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Biden makes a pitch to Florida Hispanic voters

Democrat U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden made his pitch to Latino voters on Tuesday (September 15) saying President Donald Trump has let them down.

Biden pointed the finger at Trump's divisive immigration policies: "Whether it's in his heinous act of separating children from their families at our border or his repeated attacks on Dreamers, or his neglect of the people of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria or his repeated failure to make sure essential workers have the personal protective equipment they need. Donald Trump has done nothing but assault the dignity of Hispanic families over and over and over and over again."

It was Biden's first campaign visit of the year to Florida, a battleground state where 20% of the electorate are Hispanic.

But polls show Biden's support is lagging amongst Latinos and results show he's got a slight lead or is essentially tied with Trump in Florida.

And with less than 50 days to go before Election Day, Biden is fighting concerns among Florida Latinos amid a disinformation campaign painting the moderate nominee as a socialist.

Biden is also up against Trump's strength with conservative Cuban Americans, a Republican-leaning bloc the president has courted throughout his term.

Biden chose to visit Kissimee, a city just south of Orlando and the heart of the state's growing Puerto Rican community.

It's a sign of the campaign's focus on Puerto Rican voters, Biden rolled out an economic recovery plan for the island, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

"I'm not going to steal the money that is desperately needed to reconstruct the island in order to build a wall along the border that does nothing to keep Americans safe."

Trump has defended his handling of the recovery effort after the hurricane.

Biden also tackled the immigration debate head on.

The nominee has vowed to revoke many of the hardline immigration policies put in place by Trump's administration and focused on the need for broad health and economic strategies to recover from the global health crisis.