'The Power Is In Our Vote': Former President Barack Obama Holds 'Election Eve Close Out Rally' In Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Former President Barack Obama is spending Election Eve in South Florida, in an effort to get people in Miami-Dade County to vote for his former Vice President Joe Biden. Also in town, President Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump.
Barack Obama held an "Election Eve Close-Out Rally" on the campus of Florida International University in Miami where he took the stage around 5:45 p.m.
It's the former president's second time in Miami-Dade for a drive-in rally for the Biden/Harris ticket.
"We need to get out and vote south Florida," said Obama. "We have a chance to change the direction of this country on every issue that matters to us. The power is in our vote."
Obama also rallied for Biden in Georgia earlier in the day but in South Florida, it was about getting everyone out to vote.
"Tomorrow right here in south Florida you can deliver the change that we need. But it's going to take every single one of us."
Obama said Americans just had its worst week of new cases. We've been living with this thing for months now," and then called President Trump's late-night MAGA rally at Opa-Locka Executive Airport on Sunday night, part of "his COVID spreader tour."
"Joe cares about you and your safety and your security. Trump cares about feeding his ego," said Obama.
As the crowd booed when Obama mentioned that Trump may fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after the election, Obama said, "Don't boo, vote."
Obama is not only a high profile surrogate but also one of the main forces for attacking President Trump's handling of the pandemic, healthcare, and race relations.
"Black unemployment. He says he is the best president for Black folks since Abe Lincoln. Really? Don't boo. Vote," he said.
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Obama went on to tout Obamacare, and reminded everyone that Miami-Dade has the highest enrollment of any county in the country.
"If there was a Democrat who was behaving this way, I couldn't support him. If I saw a Democrat who was lying every single day. The fact checkers can't keep up. I would say, that's not the example I want, it's violating the values we try to live be. They're not white values. They're not Black values. They're not Latino values, they're American values."
After speaking for about 40 minutes, he told he crowd to "choose hope over fear and unity over division. If we vote like our lives depend on it, we will vote for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris."
Meantime, President Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump also made an appearance in Miami-Dade where the crowd chanted, "Four more years. Four more years. Four more years."
"Florida is a must-win state for the Trump campaign. Obviously, this is the president's home state. We won Florida in 2016. We were very proud of that win. We must win it this time. We would like to win by an even bigger margin of victory," said Lara Trump. "Not just to vote for Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, but Republicans all the way down the ticket, guys."
She also continued to push claims Biden is a socialist. It's something the former Vice President has denied to CBS 4 News in an exclusive interview.
"Joe Biden is a Trojan horse for socialism, for the Democrats to try and implement socialism in the United States of America," she said.
President Trump won Florida four years ago.
"You delivered for me twice. Now, I'm asking you to deliver for all of us and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the next president and vice president of the United States," the former president said.
Polls show the state is a toss-up with Trump slightly trailing his opponent.
In South Florida, the president has a strong showing of support from the Latino community.
President Obama, who has won Florida twice, hopes to fire up Democrats.
Obama last campaigned in South Florida for Biden at a drive-in rally in North Miami last Saturday.
Joining Barack Obama at Monday night's rally were singer Luis Fonsi, widely known for the song Despacito, and well-known DJ Irie.
The last-minute push underscores the importance of Florida's 29 electoral votes, the largest cache among the country's prized swing states.
By Monday, more than 8.9 million Floridians had already cast ballots, either by mail or in person, and the campaigns were making their final appeals to drive the rest of the state's 14.4 million registered voters to the polls Tuesday.
Early voting in Florida ended Sunday, and elections officials cautioned people who had planned to vote by mail to play it safe by hand-delivering their completed ballots to elections offices or deposit them in official drop boxes.
