Biden raising money on Trump’s home turf in Florida

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© Reuters. U.S. President Joe Biden gestures in front of a fallen tree, during his tour of Hurricane Idalia storm destruction, Live Oak, Florida, U.S., September 2, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
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By Trevor Hunnicutt

JUPITER, Florida (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden traveled to Florida on Tuesday to raise funds for his 2024 reelection bid on the home turf of his likely opponent, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

Biden, a Democrat who is seeking another four-year term in the Nov. 5 election, is stopping at fundraising events in Jupiter, near Palm Beach, and in Miami.

Trump, heavily favored to win the Republican nomination for president, has made the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach his home since leaving the White House in January 2021.

Travelers (NYSE:TRV) with the president on Air Force One could see Trump’s private jet on the same tarmac when they landed in Florida, and Biden’s fundraiser took place miles away from a Trump golf course.

Biden’s campaign so far has shown little interest in making a major play to win Florida in 2024 despite the state’s longtime former status as a competitive region for Democrats and Republicans.

In 2020, Trump beat Biden 51.2%-47.9% in Florida, improving on Republicans’ margin of victory there four years earlier despite millions of dollars spent by Biden-aligned Democrats.

Still, the Biden campaign has been eager to tap into the financial resources afforded by the state’s well-to-do residents, and Biden expressed optimism during his first fundraiser that Florida could swing his way.

“I think we can win Florida,” he said.

Floridians were the fourth-largest source of donations to Biden’s 2020 campaign and the third-largest source for Trump’s that year, according to Federal Election Commission data.

Biden and the Democratic Party raised $97 million during the last three months of 2023. Trump raised $45 million in the third quarter, the latest figures available, and not including Republican Party fundraising.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Biden’s fundraising. The Biden campaign declined to comment.

In Jupiter, Biden said Trump and his supporters were dividing the country and reiterated his argument that democracy is at stake in the 2024 election.

“The American consumer is feeling real confidence in the economy that we’re building … Let me tell you who else is noticing this: Donald Trump,” Biden said.

U.S. consumer confidence increased to a two-year high in January amid slowing inflation and expectations that the Federal Reserve would start cutting interest rates soon.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, the lone remaining challenger to Trump for the nomination, was scheduled to be in South Florida for fundraisers on Wednesday and then return to the campaign trail in South Carolina on Thursday, according to a senior campaign official.

Hosts for Biden’s Miami fundraiser include Biden Victory Fund national finance chair Chris Korge. The Palm Beach hosts include lawyer Sean Domnick, according to information obtained by Reuters.