On the campaign trail and in town halls in the past few months, Joe Biden has had to combat the notion that he’s a socialist.

“Look, I'm the guy that ran against a socialist,' Biden said at an NBC News Town Hall earlier this month, referring to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who Biden defeated for the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this year.

But the "socialist" tag is one that Republicans have been trying to pin on Biden for months, and several supporters of Donald Trump said at his rally in Tampa on Thursday said they feared a socialist society if he defeats Trump in next week’s general election.

“Well, I don’t want to see my taxes go up,” said Pasco County resident Bob Hunter. “I don’t want to see my health care costs go up. I don’t want to see children’s futures get eroded because of something with his policies. Socialism’s not going to work for us here in America, and that’s what he’s all about.”

“I think that if Biden wins, we’re done. I think we’re just done,” bemoaned Tampa resident Colter Reicherter. 

The socialist label is especially toxic in South Florida, home to a significant population of Cuban Americans, as well as Venezuelans and Nicaraguans who lived under oppressive regimes. It was a tactic used successfully against Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum back in the 2018 election after he won Sanders’ endorsement in the primary.

Tampa also has a significant Cuban population.

“Now we’re going to have a Venezuela, a Cuba, a Chinese dictating our lives,” said Tampa resident Victoria Hernandez, who came to the U.S. via the Mariel boatlift some 40 years ago.

“That’s why we came here in 1980,” she added. “To have a better future for our family for our children. And they’re trying to take that away from the American people.”

Campaigning in North Miami last weekend, former president Barack Obama cracked that “listening to the Republicans, you’d think Joe was more communist than the Castros. Don’t fall for that garbage. Don’t fall for that okey-doke.”

Though members of the media were informed that they must wear a mask to cover the president’s appearance on Thursday, most members of the public did not appear to be wearing them once they were admitted onto the field.

Tampa resident Barry Landon said Trump has received a lot of unfair criticism for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They’ve picked on him a lot,” he said. “It’s horrible.”

Largo resident Randall Matson wore a black T-shirt that read, “Defund the Media” and said it was obvious that the president hasn’t received a fair shake from the press.