President Joe Biden arrived in Long Beach on Monday, Sept. 13 at about 6:10 p.m. aboard Air Force One.
Biden emerged from the plane at the Long Beach Airport shortly after 6:20 p.m. followed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Both Biden and Newsom were headed to Long Beach Community College where the president spoke at a rally in support of the governor a night ahead of the last day to cast a ballot in the gubernatorial recall election.
According to City News Service, Biden is expected to spend the night in Southern California before he departs on Tuesday morning.
Earlier in the day, Biden made stops at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho and was scheduled to make a stop in Sacramento to “survey wildfire damage.”
On Saturday, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia tweeted his excitement for Biden’s visit.
“Incredibly proud that President Biden is visiting Long Beach on his first trip to California since his election as @POTUS,” Garcia wrote.
Garcia also voiced support for Newsom Monday morning tweeting, “Governor @GavinNewsom has led the state during this enormous health crisis. We need to move forward and beat this pandemic. We look forward to welcoming the Governor today at his final campaign event. Let’s vote NO on this recall.”
Republican talk show host Larry Elder, who is leading in the polls to replace Newson if the recall is successful, dismissed Biden’s support for the governor.
“If Gavin Newsom thinks that flying in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris—not exactly the most admired government officials at the present time—will make him look better, that’s all you need to know about how oblivious and detached Newsom is from a large majority of Californians,” Elder tweeted last week.
California voters will have to wait until after Tuesday to see if Biden’s visit and support for Newsom made a difference in the gubernatorial recall election.
City News Service contributed to this report.
