Biden to stump for Newsom on Monday during western swing

President Biden will travel to California on Monday to campaign on behalf of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), one day before the state’s recall election, the White House announced on Thursday.

The campaign rally will take place in Long Beach, Calif., ahead of the election on Sept. 14. The trip on Monday will also include stops in Boise, Idaho, to visit the National Interagency Fire Center; Sacramento, Calif., to survey wildfire damage and Denver, Colo., for a Build Back Better event. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier this week that Biden would travel to California “early next week.” 

On Thursday, she previewed the trip to Boise, Sacramento and Denver, saying the president will speak about the economic impacts of extreme weather and push for investments to fight climate change that are in his Build Back Better plan.

“The president will highlight how wildfire season is now a year-round event because of climate change, that no one is immune to climate change, and how 1 in 3 Americans have been impacted by severe weather events in recent months,” Psaki told reporters.

The president’s trip follows Vice President Harris’s campaign stop for Newsom on Wednesday. Harris, who was a senator from California, spoke at an event in San Leandro, Calif.

She called the recall a “political game” and praised Newsom’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and his support for workers, women and voting rights.

Former President Obama also has extended his support for Newsom this week, cutting an ad in which he tells California voters that they have a “big choice to make” in the election, while also defending Newsom’s pandemic job performance. 

Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder is a leader among dozens of candidates seeking to replace Newsom. However, recent polls have shown a majority of Californians want the governor to remain in office. 

Monday’s trip is Biden’s second campaign stop of his presidency. In July, he campaigned for Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the Virginia gubernatorial race.

On Saturday, Biden is traveling to three memorial sites to mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks and will spend the rest of the weekend at his home in Wilmington, Del.