‘Today I bring a message from my father’: Ivanka Trump rebukes socialism at Miami rally

With a week to go until Election Day, Donald Trump’s children and surrogates are making a final swing through Florida, where latest polling shows a quintessentially Floridian razor-thin margin between Trump and his challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden.

Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser, used her father’s rhetoric to rebuke socialism and tout a strong economy at the Bayfront Park Amphitheater in downtown Miami. Ivanka Trump was fresh off a daytime appearance in Sarasota earlier Tuesday. Last week, she had another Florida double feature, with appearances in Fort Myers and Naples.

Former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders introduced Ivanka Trump after campaign adviser Mercedes Schlapp greeted the crowd. Sanders told the crowd that this year’s election is an election to fight socialism.

“I know there are some people here who know what that looks like, we want to make sure that never happens here,” Sanders said.

The 30-minute speech was a departure from Trump’s Sarasota remarks, which largely focused on turning out the female vote instead of speaking to exiles from countries with communist regimes.

She reminded the crowd that Trump’s administration took a different approach to Obama-era policies on Cuba and placed sanctions on Venezuelan lawmakers who participated in an attempt to regain control of their parliament, orchestrated by Nicolás Maduro.

“Today I bring a message from my father: America will never be a socialist country,” Ivanka Trump said to a modest crowd of around 800. “America will always be the land of the free.”

The message around socialism has rallied Trump’s Hispanic voters since the early days of the reelection campaign and has not let up in Florida. Earlier this month, Donald Trump Jr. brought the president’s campaign back to Miami for a “Fighters Against Socialism” bus tour. Joined by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal, and U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump Jr. railed against Biden and cast an image of Democrats as radical leftists who cannot stand against regimes in Venezuela, Cuba and China.

Ivanka Trump did not address Tuesday’s headlines about her husband, Jared Kushner, who in an interview with “Fox & Friends” seemed to question whether Black Americans “want to be successful” after all he said Trump has done for their communities.

She did, however, tout other accomplishments her father has made in office, primarily economic growth, prescription drug cost-cutting programs and the signing of the “Abraham Accords,” a pair of diplomatic pacts with Israel brokered by the United States. She also mentioned Trump’s push to move the United States Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“I was in the office and heard foreign leaders beg him not to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem,” she said. “Yet he delivered a promise also made but unfulfilled by so many past presidents because my father knew it was the right thing to do.”

She also compared President Trump to Biden on their stances toward charter schools, noting that her father supports expanding school choice. Before the event, Trump made a surprise stop at a charter school in Little Havana, the heart of Miami’s Cuban exile community. She met with a group of middle school students at SLAMMiami, a charter school opened by worldwide rapper Pitbull in 2013.

“We as a society have a duty to ensure that every child has the best chance to pursue their dreams, find their purpose and change the world,” Ivanka Trump said. “Joe Biden opposes school choice. And he’s pledged that if elected, charter schools will be, and I quote, ‘gone.’ ”

Toward the end of her speech, she asked the crowd to stand in support of law enforcement. The crowd all jumped to their feet and started cheering, “Back the blue.”

Pitbull, whose real name is Armando Christian Perez, is registered to vote in Miami-Dade County as no party affiliation according to county records. He received a mail ballot last week but has not yet returned it.

The first group of students she met at SLAM Miami were part of the school’s Tech Team, a program where students help other students with technical support. The students showed Trump a glass sphere programmed to move by using a cellphone or tablet.

She also met with the school’s nationally recognized dance team, the Sirens, and the student radio station. The dancers performed a hip-hop dance routine for Trump, who dodged a near-collision with a cartwheeling student.

“Oh, my gosh, you guys are amazing,” she said. “I am exhausted just watching you.” She was joined by Sanders.

After the event Ivanka Trump headed to Miami’s famous Versailles Cuban restaurant for the time-honored tradition of a campaign-stop cafecito. She was joined by Sanders and Versailles owner, Felipe Valls Jr. A small crowd of about 25 surprised customers formed outside, taking photos and videos on their cellphones and calling out to the first daughter.

She knelt down to take a photo with a very excited little boy.

“We decided to stop and get some coffee and pastries for the plane,” she said. “I hear cafecito is the best.”

As she left, the customers chanted: “Four more years!”

President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, was also in Florida Tuesday, where she stumped for Trump in Panama City Beach and Cocoa. On Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr. will rally voters in Jacksonville, Daytona Beach and Vero Beach.

The tight margin has brought candidates and surrogates from both sides to the Sunshine State for packed calendars of events and fundraisers each week. According to a final pre-election poll by Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Biden holds a 50% to 48% edge over Trump among likely Florida voters. By Tuesday morning, about 6.4 million Floridians had either voted by mail or cast ballots at an early-voting location.

In Orlando Tuesday, former President Barack Obama campaigned for Biden at a drive-in rally where he focused on the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and urged voters to “turn out like never before.” Obama held a similar drive-in rally for the Biden campaign in North Miami Saturday.

Biden himself will campaign in Broward County and Tampa on Thursday.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed SLAM Miami as “SLAM Academy Miami.” The school opened in 2013, not 2019.