WARM SPRINGS, Ga. — Joe Biden made two campaign appearances in Georgia on Tuesday, a visit that signals a sure sign of confidence from the Democrats. 

The state has not voted in support of a Democrat for president since 1992.

What You Need To Know

  • Democratic candidate for president Joe Biden made his first trip to Georgia since becoming the Democratic nominee for president on Tuesday

  • The former vice president made his first stop in Warm Springs, where President Franklin Roosevelt once visited

  • Biden made a call for bipartisanship during his first address, saying he believes we can "unite and heal this nation"

  • Musicians Common and Offset performed separate live sets ahead of Biden's second event in Atlanta

Georgia has increasingly become a draw for Democrats in recent years, as turnout increases among Black voters and the Atlanta suburbs tilt away from the GOP.

Biden acknowledged the region’s history during his first stop in Warm Springs, where natural hot springs offered President Franklin Delano Roosevelt comfort as he battled polio and governed a nation weathering the Great Depression and World War II.

Comparing the endurance of the nation during the second world war to that of the current pandemic, Biden focused on the need for the nation to unify to confront its major challenges.

“(Warm Springs) represented a way forward, a way of restoration, of resilience, of healing,” Biden said. “Though broken, each of us can be healed. As a people and as a country we can overcome this devastating virus.”

The former vice president continued his message of unity as he touched on the growing partisan divide in the country. Saying he wanted to “address” and end fighting between the parties, Biden added that he believes “from the bottom of my heart we can do it.” 

“The divisions in our nation are getting wider… Anger and suspicion are growing and our wounds are getting deeper,” Biden told the crowd. “Many wonder, has it gone too far? Have we passed a point of no return?” 

“I refuse to believe it,” he continued. “I know this country, I know our people, and I know we can unite and heal this nation.”

Biden went after President Trump and his administration for saying they can’t contain the virus, calling it a “capitulation” and “a waving of a white flag” on the virus.

The Democratic presidential candidate said it revealed “the shocking truth of this White House: that they’ve never really tried” to deal with the pandemic. He says Trump “turned a crisis into a tragedy.”

Biden warned that “with winter at hand, it’s getting worse,” noting the surging number of cases across the U.S.

The former vice president opened his second stop of the day in Atlanta with a bit of added star power, with rappers Common and Offset performing separate live sets ahead of the event.

Following his performance, Offset admitted, "this is my first year voting ... I was told I couldn't vote because I had a bad past," before urging young people to vote.

At the start of his address, Biden thanked local Democratic candidates in attendance for their support, and in turn offered them his own. There are several high-profile elections occurring across the state, including for both senate seats. 

In one senate race, Democrat Jon Ossoff is looking to unseat Republican Sen. David Perdue, a close ally of President Trump.

Georgia’s other senate race, a special election, includes multiple candidates vying for the seat Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler currently occupies. In January, Loeffler was appointed to replace then-Senator Johnny Isakson, who resigned midway through his term in 2019 due to health concerns.

"Let’s give the people of Georgia two new senators who will fight for your interests, not for Donald Trump's interests,” Biden said. "And not continue — as Perdue and others have — to make fun of my running mate."

At a rally earlier this month, Sen. Perdue made a spectacle of struggling to pronounce the name of Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, with critics accusing Georgia’s senior senator of mocking her and being out of touch with the rapidly diversifying state.

Perdue addressed the controversy at a campaign bus stop in Statesboro the day after the rally, saying: “I absolutely meant no disrespect to the Senator from California. My role in this is to point out the differences in what their agenda is and what our agenda is.”

During his final stop in Georgia on Tuesday, Biden acknowledged his atypical decision to campaign in the state — but said he felt it was well worth the trip.

“There aren't a lot of pundits who would have guessed four years ago that a Democratic candidate for president in 2020 would be campaigning in Georgia in the final week of the election,” Biden said. “Or that we'd have such competitive senate races in Georgia, but we do!"

Concluding his speech with a final push for voters to cast their ballots, Biden said if “we win Georgia, we win everything.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.