NEW YORK — Biden is expected to make his first public appearance since President Donald Trump tweeted a baseless claim that the Democratic National Committee leaked the name of his father’s slain son and that the vice president’s father was involved.
Biden is expected Friday to address a joint session of Congress, according to a White House official, who declined to be identified.
The appearance comes as the president’s lawyers are trying to block a request to compel Trump to produce documents about his father, former President Joe Biden, that could show how he and Biden helped finance his 2016 presidential campaign.
The vice president is expected later Friday to speak to the American Legion in Washington, D.C., and at a forum for the NAACP in Atlanta.
The White House said the vice presidential hopefuls will discuss the opioid crisis and the need for a comprehensive immigration reform bill, a priority for the president.
The president is also expected to discuss the president-elect’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord.
The two are expected to meet again Friday afternoon at the White House.
A senior administration official said Biden’s trip is planned to be short and to focus on the issues at hand, such as healthcare, education and national security.
The official said the administration was also discussing the need to protect the president, who has expressed concerns about the possibility of his son, Joe, being targeted by an enemy abroad.
Trump has been repeatedly critical of the White Houses handling of the Russian meddling in the 2016 election, saying he believes the president is under surveillance and has demanded an apology.
Boehner, speaking at a campaign event Tuesday, said Trump “just doesn’t believe that the president of the United States should be under investigation, that he should be investigated.”
The speaker said Trump has a “tremendous” need for an apology, adding that it is “in the best interest of the country.”
Boehert, the House speaker, also suggested Trump’s “great disrespect for the Constitution” and the president should apologize.