Planes carrying President Joe Biden and former Presidential Donald Trump landed nearly simultaneously Tuesday in Florida.
Biden headlined campaign events in Palm Beach and Miami as part of his reelection bid, following his write-in victory over Democratic rivals Representative Dean Phillips and author Marianne Williamson in the New Hampshire primary.
The president may be on course for a November rematch with Trump, who claimed 51 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses over Republican rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. DeSantis, the governor of Florida, dropped out of the presidential race before New Hampshire—a state whose voters supported Trump over Haley, 54.5 percent to 44.7 percent. Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor, is expected to be in Florida later this week to campaign.
As the Biden campaign arrived Tuesday in West Palm Beach, the president reportedly had a good view of Trump's personal plane as he deplaned Air Force One, according to the Associated Press.
Air Force One, which took off from Washington, D.C., did not fly directly over Mar-a-Lago on its way into Palm Beach, Bloomberg reporter Jennifer Jacobs said. The president's plane supposedly flew south over the ocean before making a westward approach to the airport.
Biden was at the Pelican Club in Jupiter at about 1:30 p.m., she added, while Trump was at his private golf club in the same city.
Newsweek reached out to the Biden and Trump campaigns via email for comment.
A Biden-Trump race could come down to the wire based on recent polls showing the Republican winning in a head-to-head matchup, despite the ex-president facing myriad legal battles in civil and criminal cases at the state and federal levels. On Friday, Trump learned he has to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3. million in compensation and damages stemming from a second defamation case.
Biden has trailed Trump in Real Clear Politics polling since September, with the most recent poll conducted between January 3 and 24 showing Trump with a hypothetical 4.3 percentage-point lead, 47.3 percent to 43 percent.
While the 2018, 2020 and 2022 elections were three of the highest-turnout U.S. elections in decades, most Americans have soured on a Biden-Trump rematch in 2024.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that about 67 percent of respondents said they were "tired of seeing the same candidates in presidential elections and want someone new." Of those respondents, 18 percent said they would not vote if their major-party choices remained Biden or Trump.
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Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
