The Israelis in Aventura are sure that Trump's term will continue, but the neighborhood near gives its voice to Baiden.
The rain that fell in Miami over the weekend did not stop many from coming to the polls in the north of the city to vote.
The mobilization here is as huge as in Texas.
The numbers are breaking records.
Trump: "Do not give in to the corona plague" // Photo: Reuters
Corona was back to star in the city, and yesterday at midnight the bars, clubs and restaurants were forced to close.
But before that it was crazy to see the places of entertainment.
President Donald Trump knows that until the election is over, everything is open, especially in a year when elections are largely virtual.
He was in Florida on Thursday and the next day deafened the Midwest - Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin - and yesterday was scheduled to hold four rallies in Pennsylvania, the state that may have the most impact this year: both because of its size (it gives 20 electors to the winning candidate) and because it can Affect its entire environment.
Today he is expected to return to Florida, along with three other states.
In all, the last three days of the campaign are scheduled to include 14 different rallies of the 45th president.
Trump was very angry with the Minnesota governor who prevented a large rally and limited the attendance to 250 people.
"He hoped I would be eliminated, but I said by no means would I ever abandon the people of Minnesota," the president proudly declared.
In Pennsylvania Joe Biden leads the polls, but in many cases it is a matter of statistical equality.
Trump hopes to recreate the feat from four years ago when he won by a margin of 44,000 votes and became the first Republican to win in Pennsylvania since 1988. In 2016, Hillary Clinton did not reach the Midwest and completely ignored Wisconsin.
Biden reappeared in the Midwest yesterday and lined up alongside former President Barack Obama.
He hopes that in doing so he will not repeat the message that Clayton conveyed when in fact she belittled this area, even though its residents hurt the difficult years of the Obama administration, in which jobs in the coal industry dwindled, and instead of talking to them talked about them.
She hoped the Philadelphia suburbs, historically identified with the unions, would save her.
But they turned their backs on her at the critical moments.
But Biden does not underestimate those states when he visits Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
He arrived in the Midwest over the weekend, including Minnesota and Iowa, and yesterday continued the Midwest Marathon.
There was an unfortunate moment at one of the rallies where he called Trump supporters who disturbed him during his rally with the horns "ugly," but at least he showed up.
Maybe it took the 2016 election and maybe it's the amount of American citizens who have already voted (85 million), but in the US you can hear today all the estimates about the election results: from a landslide victory for Biden to a surprise victory for Trump, and of course a close battle and even a tie. It is that Congress will only decide who the president is in January.
Do not hate, do not appreciate
Florida is a state where all types of voters can be met.
The terrain usually does not lie.
And in Florida, as in Pennsylvania, we saw exactly why the New York Times headline a week ago: Why the polls (in Pennsylvania) say Biden but the field said Trump.
I went back yesterday to the same places I visited four years ago.
Trump said there just as polls predicted a landslide victory for Clinton.
So it's true that Trump's signs are not so much seen as they were four years ago, and it seems that the element of shame in not admitting that they vote for him, because of the shaming that is done to this man from the moment he enters politics, is doing its thing.
Only his base is proud to be Trump.
These, by the way, argue that voting for Trump in 2020 is not to "make America great again" but to "make America sane again," in the face of the progressive wave that they claim will wash it away with
A victory for Biden.
Saturday morning.
I drive towards my meeting place with the Israeli community at the famous bagel deli Mo's Bagels & Deli in Aventura, where many Israelis live.
It's not yet seven o'clock and I can already see a young man waving a Trump flag while wearing shorts carrying American flags.
Cars honk at him in support.
The place is run by my friend Paul Cruz who came to America from Venezuela. "I lived in a socialist country and I do not want a fate similar to America as it was there," he explains of his support for Republicans, "most Jews here vote for Democrats, as usual.
But this is not the case with the Israelis.
The overwhelming majority is in favor of Donald Trump. "
Paul is very concerned about the implications of the Corona even though he wants to be optimistic: "Without the Corona these elections would have been purely formal. Trump would have won big. He has many lovers but also many haters, and the question is what else is there in America today. It is a referendum on Trump."
What worries Paul Cruz is the amount of hatred there is in America today.
