President Biden to be joined by first lady at Raleigh-area rally after debate

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will hold a rally together in the Raleigh area next week, a campaign official tells McClatchy exclusively.

The campaign stop will be June 28, the day after Biden’s first 2024 debate against former President Donald Trump.

Biden is expected to spend the next week at Camp David, preparing for the debate, held in Atlanta, Georgia, and hosted by CNN, on June 27. The broadcast marks the first time a former president and a sitting president will debate one another. It is also the earliest debate in a presidential election cycle.

On Thursday, Biden won a coin-toss that allowed him to choose for his podium to be positioned on the right side of the stage, and for Trump to get the final closing remark, ABC News reported.

Following the debate, Biden and his wife are planning to visit the Tar Heel State, though exact details about their rally haven’t been announced.

Both Biden has become a frequent visitor to North Carolina this year, making a forceful push to focus on the battleground state.

A Democratic win for a presidential candidate is rare in North Carolina. It’s only happened once since 1976 — in 2008, when former President Barack Obama won the state.

But Trump only led North Carolina in 2020 with 1.3% of the vote and the Biden-Harris campaign is working hard to flip the state.

Unlike Biden, Trump has made few appearances in North Carolina and most recently attended NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 in Concord.

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