President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, both coming off powerful performances this week, will face off in dueling rallies in Georgia on Saturday - effectively launching their 2024 campaigns and rekindling the 2020 matchup between the political foes.
Biden, 81, headed to the Peach State fresh off his feisty State of the Union speech on Thursday evening in which he spoke about the need to protect democracy, sparred with heckling Republicans, and called out Trump for his role in the 2021 Capitol riot and for kowtowing to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump, 77, is coming off a dominant performance on Super Tuesday when he cemented his run for the Republican nomination by winning 14 out of the 15 states up for grabs.
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley defeated Trump in Vermont, but suspended her campaign the next day.
In 2020, Biden narrowly won Georgia by about 12,000 votes, becoming the first Democrat to win the state in 30 years.
The 2020 election in Georgia was so close that Trump called Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger urging him to find "11,870" votes to overturn Biden's win — a request that created legal jeopardy for the former president.
Trump was among more than a dozen people charged with conspiring in a wide-ranging scheme to overturn the election in Georgia.
The state is poised to again play a decisive role in this year's contest.
Coming off the State of the Union address, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, first lady Jill Biden and other White House and administration officials are fanning out across the country to campaign.
The barnstorming tour coincides with the Biden campaign announcing that they will spend $30 million on ads over the next six weeks.
The campaign unveiled a new ad on Saturday that shows Biden taking concerns about his age head on.
"Look I'm not a young guy. That's no secret," the president says in remarks that echo his Thursday night speech. "But here's the deal, I understand how to get things done for the American people."
Trump will hold a rally in Rome, Ga., in the district represented by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who heckled Biden on immigration and the death of Laken Riley during the speech.
An undocumented migrant from Venezuela has been charged in her death.
Later, Biden will hold an event in the Atlanta area, trying to solidify the suburban vote that helped propel him to a win in the state in 2020.
