Iowa Democrats say President Biden making upcoming Iowa stop

DES MOINES — President Joe Biden appears to be headed back to Iowa for the first time since his election in November 2020.

While the White House as of Friday afternoon would not confirm the trip, the Iowa Democratic Party issued a statement trumpeting Biden’s “upcoming” visit to Iowa.

The White House declined to confirm a report from the Des Moines Register that Biden plans to visit Des Moines on Tuesday. Without confirmation from the White House, no details about Biden’s visit were immediately available.

Biden has traveled to other states in recent months to tout federal infrastructure funding. And infrastructure was the theme of the Iowa Democrats’ statement about Biden’s visit.

Iowa will receive roughly $5 billion over five years in new federal funding under the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the White House said when the bill was being approved by Congress.

“I’m thrilled to welcome President Biden back to Iowa,” Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn said in a news release. “Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, we now have the tools to repair Iowa's roads and bridges, connect our rural communities with high-speed internet access, clean up our drinking water, and provide tens of thousands of Iowans with access to affordable health care.”

Biden also may talk about corn-based ethanol, a key issue in the country’s top corn-producing state.

According to a spokesman for POET, a biofuels company based just across Iowa’s northwestern border in Sioux Falls, S.D., Biden is expected to announce a federal waiver that would clear the way for gas stations to sell the E15 blend of ethanol year-round. Currently, E15 cannot be sold in Iowa during the summer.

Biden was last in Iowa on Oct. 30, 2020, for a campaign event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds just four days before the general election. While Biden lost Iowa by 8 percentage points, he defeated Republican President Donald Trump for the White House.

That was Biden’s only visit to Iowa during the general election campaign. He was a frequent visitor to Iowa in the months leading up to the February 2020 Iowa caucuses, in which he finished fourth behind Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

“As Republicans like (Gov.) Kim Reynolds and (U.S. Sen.) Chuck Grassley repeatedly turn their backs on Iowans and take credit for programs passed by Democrats, I’m eager for Iowans to hear directly from our Commander-in-Chief how Democrats are lowering costs for working families, delivering for rural communities, and building a better Iowa,” Wilburn said in his statement.

Republican Party of Iowa State Chairman Jeff Kaufmann also issued a statement about Biden’s pending visit, noting Biden’s low job approval numbers here. Just 35 percent of Iowans approve of Biden’s performance as president while 59 disapprove, according to the most recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, from early March.

“I’d like to welcome Joe Biden back to Iowa, a state he lost by eight points, and where his popularity has sunk even lower today,” Kaufmann said in the statement. “Iowans and Americans are worse off than they were a year ago because of Biden's out-of-touch policies and broken promises. … Maybe a trip back to Iowa will be just what Joe Biden needs to understand what his reckless spending, big government policies are doing to our country.”

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