WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s Cabinet is fanning out nationwide this week to promote ways the administration has worked to reduce costs, a coordinated effort targeting a top issue for voters.
As part of the tour, 18 Cabinet members and senior White House officials will hold more than two dozen events in 15 states in the days leading up to the first presidential debate between Biden and former President Donald Trump.
The stops include presidential battleground states such as Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Pennsylvania, and will feature local officials in tough districts.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, for instance, will hold events in Las Vegas and Reno in Nevada focused on energy costs. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will discuss efforts to reduce housing costs in Minnesota. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su will discuss efforts to boost workers’ wages in Georgia.
Officials will also address conferences, including those of the Communications Workers of America, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
The White House effort complements the Biden campaign’s to sway voters that the incumbent would help the economy if re-elected, a policy issue in which polling has found that Trump holds an advantage. The officials will discuss specific steps the administration has taken on things such as food costs, student loans and health care costs that Republicans have opposed.
“We hear a lot from congressional Republicans. They like to really shine a light on inflation, but they haven’t offered a single proposal,” National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard said in an interview on MSNBC on Monday.
It comes days after Biden released a new direct-to-camera television ad focused on price pressures facing voters. The president cited his middle-class upbringing to say that he understands “many American families are fighting every day to get by.”
“I know what it’s like to struggle,” he said. “That’s why no one, especially a billionaire like Donald Trump will stop me from fighting to lower costs for food and rent.”
The Trump campaign has hammered Biden over inflation at every turn. Ahead of Biden unveiling a new plan to protect from deportation undocumented people who are married to Americans, Trump’s campaign brought the focus back to the economy. Biden “doesn’t care that law-abiding taxpayers, crushed by inflation, are forced to pay for free food, housing, and healthcare for illegals,” Trump’s campaign said in a statement.
The Cabinet tour began Monday and will conclude next Thursday, on the day of the first Biden-Trump debate.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
