Florida Democrats clash with Hispanic columnist on Biden event outreach in Miami

The Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida took aim at Miami Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago for her critique of the launch of a Hispanic outreach initiative for President Joe Biden‘s campaign.

Santiago wrote a column for the Miami Herald on Friday titled “Three gringos in Coral Gables launch Biden-Harris Latino campaign. (Sad trombone.)” which took aim at the Biden campaign using three white people — invoking the controversial term “gringo” in her column — to reach out to Hispanic and Latino voters for the November election.

In her column, Santiago belittles the Biden campaign for not using high-profile Hispanic allies of the president to announce the initiative and argues it showed Democrats are not as serious about flipping Florida as they are with other battleground states.

“It should be fertile ground for the opposition. Yet, the stars of the election, President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, are in other Hispanic-populated states like Arizona. Also missing are the party’s top surrogates and sufficient party campaign funds,” Santiago wrote.

The Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida said they were “highly disappointed” with the column and fought back at the assessment from Santiago.

We were highly disappointed to see the @MiamiHerald’s opinion column by @fabiolasantiago, where the 3/29/2024 article not only failed to recognize the presence of statewide Democratic leadership but also diminished the critical role of the Second Gentleman of the United States,… pic.twitter.com/zXPRTAlnjZ

— Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida (@Hispanic_Caucus) March 29, 2024

“The event was hosted by the Miami-Dade Hispanic caucus’ President @juancuba at the new @DHCFMiami Headquarters. Other leaders in attendance included the state President for the Hispanic Caucus @RolandoBarrero, Broward County President @LourdesDiaz, and FDP Vice Chair for the Hispanic Outreach Council Natascha Otero Santiago @NataschaOS, amongst many others,” the lengthy post on X said.

“The “3 gringos” were surrounded by many Hispanic leaders. If you would like to interview our Hispanic leadership to gain more insight into that event, our State Communications Director, Maca Iglesias @rotterdamvvg, would happily facilitate that for The Miami Herald,” the post continued.

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Florida Democrats have racked up several high-profile losses in the Sunshine State in recent years, after the state was considered a quintessential battleground for several years. In the last statewide elections, in 2022, Democrats lost up and down the ballot – losing the governor’s race by nearly 20%.

The last time a Democratic president won Florida was 2012, when then-President Barack Obama carried the state en route to winning a second term. While the Biden campaign has announced a leadership team to make a play for the state, the Cook Political Report has rated the state as “likely Republican.”