Biden is holding a campaign event in Florida
President Joe Biden traveled to Florida on Tuesday to raise money for his 2024 campaign. Florida is home to his most likely opponent, Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
Biden, who is looking to run for a second term, is attending a fundraising event in Jupiter, near Palm Beach, and in Miami.
Trump, who is highly likely to get the Republican nomination for president, has made the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach his home since leaving the White House in January 2021.
Those who flew with President Biden aboard Air Force One could see Trump’s private jet on the same runway when they landed in Florida, and Biden’s fundraising event was a few miles from Trump’s golf course.
Biden’s campaign has not focused on Florida at this point, even though that state has long been considered a swing state.
In 2020, Trump defeated Biden in Florida by 51.2 percent to 47.9 percent, an improvement on the Republican’s victory four years ago, despite millions of dollars spent by Democrats supporting Biden.
Still, Biden’s campaign is interested in attracting the financial resources that the state’s wealthy residents provide, and Biden expressed optimism during his first fundraising event that Florida could move to his side.
“I think we can win Florida,” he said.
Florida voters were the fourth-largest source of donations to Biden’s 2020 campaign and the third-largest source to Trump’s campaign that year, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Biden and the Democratic Party raised $97 million in the final three months of 2023. Trump raised $45 million in the third quarter. More recent data is not yet available.
Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Biden’s fundraising. Biden’s campaign declined to comment.
In Jupiter, Biden said Trump and his supporters are splintering the country and repeated his argument that democracy is at risk in the 2024 election.
“The American consumer does feel confidence in the economy that we’re building … Let me tell you who else is noticing it: Donald Trump,” Biden said.
U.S. consumer confidence rose to a two-year high in January amid slowing inflation and expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon start cutting interest rates.
Presidential candidate Nikki Haley, the only remaining contender for the Republican nomination besides Trump himself, was scheduled to fly to south Florida for fundraising events on Wednesday before returning to South Carolina on Thursday, according to a campaign spokesman.
Organizers of Biden’s Miami events include Victory Fund Chairman Chris Kordja and attorney Sean Domnick.
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