First Lady Pool Reports of November 4, 2024

FLOTUS Pool Report #1 - En route to North Carolina

Executive One departed Wilmington International Airport at 10:13 AM for North Carolina, where FLOTUS has several campaign events today.

She boarded in plane at 9:59 AM in a blazer and the Christian Sirano "Vote" dress — the same one she wore at a rally the morning after the June debate.

Traveling with the First Lady today, per her office:
Anthony Bernal, Assistant to the President & Senior Advisor to the First Lady
Marty Browne, Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady
Dr. Patricia Gordon, a friend of the First Lady
Jordan Montoya, Special Assistant to the President and Personal Aide to the First Lady
Mary Robbins, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Presidential Speechwriter for the First Lady
Vanessa Valdivia, Special Assistant to the President & Press Secretary for the First Lady

Background on FLOTUS events today, per the Harris-Walz:
Stop 1: First Lady Jill Biden is kicking off a Harris-Walz canvass launch in Winston-Salem, NC
Speaking program: Jenny Marshall, Forsyth County Democratic Party Chair; First Lady Jill Biden

Stop #2: First Lady Jill Biden drops by a Harris-Walz phone bank in Carrboro, NC

Stop #3: First Lady Jill Biden kicks off a Harris-Walz canvass launch in Durham, NC
Speaking program: Carolina Hidalgo-McCabe, North Carolina Regional Organizer; First Lady Jill Biden

FLOTUS Pool Report #2 - Canvass launch in Winston-Salem

Executive One touched down at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C., at 11:13 PM. Motorcade traveled to a field office in Winston-Salem, N.C., where FLOTUS kicked off a canvass launch for Women for Harris volunteers.

FLOTUS walked into the room to Hall and Oates' "Making My Dreams Come True." She flashed her blazer open to show off her Christian Sirano "Vote dress." "Do you like my outfit?" she asked the volunteers, who cheered loudly in response.

The motorcade arrived at 11:52 AM. Jenny Marshall, chair of the Forsyth County Democratic Party, introduced FLOTUS to an office packed with approximately 75 supporters, by your pooler's count. Marshall called FLOTUS a "relentless advocate and leader" who demonstrated "the power of doing the work for a purpose larger than herself."

FLOTUS began speaking at 12:02 PM. "We love Joe!" a supporter shouted. "I love him, too!" FLOTUS shouted back. She asked for Secret Service to take down the stanchions separating her from the crowd. "Doesn't that feel so much better? Yes!" she said. "Now I feel truly connected to you."

"This is it — just one more day until we elect a new generation of leadership in Kamala Harris and Tim Walz!" FLOTUS said. A supporter yelled "thank God!" as she said it; FLOTUS responded with her own "thank God!"

FLOTUS repeated some of the same lines she's shared at her stops in Pennsylvania yesterday. She noted that "character and temperment matter" in this election, and that Harris is a "calm, decisive, and strong leader" — "the president we all deserve." She called Trump "the other guy" who just "cares about himself."

FLOTUS praised Harris's plans to lower the cost of housing, groceries and prescription drugs, as well as strenghten Social Security and Medicare. She said Harris would "protect our freedoms, like a woman's right to make her own health care decisions — but no one has to abandon their faith or their deeply held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling women what to do."

Apart from responding to volunteer's praise, FLOTUS didn't mention her husband's administration by name. "Are we better off than we were four years ago?" she asked at one point. "Yes!" the room shouted back.

"Let's remember why we fired Trump the first time," FLOTUS said, recalling the morning after the 2016 election when Democrats realized they had lost. "Remember that feeling? So today, let that feeling sustain you, invigorate you, keep you going."

FLOTUS closed by saying that serving as First Lady has been her "life's honor."

Her remarks ended at 12:09 PM. FLOTUS returned to the motorcade, which traveled back to Piedmont International Airport. Wheels up en route to Raleigh-Durham International Airport at 12:59 PM.

FLOTUS Pool Report #3 - Carrboro field office, Durham canvass kick-off and return to Wilmington

Executive One landed at Piedmont Triad International Airport at 1:23 PM. Motorcade departed for a field office in Carrboro, N.C., to greet volunteers at a field office.

FLOTUS walked into the field office at 2:03 PM carrying two boxes of cookies. "They told me not to distract you," she joked with the roughly two dozen volunteers, several of whom had been phone banking as she walked in. "Tomorrow's gonna be a great day!" After her very brief words of encouragement — she spoke for only one minute — FLOTUS introduced herself to volunteers, posing for some photographs as she made her way around the room. She greeted supporters gathered outside the field office before getting into the motorcade and departing.

Motorcade arrived at a field office in Durham, N.C. at 2:40 PM. Carolina Hidalgo-McCabe, North Carolina Regional Organizer, introduced FLOTUS and praised her for "dedicating her career to supporting women and families." She also highlighted FLOTUS's work on behalf of military families, women's health, and the Biden Cancer Moonshot.

FLOTUS began speaking at 2:48 PM. She delivered the same remarks in Durham as she did in Winston-Salem earlier in the day, though was interrupted when the audience broke out in a few spontaneous rounds of "we're not going back!" As her remarks drew to close, FLOTUS again said it has been her "life's honor to be your First Lady." The room erupted in long, loud applause. "You're gonna make me emotional and I gotta say this last line!" she said when the cheering finally died down. "Let's elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz!"

Her remarks concluded at 2:57 PM. FLOTUS briefly greeted supporters lined up along the stanchion ropes. The motorcade returned to Piedmont Triad International Airport; Executive One was wheels up at 3:24 PM.

FLOTUS landed at Wilmington International Airport at 4:35 PM. Your pooler did not see FLOTUS exit the plane but was told she'll spend the night in Wilmington and reunite with POTUS at the White House tomorrow.