President Joe Biden is scheduled to travel to the Lehigh Valley on Friday, the White House announced Tuesday.
The first-term Democrat is expected to visit the Allentown area, according to a White House press release. Additional details were planned for later publication.
“The President will discuss how communities across America are coming back thanks to Bidenomics and his Investing in America program, which ushered in a small business boom, created good-paying jobs with rising wages , strengthened local economies and reduced costs for hard-working families,” the release said.
Biden also visited the Lehigh Valley on July 28, 2021speaking on American business at the Mack Trucks plant in Lower Macungie Township.
As expected, the visit comes a week after Biden’s speech last Friday in Montgomery County, southeastern Pennsylvania, focused on the 2024 presidential election.
Biden warned Friday that Donald Trump’s effort to take back the White House in 2024 poses a serious threat for the country. After a stop at Valley Forge, this visit took place the day before the third anniversary of the violent riot at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of then-President Trump aimed at keeping him in power.
After last week’s shutdown in Pennsylvania, Biden on Monday denounced the “poison” of white supremacy in America, declaring at the site of a deadly racist church shooting in South Carolina that such ideology has no place in America, “not today, not tomorrow, not ever.” The visit was tied to courting the black voters he needs to win re-election.
Friday’s planned visit will take place a few days before the Iowa caucuses on Monday, Jan. 15, the nation’s first event on the presidential election calendar. Iowa Republicans will choose between supporting Trump’s reelection bid or one of his challengers, led by former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. New Hampshire’s first national primary will take place on January 23. Biden is the likely Democratic nominee for president this year.
Biden’s visit comes as Lehigh Valley congresswoman, third-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, faces another re-election challenge, as does U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.
In Washington, D.C., Biden was embroiled in controversy surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who had been hospitalized for days without informing the president or other senior officials. The White House and Pentagon said Monday they were investigating the circumstances of the communications breakdown. Austin has prostate cancer and his recent secret hospitalization was for surgery and later to treat a urinary tract infection related to this operation, doctors said Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Kurt Bresswein can be contacted at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
