Mike Bloomberg goes after Latino vote with new ad

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, is making a push for support from Latinos with a Spanish-language ad that will start airing on Thursday, reminding immigrants of the importance of defeating President Donald Trump in the November elections.

"No podemos seguir divididos en un mundo convulsionado" (We cannot remain divided in a world in turmoil), Bloomberg's television ad, to which EFE had access and which will start airing on Thursday, says amid images of the wall that Trump is building on the US-Mexico border, Efe news reported.

The 77-year-old Bloomberg appears at the end of the ad, speaking in Spanish and telling viewers that "Juntos vamos a reconstruir esta nacion" (Together we are going to rebuild this nation).

Bloomberg's first Spanish-language ad for the Democratic Party's primary campaign will be aired in 26 television markets, as well as on digital media, Bloomberg campaign officials said.

The former New York City mayor has already posted messages on Twitter in Spanish.

Bloomberg is making a push for Latino support a week after former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro dropped out of the presidential race, leaving the Democratic field without a Hispanic candidate in the race for the White House.

The billionaire businessman tells Latino voters how important it is to defeat Trump in November.

The ad emphasizes Bloomberg's history as a problem solver with experience in business, government and philanthropy.

The Bloomberg campaign said that as mayor, the Democratic presidential candidate oversaw the creation of nearly 500,000 jobs in New York and helped the city recover after the Great Recession faster than the rest of the country.

Bloomberg, according to his campaign, worked to improve New York's public schools, boosting young Latinos' graduation rate by 31 per cent.

The billionaire, whose grandparents were immigrants, said he believed in the "American Dream" and had been a staunch defender of immigrants, as well as a supporter of fixing the US immigration system.

( With inputs from IANS )