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New Biden Ad Features Grandparents in The Villages, Focuses on Coronavirus Response

A new ad from the Biden campaign opens with an aerial view of The Villages.
A new ad from the Biden campaign opens with an aerial view of The Villages.

The Biden campaign has released an ad featuring a grandmother in The Villages who is critical of President Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus.

It appears aimed to win over white seniors who were key to Trump's victory in Florida last time.

The ad opens with an aerial view of the sprawling Central Florida retirement community, a Republican stronghold.

https://youtu.be/AcLt-VxGcFs

The retiree -- who gives her name as Donna -- says she and her husband feel trapped, unable to visit their grandkids for six months. She blames Trump for his "lack of action,” and she trusts Joe Biden to get the pandemic under control.

Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida, said Democrats see the coronavirus as Trump's big political liability.

"The Biden Campaign realizes," Jewett said, "that if they could get at least just some, just a small percentage, a couple percentage, of white seniors here in Florida to switch -- to say let's vote for Biden this time, let's vote for the Democrat rather than Trump -- in a close state like Florida that could make all the difference."

The Trump Campaign, meanwhile, announced TV ads in early voting states, including Flordia, attacking Biden as an empty vessel and a tool of the "radical left."

Joe Byrnes came to Central Florida Public Media from the Ocala Star-Banner and The Gainesville Sun, where he worked as a reporter and editor for several years. Joe graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans and turned to journalism after teaching. He enjoys freshwater fishing and family gatherings.