥 not GOP-led culture war issues.
鈥淭he thing that really emerged for us in 2022 was that Latinos were so solutions-oriented,鈥 Morales said.
Lima, of Community Change Action, said the economy is a top motivator for Hispanic voters, and that Biden can point to a major public works package and increased federal spending on health care, social services and green energy.
But she called those 鈥渄own payments鈥 and said Hispanic voters will expect Democrats 鈥渢o make good鈥 on policies that help the economy work better for them.
Many activists who have criticized Biden and Democrats praised the president for selecting , granddaughter of civil rights icon Julio Cesar Chavez, to .
In a , which the Biden campaign produced in English and Spanish, Rodriguez promised to 鈥渆ngage early and often鈥 with Hispanic voters. The DNC also plans to build on Adelante, or 鈥淔orward,鈥 a seven-figure outreach plan that featured bilingual radio and print in nine battleground states last year.
The DNC also is planning to resume 鈥渂oot camps鈥 to train bilingual campaign staff in key states.
"I believe that now the Democratic Party is in a position where, when I go and tell people, 鈥業 want you to do more,鈥 I have willing partners,鈥 Barreto said.
___
Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report from Washington.