"People today choose a side, so you don't see undecided people. You also see fewer and fewer people defining themselves as independent voters."
Indeed, it seems that everyone already knows who they will vote for, the question of whether they will really vote.
So everything is open, the question of which camp has more energy.
Already 90 million people voted - almost half of those registered in the voter registers.
Already now the early voting has passed the 2016 early voting.
Many Israelis are sitting at the table with us.
Everyone, as mentioned, is in favor of Trump, even though they know people on the right who did not think of voting for Clinton four years ago, but this year they are moving sideways and voting for a Democrat from Delaware.
"I know people who voted for Trump four years ago and this time voted for Biden," Danny Moore tells me.
It turns out that Trump's style as well as his statements about the corona and his disdain for the mask did their thing.
Paul Cruz disagrees: "I, for example, four years ago did not vote for Trump even though I am a Republican and this time I voted for him. And I am optimistic that there are many in Florida who vote for the first time and they vote for Trump. And that is very encouraging."
"But," Paul adds, "there is no doubt that the Republican establishment has the same Never Trumpers, as former Ohio Gov. John Keysick and Sen. Mitt Romney. "We shy away from him, and we don't shy away from Biden like from Clinton. Trump understood he needed to unite, so you saw his change in the second confrontation in Nashville," Paul says.
"What's playing in Trump's favor is Biden," Danny tells me, "maybe Biden is not hated like Hillary but also not really appreciated. He was a gray senator who did nothing for decades. Give me one law he passed. One serious thing? And it is clear to everyone that he will go much further to the left than he says. "
"Biden is a chameleon who tells everyone what he wants to hear. But you can not lie all the time, it is revealed with the whole energy story," says Yoram Adar, referring to the fact that Biden had to admit, live in the last confrontation, that he did want a gradual end. Of the U.S. non-green energy industry.
But Adar agrees that "Biden is not hated. He has never really been a threat and you can also manipulate him, you can change him."
Doron Feigelman has no doubt that in Florida, too, the Jewish voice is not in Trump's favor, despite everything he has done for Israel.
His wife, Orit, who is sitting nearby, also does not understand the lack of sympathy for Trump among the Jews.
"Four years ago, 67 percent of Jews voted for Clinton, and this time 70 percent of Jews are expected to vote for Baidan," says Doron, who admits that with the second generation of Israelis, sympathy for Trump is not so clear.
Pini Dagan, who has twice received the Israel Security Award, is very stressed.
He thinks that because of the corona Trump will not win.
I remind him that even two years ago in the midterm elections he did not believe that Rick Scott (for the Senate) and de Santis (governor) would win - and they won.
"Yes, but then there was no Corona."
Pini himself is infected with the virus and he does not think it should be underestimated.
"Because of the mask he lost the kingdom," he states emphatically.
At the table everyone agrees that this is nonsense, because the blue states did not treat Corona better than Trump.
"The problem with Trump is not what he does, but what he says," adds Dagan, who has supported the 45th president of the United States to the end. "There has never been such a president for Israel."
Republican Rep. Michael Waltz arrives at the restaurant. He saw the president at his rally in Tampa, Florida. They even talked. "The president looks very optimistic.
me too.
I can tell you for sure we are winning in Florida.
A huge amount of field work has been done here, "a congressman who served in the US Army Special Forces in Afghanistan tells me.
He is convinced that America woke up just in time to prevent a blue wave and mentions that Biden's deputy, Senator Camatilla Harris, is captive to the left.
"She's the most progressive senator in the Senate."
On foreign policy, he believes everyone understands why Trump is better: "Against Iran he is doing exactly the right things, the peace of the Gulf states with Israel, support for the Allies, maintaining American supremacy without the need for large forces on the ground - all important. "Total support for Israel under Trump."
During the trip, I learned that in the meantime in Europe there are those who are centering an effort to overthrow Trump.
The Madame Tussauds wax museum in Berlin asked for a political statement ahead of the election and on Friday placed the figure of the 45th president in a display that also has a trash can, with the caption "Throw out Trump."
There are no rich here
I continue after the meeting at the restaurant to Liberty City, a neighborhood where there is a large concentration of blacks, not far from where Muhammad Ali lived for a short time.
