After next week’s first debate in their 2024 presidential rematch, President Biden and former President Trump are set to remain in the South holding rallies in states where they hope to expand their bases.
After a stage-to-head showdown Thursday night in Atlanta, the capital and largest city of Georgia, a key battleground state in the Southeast, Trump is scheduled to head to North Carolina for a rally on Friday in the state he narrowly lost to Trump in 2020.
While Biden is in North Carolina, Trump is scheduled to rally on Friday in Virginia, a state he lost by 10 points four years ago.
How Biden and Trump are preparing for next week’s presidential debate
File photo of President Biden (left) and former President Donald Trump (AP Photo/Alex Brandon / Curtis Means/DailyMail.com via The Associated Press, Pool)
The Republican Party Carried Virginia In the race for the White House.
You have to go all the way back to then-President George W. Bush, who won reelection in 2004.
But recent polls suggest the race is close.
Check out the latest FOX News Poll for Virginia
A Fox News poll conducted June 1-4 found the Democratic president and his Republican predecessor each had an approval rating of 48% in a head-to-head matchup.
In the multi-candidate race, Biden has 42% of the vote, Trump has 41%, Democrat-turned-independent Robert K. Kennedy has 9%, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent Cornel West have 2% each.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Richmond, Virginia, Saturday, March 2, 2024. (Photo by AP/Steve Helber) (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
“Politics here is in disarray and I think that’s reflected in the polls. There’s no clear front-runner,” Dave Richards, a political science professor at the University of Lynchburg, said when asked about the apparent deadlock in the race in the state.
Behind Closed Doors Republican National Committee At a retreat for big donors this spring at a resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump campaign senior advisers Suzie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, along with veteran pollster Tony Fabrizio, highlighted internal polling results that suggested “Minnesota and Virginia are both clear swing states.”
“In both states, Donald Trump is in a position to flip key electoral votes in his favor,” the poll provided to Fox News emphasized.
The Republican governor says his state is involved in the presidential election.
Virginia’s Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, agrees, at least for his state.
“It’s June, so a lot of things are still unresolved, but it looks like Virginia is leading, and I’m excited about that,” the governor said in an interview with Fox News Digital a few days before the Fox News poll was released.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and former President Donald Trump met at Trump’s private country club in Loudoun County, Virginia, in early June. (Trump camp)
Youngkin is expected to accompany Trump to a rally next week, according to people familiar with the matter.
The governor’s appearance is likely to fuel further speculation about Youngkin’s possible vice presidential run, after the two politicians met in person for the first time last week to discuss flipping Virginia in the fall’s election.
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Asked about Youngkin in an interview with Fox News’ Aisha Husney last week, Trump said “he’s a great guy” and “I would be open to considering it.”
President Joe Biden gestures while speaking about his economic plan during a visit to the Abbots Creek Community Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on January 18, 2024. REUTERS/Nathan Howard (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
Biden is scheduled to visit North Carolina’s state capital, Raleigh, on Friday.
The president lost the state by just 74,000 votes four years ago, and has stepped up his campaign in the state, running radio and television ads as he seeks to become the first Democrat to win in the state since former President Barack Obama in 2008.
Biden’s visit next week will be his fourth this year to North Carolina, a state that has seen a surge in new residents since the 2020 election that could benefit the incumbent Democratic president.
“Given that the margin between Trump and Biden was only 75,000 votes, and that registered Republicans are turning out at a higher rate than registered Democrats, I think the Biden campaign sees an opportunity,” said Michael Bitzer, chair of the political science department at Catawba College.
But Bitzer stressed that “we only have a chance to make this deployment successful if we invest in our ground operations.”
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
