Biden and Trump both head to Iowa for dueling campaign stops

Joe Biden
(Image credit: Getty Images)

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are both heading to Iowa on Tuesday for campaign events in what could serve as a preview of a possible 2020 general election face-off.

Biden is set to campaign in eastern Iowa, while Trump has two stops in western Iowa scheduled for the day, ABC News reports.

In a speech, Biden plans to mention Trump by name many times, labeling him an "existential threat" to the United States and saying he hopes the fact that both he and the president are in Iowa on the same day will "be a clarifying event, CBS News reports.

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Biden will also argue that farmers "have been crushed" by the president's "tariff war with China" and that "cashiers at Target ... know more about economics than Trump."

Since jumping into the 2020 Democratic primary, Biden has set his sights mainly on Trump rather than his Democratic opponents, although he also plans to address some criticism from the left on Tuesday, with plans to say, "I believe we have to restore those basic values. I gather some people think that’s a return to the past. I don’t see it that way."

Trump is set to speak on his farm policies in Council Bluffs and then attend a Republican fundraiser. The events taking place on the same day evidently wasn't intentional, although CNN reports "campaign aides said they found the optics humorous."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.