WASHINGTON– President Joe Biden will travel to North Carolina on Thursday to highlight $82 million in new investments that would connect 16,000 homes to high-speed Internet.
Biden’s re-election campaign has made winning North Carolina and its 16 electoral votes one of its top priorities in this year’s presidential election. The Democrat narrowly lost the state in 2020 by 1.34 percentage points to former President Donald Trump, the current Republican front-runner in what will likely be a political rematch.
The Democratic president plans to use his stop in Raleigh, the state capital, to emphasize that his administration is connecting the poorest communities and businesses to the digital economy.
Polls show the economy has been a weakness for Biden, a reflection of inflation hitting a four-decade high in June 2022. Reducing inflation rates since then has yet to push Biden’s approval ratings return to their levels at the beginning of his presidency.
One way the administration says it has reduced costs for families is by providing discounted internet service to 880,000 households in North Carolina.
The administration is committing a total of $3 billion to build and fund internet connections in North Carolina. The administration estimates that 300,000 more state residents will be able to access the Internet by the end of 2026.