Jill Biden to join Stacey Abrams for Georgia event

First lady Jill Biden will deliver remarks at a political event with Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams on Friday, the first lady’s office announced.

The event will take place in Atlanta and follow the first lady’s visit with service members at Georgia’s Fort Benning.

The relationship between Abrams and President Biden has been closely watched after Abrams missed a Biden speech about expanding voting rights in Georgia in January. She cited a scheduling conflict at the time.

Questions have since swirled over whether Abrams was trying to distance herself from the president, but both her campaign and the White House downplayed her absence and pushed back on the idea that their relationship was deteriorating. 

Abrams last month said that she would welcome appearances by Biden and Vice President Harris at campaign events, saying there’s “no reticence” on her part.

Abrams is trailing Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in the polls. A recent survey from The Hill and Emerson College found Kemp with a 5-point lead over Abrams, and another poll from Fox News earlier this month showed Kemp leading by 7 points.

The first lady has been traveling all week ahead of the midterm elections and is in Georgia on Thursday and Friday. Her visit to Fort Benning is part of the White House’s Joining Forces initiative and will also include a roundtable with the first lady and military families.

Biden will leave Georgia after the political event with Abrams and travel to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Friday evening ahead of a Saturday event for the administration’s Cancer Moonshot initiative.