The Democratic National Committee plans to target the former president Donald Trump with billboards and posters in Philadelphia this weekend, including around and possibly in the arena where he will gather supporters.
Kiosks on the Temple University campus in north Philadelphia will get a boost President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who highlighted positive messages about their efforts to cancel federal student debt.
The posters promote a “historic increase in funding for higher education, including Pell Grants for current students” and claim that Biden has “provided flat-rate public service loan forgiveness, including for teachers, nurses and firefighters.”
The kiosks will be located in buildings around the Temple campus and possibly in the Liacouras Center, where Trump will speak.
Just off campus, the DNC plans to attack Trump’s record with black voters, calling him “a disaster for black Americans.”
A billboard near campus reads, “If Trump Wins, Black Families Lose,” and claims he plans to “sabotage Obamacare, [pass] tax breaks for the wealthy, and cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.”
The billboard also claims that Trump was “a disaster for Black Americans” and “left.” [office] with almost 10% black unemployment, sabotaged Obamacare, tax breaks for the rich [and] puts our communities last.”
A mobile billboard that will circle the campus will feature a short video with clips of political analysts accusing Trump of fueling high levels of unemployment in black communities.
In recent months, Trump has increasingly sought to curry favor with black voters, especially young black voters, as public polls show a small but growing number of young black men plan to vote for Trump.
Last week, Trump appeared in Detroit along with a handful of elected black GOP officials and activists to launch a black voter coalition group. With him on stage was Casada Sorrell, the rapper known as Sada Baby, one of several rappers the Trump campaign hopes will boost his momentum among young communities of color.
Democrats took aim at Trump as he spoke in Michigan. There he stood on a billboard next to two of his old allies, Steve Bannon and Roger Stone, and called them all “thugs.”
“Trump and his fellow crooks are in Detroit asking for your vote, but it’s just a scam. They don’t care about you. They are just out for themselves,” the billboard read.
Biden won Pennsylvania in 2020 by a narrow margin, and the state is a crucial part of both candidates’ path to victory this year.
Last month, Biden, Harris, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and members of the Congressional Black Caucus campaigned across Philadelphia, kicking off the Democrats’ own black voter coalition group — “Black Voters for Biden-Harris.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
