Biden visiting battleground states and expanding staff as his campaign tries to seize the offensive

By JOSH BOAK, SEUNG MIN KIM and WILL WEISSERT
Associated Press

ROSE VALLEY, Pennsylvania (AP) — Fresh off his defiant State of the Union address, President Joe Biden and his senior aides are beginning to barnstorm the country to aggressively sell his vision for a second term to voters. He’s also warning of the Republican alternative. The president will try to ride the post-speech momentum to Pennsylvania and Georgia, two critical swing states that he flipped in 2020 and is rallying to retain in his column this November. He’ll visit Wisconsin and Michigan next week. Biden’s reelection campaign adopted an almost giddy tone Friday after the speech, vowing to stay on the offensive against Donald Trump. Biden would not commit to debating Trump when asked by reporters Friday.