- "I find it incredibly ironic that a presidential visit to promote an economic agenda requires shutting down a major economic thoroughfare for half the work day.”
A North Raleigh christian school has announced that it will be closed Thursday amid expected disruption from the motorcade of President Joe Biden.
In fact, multiple schools and businesses have announced on social media that they will be closed as security plans to block roads for most of the afternoon. There are two schools on the same block as the event space selected for the Thursday presidential visit. There are six schools in the immediate closure area.
Biden is scheduled to appear at Abbotts Creek Community Center in North Raleigh after landing at Raleigh Durham International Airport around 1pm, and traveling the capital city roads to the location. He is expected to use the event to promote his impact on the national economy and his economic agenda as part of his 2024 re-election campaign.
“The Raleigh Police Department just notified us that Falls of Neuse will be closed to all traffic from 1 – 6 pm,” Neuse Christian Academy administration wrote in a memo to families Tuesday. “Additionally, they stated that everyone must be off campus no later than noon. Roads will be closed from I-540 to Millbrook Road. After much discussion over the challenges of working parents having to pick up at 11 am, we have decided to close tomorrow. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
The impact area is also the primary road to WakeMed North hospital.
“Once again, our schools – and kids – are the victims of a political dog-and-pony show,” said one parent who did not want to be identified. “I find it incredibly ironic that a presidential visit to promote an economic agenda requires shutting down a major economic thoroughfare for half the work day.”
Biden is expected to promote his administration’s economic agenda during the event, which includes $5.7 billion in federal taxpayer money for infrastructure projects in North Carolina. Gov. Roy Cooper has been delivering a similar message to promote federal spending in the state through the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan, and the Inflation Reduction Act.
North Carolina is a target for the Biden Administration as Gov. Roy Cooper expands his national influence as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. Biden/Harris has spent more than $1 million on ad buys in North Carolina and other battleground states.
“Like we did in 2020, the Biden-Harris campaign will shore up the ‘blue wall’ with early investments in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, along with states we defended in 2020 like Nevada and New Hampshire,” the campaign announced in a “Road to Victory” strategy memo released in the spring. “At the same time, we will protect recent Democratic gains in states like Arizona and Georgia, and look to expand the
map even further in states like North Carolina and Florida.”
The event comes just two days after former President Donald Trump handily won the Iowa Caucus for the 2024 primary race with 51% of the vote, followed by Gov. Ron Desantis with 21%, and former governor Niki Haley with 19%.
Former President Barak Obama was the last Democratic presidential candidate to win North Carolina in 2008. Former President Donald Trump won the state in both 2016 and 2020. In an October Civitas poll a majority of likely Republican voters in the state (51.8%) said they would support former president Donald Trump in the primaries.