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As the election battle heats up, Joe Biden's re-election campaign is launching a $30 million advertising campaign in key battleground states to capitalize on its cash advantage over Donald Trump.
Biden campaign officials announced the move on Friday after the president repeatedly berated Trump in his State of the Union address to Congress, a stark contrast to the former president that he hopes will boost his chances in the November election. win.
Biden trails Trump by 1.8 points nationally, according to the Realclearpolitics.com polling average, while he currently leads by 5.5 points in the 2020 race.
The US president also plans to hold a series of campaign events in swing states that will decide the race for the White House, starting with Pennsylvania on Friday, Georgia on Saturday and moving to New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Michigan next week. Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to travel to Colorado, Arizona and Nevada.
The Biden campaign said its ads will focus on “high-impact and non-traditional television opportunities” including Black and Hispanic media, comedy and sports channels – a sign of its efforts to shore up the party's base. Some Democrats worry that Trump has been chipping away at Biden's traditional advantage among minority voters, especially men, who can back third-party candidates or stay home even if they don't support the Republican nominee.
“The Biden-Harris team is making massive early investments to make decisions ahead of a full show of force before the election,” said Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez. The issues in this election connect directly with voters.”
According to the latest campaign finance data, the Biden campaign has $56 million in cash on hand, while the Trump campaign has $30.5 million.
The Biden campaign has been grappling with questions about the president's age and ability to serve another term in the White House, with polls showing that younger voters in particular remain concerned about the issue. The campaign recently launched its own TikTok account.
Biden has also been criticized by some in the Democratic Party for supporting Israel during the Gaza war. In last month's party primary in Michigan, a swing state with a large Arab-American population, more than 100,000 Democrats voted “not to vote” rather than support Biden.
Biden used his annual address to Congress on Thursday night to attack Trump, drawing a stark contrast with the former president and hinting at his future White House agenda for a second term. Biden also spoke with energy, allaying concerns that at 81 years old, his physical and mental ability to lead the country is declining.
The speech came after Biden and Trump defeated their respective party rivals in the national “Super Tuesday” primaries, paving the way for them to become their respective parties' nominees for the November election.
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