President Biden returns to the campaign trail on Tuesday with a visit to his childhood hometown of Scranton to begin three consecutive days of campaigning in Pennsylvania. While the Democratic incumbent is holding events in the battleground state, his 2024 opponent, Donald Trump, is forced to spend the day in a New York City courtroom for the first ever criminal trial of a former president.
Biden plans to use Scranton, a working class city of roughly 75,000 people, as the backdrop to pitch his new tax plan. His travels through Pennsylvania overlap with the start of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s criminal hush money case against Trump.
Day two of the New York City trial continues with the jury selection at approximately 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree relating to alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels during his successful 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump has been ordered to attend the court proceedings Tuesday and every day of the trial. Judge Juan Merchan told Trump that if he fails to be present, a warrant will be issued for his arrest.
TRUMP HUSH MONEY TRIAL ENTERS DAY TWO AS JURY SELECTION CONTINUES
Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks out of the courtroom following the first day of jury selection at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 15, 2024, in New York City. Former President Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first of his criminal cases to go to trial. (Jabin Botsford-Pool/Getty Images)
Biden plans to spend Tuesday night in Scranton before continuing to Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning. He is expected to then briefly visit the White House, but intends to return to Pennsylvania on Thursday, with an event in Philadelphia.
Scranton, Biden’s first destination, blends the personal and political for Biden as he grew up in a three-story colonial home in the Green Ridge neighborhood. His family later moved to Delaware, the state Biden ultimately represented in the U.S. Senate.
“It’s hard to draw paths to Biden winning the White House that don’t involve Pennsylvania,” said Daniel Hopkins, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
President Biden will draw a stark contrast with Donald Trump on April 16, 2024, when he visits his birthplace in Scranton, Pennsylvania — while his election rival is stuck in a New York courtroom. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
President Joe Biden will return to his childhood hometown of Scranton on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, to kick off three straight days of campaigning in Pennsylvania, capitalizing on the opportunity to crisscross the battleground state while Donald Trump spends the week in a New York City courtroom for his first criminal trial. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
Harry Truman, in 1948, was the last Democrat to become president who did not win the state.
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His opportunity to campaign comes as Trump is sequestered in a courtroom, defending himself against criminal charges. If convicted, Trump could be sentenced to time behind bars.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court with his legal team ahead of the start of jury selection in New York, NY on Monday, April 15, 2024. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts last year.
As Monday showed, however, the criminal case against the former president continues to struggle against worries that Trump will get a fair trial.
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Yesterday afternoon, 96 prospective jurors were sworn in but more than 50 of them were almost immediately excused for admitting they could not serve as impartial jurors.
“It’s a scam. It’s a political witch hunt,” Trump said after court adjourned Monday.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower after departing Manhattan Criminal Court on April 15, 2024, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump held a campaign event ahead of his criminal trial in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania on April 13, 2024. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Judge Juan Merchan, who Trump has repeatedly criticized as being partisan and serving the interest of Democrats, addressed Trump directly before calling the prospective jurors into the courtroom.
NEW YORK JUDGE IMPOSES GAG ORDER ON TRUMP IN BRAGG HUSH MONEY CASE
The judge told Trump that if he fails to be present, a warrant will be issued for his arrest. Judge Merchan also told Trump that he has a right to be present at the trial, but that if he disrupts the proceedings he would be removed. Trump nodded after hearing the instructions.
Traffic passes a sign on the highway at Scranton, Pennsylvania on April 15, 2024. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images)
Judge Merchan denied Trump’s request to be excused from the trial next Thursday, after the president expressed he wanted to attend arguments at the Supreme Court about presidential immunity. The judge has not yet ruled on whether the trial will be adjourned so Trump can attend his son Barron’s high school graduation.
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Before jury selection began, Judge Merchan again denied the defense’s request to recuse himself.
Judge Merchan also set a hearing for next Tuesday, April 23 to discuss possible sanctions for Trump violating the gag order.