Joe Biden has kicked off a swing-state tour and a significant advertising campaign targeting Donald Trump, in preparation for the upcoming election.
Ready for the general: Biden launches swing-state tour, massive ad buy against Trump
WASHINGTON — Fresh off a fiery State of the Union Address where he targeted his likely opponent by everything but name, Joe Biden is in campaign mode.
The president is embarking on a battleground state tour, beginning with Pennsylvania on Friday and Georgia this weekend. His reelection campaign is launching a six-week, $30 million ad buy, opening more than 100 offices across the country and hiring more than 350 new staff members.
He'll campaign for the first time this cycle in New Hampshire on Monday and visit the critical swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday and Thursday.
Biden's blitz follows Nikki Haley's exit from the GOP race after a string of losses in Super Tuesday loses. Former President Donald Trump is now just days away from locking in his party's nomination.
The president's campaign says it raised $1.5 million in the 24 hours after the elections that also forced out Biden's top challenger for the Democratic nomination, retiring Rep. Dean Phillips on Minnesota, and had its best fundraising day since Biden announced his reelection bid on Thursday.
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
The jump in donations came after Biden's combative and at times boisterous State of the Union address. His team is now making its largest ad purchase of the 2024 campaign to date.
"We're already seeing people tune in over the last couple of weeks around these key moments, where they are seeing and and paying more attention to the fact that there is a choice, it is us versus Trump," Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillion said. "People are starting to every day, check into this a little bit more, pay a little bit more attention and take action."
If there was any doubt that Biden is competing for reelection, he put it to rest on Thursday evening when he came out swinging against Trump in the House chamber. He started and ended the annual, primetime address with references to his predecessor, as he began a campaign to bring home wayward Democrats and reel in Trump-hating Republicans.
The speech that is ostensibly an opportunity for the nation's executive to lay out his governing agenda for the following year veered into the political as he heckled conservatives in the chamber and blasted the former president more than a dozen times.
"The president is bringing people together, fighting for more freedom and democracy, building an economy that grows from the middle out of the bottom up while Donald Trump is running a campaign of revenge and retribution for himself and his wealthy friends," Biden deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty said Friday.
