Jen O’Malley Dillon, the chair of President Biden’s reelection campaign, said one swing state won’t actually be a battleground in the upcoming election.
During her interview with Puck News on Monday, O’Malley Dillon pointed to North Carolina as a swing state. Yet, when asked if Florida was as well, she simply responded, “No.”
Her statement directly conflicts with Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison’s recent remarks about the state.
Just last week, Harrison told ABC Action News in Tampa, “That’s why I’m here now. We’re opening offices. I feel good about the direction that we’re going.”
Harrison added, “And I believe that in November of this year, once again, we’re going to be saying, ‘Florida, Florida, Florida.’”
According to a recent Fox News poll former President Donald Trump is outpacing Biden in Florida.
Trump is ahead of Biden by 4 points, with figures showing 50% to 46%. With third-party candidates included, Trump’s lead extends to 7 points, standing at 47% to Biden’s 40%.
O’Malley Dillon, who was Biden’s campaign manager in 2020, believes at least seven states will be battlegrounds this election cycle.
She listed Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina as states that could swing in either direction during the election.
“The job of the campaign is to keep as many battleground states in play for as long as possible so we can navigate any flexibility in the race,” O’Malley Dillon remarked.
“If you look at 2020, Georgia and Arizona weren’t even in play at all at this point, and certainly were not traditional battleground states.”
Dillon noted that the “easiest path” for Biden to get 270 electoral votes is to maintain the “blue wall,” where there is a “lot of core-coalition strength for the president.”
In a separate statement, the Biden campaign dismissed O’Malley Dillon’s take on the Sunshine State.
“Florida is in play for President Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot, the campaign’s battleground states director Dan Kannien told The Hill.
“Trump and his out of touch loyalists are taking the state for granted, while their extreme agenda continues to increase costs and rip away Floridians’ freedoms,” he continued.
“The President has a strong story to tell on the issues that matter most to Floridians, which is why our campaign continues to scale up our presence and investments into the state.”
In a blow to the campaign, two federal judges partially blocked Biden’s student debt relief plan, which aims to benefit millions of borrowers.
Judges in Kansas and Missouri sided with several red states on Monday, halting key parts of the $160 billion plan designed to lower monthly payments and expedite loan forgiveness.
District Judge Daniel Crabtree in Wichita, Kansas, barred the U.S. Department of Education from moving ahead with certain aspects of the plan, which was set to go into effect on July 1.
His ruling came shortly before District Judge John Ross in St. Louis, Missouri, issued a preliminary injunction hampering additional loan forgiveness under the administration’s Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan.
The Biden administration came up with this plan after the Supreme Court thwarted their initial loan forgiveness program. These rulings require the White House to put a pause on canceling federal student debt for those enrolled in the program.
All of the non-sanctuary, non-Communist states are out of your reach Leftists! You have demonstrated your lawlessness vividly by your GET TRUMP extrajudicial contortions of American law! You have created a martyr, a Super-Hero, a Genie that all your scheming and lies cannot force back into the bottle.
Every Dem donation is wasted money. Every scheme to make a simpleton President (again) will fail Bigly! Your switcharoo plan will fail to change the inevitable.
You have “screwed the pooch” Democrats! Too much, too fast!
Americans know who you are!