The Iowa caucuses are still 10 days away, but the first split-screen of the general election is set for Friday, when President Joe Biden touches down in Pennsylvania to warn Americans about the perils of a second Trump presidency and former President Donald Trump ramps up his pre-caucus blitz with a pair of get-out-the-vote rallies in northern Iowa.
Biden’s first proper foray into the 2024 campaign fray had initially been scheduled for Saturday, the third anniversary of the January 6, 2021, US Capitol insurrection, but got bumped up, his camp said, because of weather concerns. The speech, to be delivered near the historic Revolutionary War site of Valley Forge, is expected to register as a stark warning about empowering Trump, whom Biden’s campaign views as the most likely GOP nominee – and an existential threat to US democracy.
The words and symbolism of George Washington, who commanded his troops during a long winter in Valley Forge, are expected to play a central role in the president’s speech, according to a senior Biden aide who previewed the remarks.
Biden is expected to speak to the sacrifices made to build the country and seek to frame the 2024 presidential election as a “sacred cause” to preserve democracy and freedom, drawing from a phrase Washington used to describe the resolve and mission of his troops during the winter they spent at Valley Forge.
“The fundamental question that the president is going to pose,” the aide explained, “is this: Is Democracy still a sacred cause in America? And his answer to that is yes. And he believes that America’s answer to that is yes, but he also believes that the election in 2024 is fundamentally about that question.”
Biden also will highlight how Washington willingly gave up power after two terms as president, the aide said, setting up a contrast with Trump, who would not accept the results…
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