Cincinnati is rolling out the welcome mat for another member of the White House.
U.S. President Joe Biden will be in Cincinnati on July 21 for a town hall hosted by CNN. The event is expected to be one hour long and will cover "a wide range of issues facing the nation ranging from COVID-19 to the economy," the network said Tuesday.
CNN anchor Don Lemon will moderate, and a limited number of locals will be invited. An event location has not been disclosed.
In its story about the upcoming town hall, CNN notes that U.S. Senator Rob Portman is from Cincinnati. Portman, a Republican who had signed a compromise of Democrat Biden's $580 billion infrastructure deal in June, will vacate his Senate seat in 2022. Several people, including the very conservative, Trump-supporting Josh Mandel, have announced their candidacy. Even right-wing talk show host Geraldo Rivera has entertained becoming an Ohio Senator.
Biden's visit will occur six months after being sworn in on Jan. 21 and about three months after Vice President Kamala Harris met with Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and Cincinnati Metro officials in April about using public transit and other transportation initiatives as economic drivers. While in Cincinnati, Harris stopped by downtown's BlaCk Coffee Lounge to order a house "Wakanda" coffee (Wakanda is the fictional African country in Black Panther and other Marvel Comics/Marvel Entertainment properties).
When becoming President, Biden inherited a severe COVID-19 pandemic and related social, economic and diplomatic disasters from former President Donald Trump, CNN noted.
The event comes as the administration has made progress in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic with a strong vaccine rollout, but concerns are rising over the slowing the pace of vaccinations in recent weeks. The US now faces an uptick in Covid-19 cases, driven in large part by the highly transmissible Delta variant. Forty-five states are experiencing a surge in new cases -- the vast majority among unvaccinated people -- and the daily pace of people becoming fully vaccinated is down 84% since mid-April, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CNN noted that Biden won Hamilton County in the 2020 election — "one of just seven Ohio counties he took from former President Donald Trump in that race. Ohio as a state went for Trump 53.3% to 45.2%," the network said.
The town hall will air at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 21, on CNN's cable network, website, apps and other properties.
But now for the real question: Where should Biden get creamy whip while in Cincinnati?
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