Biden Misses 'Our Moment' at UnidosUS Conference

LAS VEGAS — You could tell something was up by the look on UnidosUS president Janet Murguía's face as she approached the podium. The crowd had been waiting nearly 50 minutes to hear from President Joe Biden, who was slated to speak during Wednesday’s “Nuestro Momento” luncheon at this year's UnidosUS conference.

“Good afternoon," Murguía smiled. "Thank you all so much for your patience and understanding. Regrettably...”

Groans rose from the audience.

“I was just on the phone with President Biden, and he shared his deep disappointment at not being able to join us this afternoon.”

“Awww,” went the crowd.

“The president has been at many events, as we all know, and, he just tested positive for COVID,” Murguía said, leading to more sounds of disappointment from the audience.

Biden's scheduled appearance at the UnidosUS conference was a big deal, not only for the country's largest Latino civil rights and advancement organization, but for Latinos in general. This was “our moment” with the nation's chief executive.

The last time a sitting president spoke before the group was back when it was still called National Council of La Raza, in 2011, when Barack Obama tried to patch things up with Latino voters after failing to pass immigration as he'd promised during his first campaign.

Now Biden, 81, was looking to shore up the Latino vote in his 2024 reelection bid.

Where Does Biden Go Next?

Since the June 27 debate with Donald Trump, Biden has faced intense pressure from Democrats to withdraw from the race. Reports that he is now receptive to that possibility are coming out at the same time that senior Democratic leaders are having “blunt” conversations with him.

On Thursday morning, Axios reported that Biden may decide as early as this weekend.

An AP/NORC poll released the same day as the “Nuestro Momento” luncheon showed 64% of Latino Democrats and 65% of Democrats overall say the President should be replaced on the Democratic ticket this year—a figure rising to 75% for Democrats under 45 years old.

At the three-day UnidosUS conference, a solid majority of the Latinos I spoke to —all liberals, and most Democrats— said Biden should step down, though most expressed doubts as to whether that was the best course of action, given how close Election Day is. And nearly all of them said they didn't know a candidate that should replace Biden on the ticket.

“I think that from a practical perspective, it is too late in the game for this to be a feasible option,” said Claudio from Milwaukee. “If this was even at the beginning of the year, it would make sense. However, I think that the right move at this time is to go full steam with support of Biden. It's about more than him, it's about the administration and their goals, and more so about ensuring that Trump and the Project 2025 crew don't get a chance at their American dictatorship project.”

José from Philadelphia asked: “With World War III on the horizon, do we really want him to be the leader of the armed forces?” In the end, though, he said that Biden should stay on “because who will we get to replace him? If we are saying his VP, then we are better off having Biden.”

Nancy, a teacher in Missouri, put it this way: 

“I think this should have happened six months ago, a year ago. At this point in the game, it feels, to me, safer to keep him on. I think I can compare it to teaching while sick: it's better than preparing for a sub that's not gonna follow the lesson plans…”

“Either way,” she ended by saying, “I am not voting for Trump. And I'll just stay on whatever wagon keeps him out.”

White House Announcements

With his visit to UnidosUS, whose political arm endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket in May, Biden was looking to solidify Latino support for 2024.

To help his case, on Wednesday the White House announced new measures to ensure that immigrants are afforded proper services and effective legal representation, and that mixed-status families are kept together.

“On June 18th, the President announced a new process to help U.S. citizens with noncitizen spouses and children who have been here for 10 years or more keep their families together," the White House statement read. "This new action —which will help certain noncitizen spouses and children apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country— is expected to apply to approximately half a million spouses of U.S. citizens, and 50,000 noncitizen children whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen. And today, the President is announcing that beginning on August 19, 2024, eligible spouses and children will be able to apply for this process to obtain legal status while remaining with their families."

The statement also said that the Biden administration was giving DREAMers (undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children) access to the federal TRIO program, which helps students from low-income families and "first in their family" students transition from high school to college.

The move to provide relief to the nation's millions of undocumented residents comes amidst actions taken by the Biden administration to seem tough on immigration by securing the border, including an executive order in early June restricting asylum for migrants.

Though he had a runny nose, a dry cough, and reported feeling low-energy, Biden's doctor okayed him for a trip to Lindo Michoacan, a local chain of Mexican restaurants, where the President was interviewed by Univision’s Luis Sandoval just prior to his scheduled appearance at the UnidosUS conference. But when his symptoms persisted, Dr. Kevin O’Connor tested his patient for COVID and the results came back positive, at which point Biden was given a dose of Paxlovid.

About the Author

Hector Luis Alamo is a Las Vegas-based writer/journalist and the former senior editor of Latino Rebels.