When I visited there four years ago I discovered those who support Trump, who are tired of Democrats taking blacks for granted.
This time I see that residents are much more suspicious of the Israeli journalist who entered the neighborhood.
I meet a group sitting in the park in an untidy place, whose people are drinking beer.
"We're not being interviewed," they tell me.
So I turn to Kevin, who is standing in the corner with masks bearing the image of Biden and Kamala Harris, and cups of coffee with their characters.
"I do not know why I do this. I decided this week. My daughter said to me 'Dad, you are not that political' but I told her it was a good way to make money," he tells me.
Each mask costs five dollars.
"I believe that in our neighborhood Biden will win by a landslide. I myself have not voted yet. I am not sure I will vote at all. They say Trump is not good, but does that mean Biden is good? Many here will not vote at all."
But they say that under Trump America is more racist, I say.
"I've not seen anything new in the last four years," he tells me.
Indeed, the issue has made headlines again in recent days after a young black man was shot to death by police officers for threatening them with a knife, in Philadelphia.
The incident sparked riots, which led to the deployment of the National Guard in the city.
Across the road a group of men is sitting.
"Don't take a picture of me," the Miami Heat basketball team shirt tells me, "Understand - it's easy in Liberty City: rich people vote for Republicans and poor people for Democrats, and there are no rich people here."
He says he does not know if he will vote.
A friend of his next to him states that he has already voted for Biden.
"It's not because he likes or dislikes blacks. Trump gives money to the rich, the question is whether Democrats give enough money to the poor."
And two companies sitting across the road, who have not yet voted, explain to me that "Liberty City is Biden's but Liberty City does not determine."
Trump is proud to have improved the standard of living of the black population, but there is no doubt that the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota has contributed to fueling interracial passions.
"I do not want riots. I want to live with dignity," Junior told me.
Kevin from Liberty City said Republican whites buy a lot of ammunition, and he's really worried about what they'll do on Tuesday night if and when Trump loses.
In the Cuban-American neighborhood of Little Havana in the heart of Miami, I see far fewer signs, stickers or shirts and candidate visor hats.
Cuban-Americans have long been considered ardent supporters of Republicans because of the tough policies against the Castro regime in Cuba.
And although hardly any signs are seen, the people here massively support the president, and it is possible that thanks to the dominant Cuban community in the country they will give him the coveted victory in the country, over its 29 electors.
That is why Democrats are trying to balance their vote by Puerto Rican communities and other minorities.
There will be a tough battle, like every four years.
Next to Versailles Restaurant, the most famous Cuban restaurant in Miami, I meet Osua Ido Capro.
He has a mask and a Trump forehead hat, and he explains to me how the people here feel: "Wait, come here tomorrow and see what a rally is. Friends come spontaneously. We love this president. He's good for business, he's good for America. He's also free. "Cuba from the Castro family and Nicaragua and Venezuela. He's the man the Hispanics believe in. He's good to us. Corona is a problem, but to say he's responsible for it is Pike News. China is responsible for that, period."
Miguel Saudren joins us.
He heads a human rights organization: "Precisely because human rights are important to me, I support Trump. He liberates peoples in South America. What did Biden do when he was vice president with Obama? He had ties to the Castro regime. "Can't accept that. Besides, do you know how much the economy has improved in the Trump era?"
Next to the restaurant there is a cigar club called "Maccabi Cigars".
Everyone there has already voted for Trump.
But you know that with Biden you might be able to smoke Cuban cigars here, I tell them, because he'll open up ties with Cuba.
"We'd rather give up Cuban cigars and watch the Castro regime fall in Cuba, and that will only happen with Trump," Miguel tells me, "Write down - in Florida the Hispanics do not support Trump - they love Trump."
I'm leaving Florida feeling that Trump is the big favorite here.
The concern is what will happen if the count is tight or there are forgeries in key countries that this year face voting challenges that no one expected.
Corona has already stolen the show, but Florida is not thrilled.
They are already used to drama and races in which they do not know the results, and the Corona in this sense has not renewed anything, because the country has a well-oiled array of remote voting and early voting.
The feeling is that if there is a clear winner in Florida, the rest of the US election will be clarified as well, or at least the passions will calm down. We will see on Tuesday, and in the weeks that follow.