ATLANTA - With the first presidential debate in their 2024 election rematch now in the rearview mirror, President Biden and former President Trump stay in the South as they hold rallies in states they're aiming to flip come November.
Following their face-to-face on-stage showdown at the CNN Presidential Debate Thursday night in Atlanta, Georgia – where Biden struggled with a raspy voice and delivered halting answers – the president heads to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he'll hold a rally Friday in a state he lost to Trump by a razor-thin margin in 2020.
Trump, whom pundits declared the winner of the debate, will be rallying Friday in Virginia, which he lost by 10 points four years ago.
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It's been two decades since a Republican carried Virginia in the race for the White House.
You have to go back to then-President George W. Bush, who won the Commonwealth in his 2004 re-election victory.
But recent polling indicates a close contest.
CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLL IN VIRGINIA
A Fox News poll conducted June 1-4 indicated the Democratic president and his Republican predecessor in the White House each with 48% support in a head-to-head match.
In a multi-candidate race, Biden stands at 42% and Trump at 41%, with Democrat-turned-independent Robert K. Kennedy at 9% and Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent Cornel West each at 2%.
University of Lynchburg political science professor Dave Richards, asked about the apparently deadlocked race in his state, said "politics down here are in a confused state and I think that's being reflected in the polling, where there's not a clear front-runner."
At a closed-door Republican National Committee retreat for top-dollar donors earlier this spring at a resort in Palm Beach, Florida, senior Trump campaign advisers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita and veteran pollster Tony Fabrizio spotlighted internal surveys that suggested both "Minnesota & Virginia are clearly in play."
"In both states, Donald Trump finds himself in positions to flip key electoral votes in his favor," the survey, which was shared with Fox News, emphasizes.
And according to a memo from the Trump campaign obtained last week by Fox News, the former president's team is aiming to open 8 offices in Minnesota and 11 in Virginia and hire staff to manage the new locations.
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Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia agrees, at least when it comes to his state.
A couple of days ahead of the Fox News poll's release, the governor said in a Fox News Digital interview that "we're here in June and there’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge, but Virginia looks like it's in play and that’s pretty exciting."
Youngkin will join Trump at Friday's rally at the historic Greenbriar Farms in Chesapeake, Virginia.
The governor's appearance will likely spark more speculation about Youngkin as a possible running mate. The two politicians met in person two weeks for the first time ever, as they discussed flipping Virginia in the autumn election.
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When asked in a recent interview with Fox News' Aishah Hasnie about Youngkin, Trump said he's "great" and "I think I could consider it."
Biden on Friday will be in Raleigh, North Carolina's capital city. The Biden campaign said that the president and First Lady Jill Biden will be joined by "Grammy-nominated artist, entrepreneur and philanthropist Fat Joe, in addition to multi-platinum musician and entrepreneur E-40."
The president lost the state by just 74,000 votes four years ago. The latest polls in the state indicate Trump with a mid-single digit advantage.
As he aims to be the first Democrat since former President Obama in 2008 to carry North Carolina, he's beefed up his campaign's footprint in the state and flooded the airwaves with ads.
Biden's stop next week will be his fourth so far this year in North Carolina, which has seen a surge of new residents since the 2020 election that potentially may benefit the Democratic incumbent.
"I think with the fact that only 75K votes differentiated between Trump and Biden, and the fact that registered Republicans have a higher turnout rate than registered Democrats, I think Biden’s campaign sees the opportunity," Michael Bitzer, chair of the politics department at Catawba College.
But Bitzer emphasized "it’s an opportunity only if they invest in the ground operations to make that turnout work."
