Buoyed by the mostly positive reception given to his State of the Union speech, Joe Biden is taking his combative message against Donald Trump with him on the path to the presidential campaign on Friday.
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The Democratic president, who is seeking a second term in November, has several key states on his agenda. As his rematch with his Republican predecessor gets underway, he travels first to Pennsylvania on Friday and then to Georgia on Saturday.
Next week, the octogenarian will travel to New Hampshire on Monday, Wisconsin on Wednesday and Michigan on Thursday.
On Thursday evening, Mr. Biden launched one of the fiercest State of the Union speeches ever delivered in the chamber of Congress, transforming this solemn high mass into an energetic campaign rally.
He has repeatedly attacked Donald Trump, accusing him of “submitting” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and representing a threat to American democracy. He also attacked the elected representatives of the Republican Party, judging that they were kowtowing to the business magnate.
The aim of this speech lasting more than an hour was also to allay concerns around the age of Joe Biden, who peppered his speech with jokes, between two attacks.
As donor money pours in, Mr. Biden will now campaign in every swing state in March, according to his team, to try to get his message to voters.
“Decisive”
As for Vice-President Kamala Harris, she is traveling to Arizona and Nevada with Hispanic voters in her sights, according to the same source.
“Joe Biden is on a mission to connect with voters where they are and bridge our divides,” campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon said.
“While Donald Trump, saddled with a losing agenda and a cash-strapped operation, is actively alienating decisive voters,” she added.
Assailed by business, Mr. Trump alternates between campaign meetings and court appearances – he has already spent nine of his days in a courtroom since the start of the year, according to an AFP count.
The Republican was notably ordered to pay nearly $355 million in fines for financial fraud.
Mr. Biden travels to Philadelphia on Friday for a campaign event, the latest visit to Pennsylvania.
In this crucial state, many working-class voters abandoned Democrats for Donald Trump in 2016, before Joe Biden rallied them to his cause in 2020.
Polls place the Democratic president behind his Republican rival this time. He hopes his State of the Union address will have given him a national platform to millions of voters.
“Hyper-partisan”
Without ever mentioning Donald Trump by name, but referring to his rival 13 times as “my predecessor,” Mr. Biden launched a frontal attack on Republicans on issues ranging from abortion rights to economy, warning that freedom and democracy were in danger.
Democrats cheered him, chanting “Four more years” while Republicans frequently interrupted or booed him, particularly on immigration. He responded every time.
The Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, seated behind Mr. Biden as is tradition, often shook his head in disapproval during the speech.
“It was an aggressive, hyper-partisan speech,” he said.
“Anyone can read a teleprompter (…). I think he is a very weak president,” he added.
During his speech, Joe Biden also mentioned the war in Gaza, which provokes the fury of the very left wing of his party as well as among the Arab-American community, very critical of his support for Israel.
The president announced that he had ordered the US military to build a temporary port in Gaza to deliver more humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory besieged by Israel.
