BIDEN TOURS STORM-HIT, DONOR-RICH CALIFORNIA AS HE EYES ‘24 POLL BID
PRESIDENT Joe Biden visited California on Thursday to tour communities devastated by deadly storms and flooding and to assess first-hand the need for additional federal aid in a state whose deep-pocketed Democratic donors will be important to any 2024 reelection bid.
“The country is here for you and with you,” Biden said at Seacliff State Park in Aptos, California. “We are not leaving until things are built back, and built back better than they were before. You can recover from storms. We’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Thursday’s visit took the President to a politically friendly state, one he carried easily in 2020 and which will be crucial to an expected 2024 campaign. In addition to its 54 electoral votes in the next election, California is packed with wealthy Democratic donors, and the President held a series of fundraisers there during an October West Coast swing.
But Biden still faced questions over a brewing political crisis involving the discovery of classified documents at a former office and at his home. The president defended his handling of the matter and criticized the media for its scrutiny.
“We’re fully cooperating, looking forward to getting this resolved quickly. I think you’re going to find there’s nothing there,” Biden said. “I have no regrets. I am following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do—that’s exactly what we’re doing. There’s no there there.”
Damage assessment
BIDEN was met in California by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. The two boarded a helicopter for an aerial tour before visiting an oceanside boardwalk in Capitola, where small businesses were damaged by the storm. The two spoke with residents impacted and first responders to thank them for their efforts.
“It’s devastating what happened,” Biden said.
“We know some of the destruction is going to take years to fully recover and rebuild. But we got to not just rebuild, we got to rebuild better,” he added.
The visit put Biden in a setting in which he has performed well as president, assuring communities struck by natural disasters that the federal government will marshal its resources to help them recover.
He traveled to Florida in October to view storm damage from Hurricane Ian, temporarily sidestepping a political rivalry with that state’s Republican governor, Ron Desantis, a potential 2024 contender.
Biden and Desantis largely ignored their past clashes over the president’s migration policies and other issues, the president did sneak in a jab at climate-denying Republicans: “I think the one thing this is finally ended is a discussion about whether or not there’s climate change, and we should do something about it,” he said.
Their detente was short-lived. A month later, Biden assailed Desantis as “Donald Trump incarnate,” arguing the governor was channeling the former president’s policies and mannerisms.
In Newsom, Biden also invites a sideby-side comparison with a high-profile governor who holds potential presidential aspirations. Like Desantis, Newsom easily cruised to reelection in 2022.