Joe Biden launches new national ad aimed at Black Americans

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign rolled out a new national ad on Thursday meant to generate support among Black voters.

The ad, titled “Better America,” works to energize one of Biden’s core blocs of support and ties the effort to unseat President Trump with the civil rights movement.

“Black people have always believed in the promise of a better America. So, at this moment we’re in now, we must choose to fight for that better America. And just like our ancestors who stood up to the violent racists of a generation ago, we will stand up to this president and say, ‘no more,’ ” says the ad’s narrator over video of protests during the civil rights era and pictures of former Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and the Rev. C.T. Vivian, two civil rights icons who died last month. 

“So we choose to be bigger. We choose to be bolder. We choose to bring back justice, respect and dignity to this country. We choose Joe Biden to lead us all towards that American promise together.”

The minutelong video is part of a $280 million advertising blitz announced Wednesday and will run in 15 states through the Nov. 3 election, a reflection of Biden’s beefed-up campaign account after months of strong fundraising following him clinching his party’s 2020 nomination.

The new ad is expected to be the first of a series of Biden ads directed at Black voters. 

“Our robust paid media strategy, which will include the largest general election investment in African American paid media by a presidential campaign, will allow us to disseminate Vice President Biden’s policy proposals and targeted initiatives that speak directly to Black communities across the United States,” a Biden campaign spokesperson told The Associated Press, which was the first to report on the ad.

Black voters make up one of the most significant blocs of support for the former vice president, who struggled early on in the primary season but surged after a victory in South Carolina fueled by African Americans. Biden has discussed the crises facing the Black community as national protests underscore systemic racism and police brutality and the coronavirus pandemic disproportionately impacts African Americans. 

Upcoming ads as part of the Biden campaign’s blitz are also expected to target potential Hispanic, Asian American and Pacific Islander voters.