First lady launches Biden campaign outreach to veterans, military families in battleground states

First lady Jill Biden will travel to multiple key battleground states on Monday to launch a Biden campaign initiative to connect with veterans and military families and contrast the White House’s record on veterans’ issues with that of former President Trump.

The first lady will spend Monday holding events in Georgia, North Carolina and Florida, three states where the campaign noted there are high populations of veterans and military families. 

Georgia is a key swing state that President Biden carried in 2020, while North Carolina is a state his reelection campaign is hoping to flip in November after narrowly losing it four years ago. Florida has trended increasingly red in recent elections, though Biden officials aren’t ruling it out as a flip opportunity.

In addition to the first lady’s travels, the Biden campaign will hold events to highlight the veterans and military families initiative in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. The president won all six states in 2020, but polls have shown close races in each state between Biden and Trump in the 2024 cycle.

The Biden campaign routinely highlights the president's efforts to secure greater benefits for veterans and his role as a military father, seeking to contrast it with Trump's reported use of the terms "suckers" and "losers" to describe fallen service members, a remark the former president denies using.

“Our veterans and military families are the brave and the bold—who step forward for all of us. They deserve a commander in chief who respects their bravery and understands personally their sacrifice—not one who denigrates them for being willing to put their lives on the line for our democracy,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement on Monday. 

“Veterans and Military Families for Biden-Harris will help underscore the stark contrast voters will see in November: Donald Trump has no respect for our men and women in uniform, their families, or the freedoms many of them fought to defend, calling fallen soldiers suckers and losers,” she added. “Joe Biden is a military father who understands the importance of fighting for veterans every day to earn their support at the ballot box.”

Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden over his handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which resulted in the death of 13 American soldiers. And his campaign has highlighted the former president's efforts while in office

The first lady has been a key surrogate for the president, particularly in connecting with veterans and military families. Supporting those groups has been a major effort during Jill Biden's time as first lady.

Her trips to battleground states comes as an increasing number of elected Democrats suggest President Biden should step aside as the party's nominee following a disastrous debate performance that raised questions about his ability to defeat Trump.