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Trump Rallies Support In Miami

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump was in Miami Friday, looking to rally some South Florida support.

It was inside Miami's James L. Knight Center South Florida Trump supporters were all set "to be wowed."

"Are we gonna have a good time tonight?" he said.

Trump threw a lot of red meat to the faithful.

He also pitched a strong argument that blacks in the inner city should vote for him – a group that he needs to impact if he hope to win Florida.

"I will say it openly. Some will like it and some won't like it, I don't care. What do you have to lose? I will fix it. We are going to fix our inner cities and make them safe," he said.

Trump fired up the Cuban folks as well.

"All the concessions that Obama has granted the Castro regime were done by executive order which means the next president can reverse them and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands and you know what the demands are," he said.

And he jumped on Venezuelan issue.

"They are really hurting over there in Venezuela. Miami is full of hard working Venezuelan people . But it has been hurt badly by socialism. Venezuela and the next president has to stand in solidarity," he said.

Before his 6 p.m. rally, Trump passed through Little Haiti. The reception was mixed.

"I'm here because I'm disgusted to see people, actually our community willing to stand here and sit with the man who has said that immigrants are people who bring infectious diseases to the United States," protester Francesca Menes said.

He got a less than warm welcome from some – not liking his rhetoric on immigration. Protesters angry about his words as he courts the African-American community.

"When he asked the ridiculous question, 'What do we have to lose?'  How about our dignity, how about our vote, how about our place in this country," Pam Keith said.

But there were plenty in Little Haiti that welcomed him.

"Mr. Trump love immigrants," Sara Bernard said.

She's moved to the U.S. from Haiti and became a citizen. She's on board with his plans.

"If someone is here illegally and if they commit crime, he will deport them. If someone never commit crime and here for so long, he will be able to stay," she said.

Others just can't stand the idea of Clinton in the White House.

"I'm a registered democrat and I refuse to vote for Hillary Clinton," said Alain Troadec, the son of Haitian immigrants.

Political Analyst Anthony Williams from Bendixen & Amandi says his outreach to minorities could come too late.

"Anything is better than nothing, and the fact that he is attempting now to do some outreach could potentially help," Williams said. "But a lot depends on what he says and how consistent he is with the follow up."

Trump started his morning at a campaign event in Washington D.C.

He did what he always does – dictate the campaign news cycle.

He called the media for a major announcement, and then took a good chunk of air time to present a series of endorsements from retired military leaders. Only then, did he get to the 17 word announcement.

"President Obama was born in the U.S. – period. Now let's get back to making America great again," he said.

The birther issue re-emerged in the campaign this week when Trump told the Washington Post:  "I'll answer that question at the right time.  I just don't want to answer it yet."

"I am fairly confident about where I was born. I think most people were as well," Obama said.

Others weighed in on the re-emergence of the birther issue.

"For five years he's led the birth movement to delegitimize our first black president," said Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. "He's feeding into the worst impulses – bigotry and bias that lurks in our country."

Trump came into South Florida neck and neck with Clinton. Florida is a must win state for both candidates.

 

 

For more on Campaign 2016, click here.

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