WILMINGTON — As the election season moves along, a stop from the current President of the United States is planned for Thursday in Wilmington.
Joe Biden, who is seeking a second term against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, will be in Wilmington this week. It’s his second visit to North Carolina in a month; he and Vice President Kamala Harris were in Raleigh in March as well.
According to a White House announcement, Biden is coming to the Cape Fear to promote his Investing in America plan, particularly in regards to “rebuilding infrastructure and creating good-paying jobs in Wilmington and across the country.”
Investing in America seeks to bring manufacturing back to the states, including for the creation of semiconductors and clean energy. It also addresses strengthening vocational jobs that don’t require a college degree and rebuilding roads and bridges.
The Biden administration touts on its interactive map of IIA that it has invested $9.8 billion in public infrastructure and clean energy. As well it boasts a 3.5% state unemployment rate, with 462,000 new jobs created to include 2,600 in clean energy in North Carolina.
Biden’s stop comes almost two weeks after his adversary, Trump, canceled his Wilmington rally at Wilmington International Airport, due to inclement weather but promised to return. A new date has yet to be announced.
Upon asking the New Hanover County Democratic Party two weeks ago if it had plans to bring Biden to town, its chair Jill Hopman wrote to Port City Daily:
“We always have plans in the works … I think we are a really critical county in a really critical state that can turn an entire election. It is in his interests, and all Democrats’ interests, to come here and engage with our voters. And I really hope he does.”
Biden had 50.08% of the votes to Trump’s 48.18% in NHC in 2020. However, Biden lost to Trump statewide, with the latter securing a 1.34% lead.
A Meredith College poll produced this month had Trump in a 2 percentage point lead over the president.
Hopman noted Thursday the president isn’t visiting as part of his official re-election campaign but will likely discuss infrastructure and environmental issues. As of press, Biden’s location had not been announced, but his arrival is suspected around 3 p.m. on May 2. This will be updated as more details become available.
The New Hanover County Democratic Party noted in a press release this will be the first time a sitting president has made an official visit to the Port City since William Howard Taft was in office from 1909 to 1913. However, Trump visited while he was president to dedicate Wilmington as the nation’s first World War II heritage city.
Also in the press release, the party thanked Mayor Bill Saffo for helping facilitate Biden’s visit and called New Hanover County a “bellwether in a purple swing state.”
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