President Joe Biden to visit Wisconsin in wake of debate performance

MADISON — President Joe Biden will visit Madison on Friday in one of his first stops on the trail following last week's debate against former President Donald Trump, his campaign confirmed.

The New York Times previously reported that the White House was considering sending the president to meet with Democratic governors and campaign in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania as he seeks to shore up support following a rocky debate performance.

Several Democratic governors discussed the president's debate performance in a call on Monday, and the president was set to meet with governors both virtually and in person at the White House on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he did not participate in the call with Democratic governors on Monday and does not currently plan to join the Wednesday call. Evers is "tentatively planning to attend" Biden's Friday campaign event in Madison.

Biden stumbled over his words during the debate and at times gave meandering answers, leading some Democrats to call for him to be replaced at the top of the ticket.

Asked last week about the debate, Evers voiced support for Biden because "he’s a man of integrity, he’s helped bring good-paying jobs and infrastructure projects to help build Wisconsin’s economy for the future, he’ll protect reproductive freedom and restore Roe, he’s lowering costs and fighting for working families — and the list goes on.

"At the end of the day, I think the choice in this election is clear, and it’s always been clear. One debate doesn’t change how President Biden has delivered for Wisconsin over the last three and a half years. I supported President Biden four years ago, and I support him still today," Evers said in a statement.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is fending off a challenge from Republican businessman Eric Hovde as she seeks a third term, will not attend Biden's event in Madison. A campaign spokesman said she would continue with an already planned "Fired Up for Tammy" tour, which has stops scheduled in northeastern Wisconsin on Friday.

“Tammy Baldwin is running her own race for the people of Wisconsin,” a campaign spokesman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week in response to questions about whether Baldwin still supported Biden as the nominee. “Her focus will always be on showing up across the state, listening to working Wisconsinites, and fighting to make their lives better.”

Baldwin’s campaign initially declined to say whether Baldwin supported Biden as Democrats’ 2024 nominee before responding, “Tammy supports the president.” She appeared alongside the president when he visited Superior in January but was not present when Biden returned to Wisconsin in March, April and May.

In the days following the debate, several Biden surrogates have visited the state to stump for the president.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat whose endorsement of Biden in 2020 was instrumental to his campaign, met with faith leaders, voting rights activists and local officials for a roundtable discussion at Coffee Makes You Black, a Black-owned business and community space in Milwaukee.

And Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, campaigned for Biden in Milwaukee over the weekend weekend as part of a blitz to mobilize voters and, in Moore’s case, to boost enthusiasm for the president in the Black community.

"With his political career on the rocks, Joe Biden is fleeing to Madison in a desperate attempt to save both his campaign and presidency," Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesman Matt Fisher said in a statement. "The fact Tammy Baldwin refuses to appear with him highlights the dire straits Wisconsin Democrats are facing this November."

No additional details about the president's visit to Madison were immediately available Tuesday afternoon.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at [email protected].

Lawrence Andrea of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed from Washington.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Joe Biden to visit Wisconsin in wake of debate performance