US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump warned his supporters in Florida not to take anything for granted despite some polls that show him ahead of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the Sunshine State.
"We don't want to blow this. The polls are all saying we're going to win Florida. Don't believe it. Don't believe it. ... Pretend we're slightly behind," he said during a rally in Miami on Wednesday, Efe news reported.
While Trump leads by up to four percentage points in some surveys of Florida voters, a CNN poll released on Wednesday has him trailing Clinton by two points.
The average of polls collated by the Web site RealClearPolitics gives Trump an advantage of one point over Clinton in Florida, which experts see as a must-win state for the billionaire if he is to defeat the former first lady and secretary of state.
With many in the crowd holding up placards reading "Latinos for Trump" and "Cubans for Trump," the Republican hopeful appealed to the most traditional elements in Miami's Cuban exile community by vowing to reverse President Barack Obama's policy of normalization with Cuba.
He also repeated his promise to crack down on unauthorized immigration, in part by building a wall on the US border with Mexico.
"As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton allowed dangerous aliens to go free because their countries would not take them back. Countless innocent Americans have been killed by illegal aliens," the real estate mogul said.
While Trump's anti-immigrant message angers many Hispanics, it is less objectionable to the Cubans and Puerto Ricans who make up the majority of Latinos in Florida.
Puerto Ricans, as US citizens, face no barriers to settling in the mainland US, and legislation gives undocumented Cubans who reach US soil the right to remain and obtain legal residence.
Trump touched several times on the idea that the system is stacked against him and his supporters.
"The system is rigged. Remember that. Right now. We are going to change it," he said, calling his campaign "a movement like we have never seen in this country before."
From Miami, Trump was scheduled to travel to two other Florida cities, Orlando and Pensacola.
Clinton has also been campaigning in Florida this week.
--IANS
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