Biden to visit Michigan next week

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will visit Michigan next week as he expands his travel schedule in the final sprint to Election Day.

The former vice president’s campaign said Biden will visit the Wolverine State on Wednesday in his latest trip to a crucial battleground state.

Biden’s said last week he will resume campaign travel after Labor Day after largely remaining in his home state of Delaware for months during the coronavirus pandemic. He said at the time he plans on going to Arizona, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, all swing states this November.

“Here’s the deal. We plan on [campaigning], without jeopardizing or violating state rules about how many people can in fact assemble,” he said, according to a pool report of his remarks. “So what we’re working on is how I get out. I’m going to be traveling throughout the country where I can do it consistent with the state rules about how many people can be assembled.”

The former vice president was in Kenosha, Wis., on Thursday amid unrest in the city following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, which reenergized protests over systemic racism and police brutality.

Biden used his appearance in Wisconsin to hit President Trump’s response to the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, calling it an example of failed leadership on the topic of race.

“It’s not all [Trump’s] fault,” Biden said. “But it legitimized a dark side of human nature. What it did though, was also expose what had not been paid enough attention to. The underlying racism that is institutionalized in the United States that still exists and has for 400 years. So we end up with a circumstance like we have here in Kenosha.”

Biden is traveling to Michigan next week as he and Trump battle for support in several Midwestern states.

Trump won Michigan by just over 10,000 votes in 2016, marking the first time since 1988 that a Republican presidential nominee won there.

Biden got a boost in Michigan on Thursday when he received the endorsement of former Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who helmed the state between 2011 and 2018.

The RealClearPolitics polling average shows Biden ahead of Trump in Michigan by 2.6 points.