President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race in July, and in the final days before the election, he is traveling to a key swing state — but not to campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden has largely stayed out of Harris’s campaign efforts, instead sticking to White House events and smaller appearances while the vice president makes the pitch to take his job in January. On Friday, the president will tout his administration’s support for unions in Philadelphia, located in the pivotal swing state of Pennsylvania.
In a sea change, union members are becoming viewed as a persuadable bloc of voters rather than the safe Democratic supporters they’ve been for decades. Former President Donald Trump had made significant inroads with them this cycle, speaking glowingly about them on the trail and inviting Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to speak at the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Biden has long proclaimed himself to be the most “pro-union” president in history, and he will likely echo that claim in the Keystone State on Friday.
In October, Biden has done White House events, which have seemingly been adjacent to Harris campaign focuses, touting efforts made during their administration. He was recently in Arizona holding an event apologizing for the past treatment of Native Americans, he went to Baltimore to discuss his “Investing in America” agenda, and he came to New Hampshire to discuss his efforts to lower prescription drug costs. He was also in Wisconsin at the beginning of the month and talked about replacing lead pipes.
While his activities haven’t been executed in tandem with the Harris campaign, his mistakes and missteps along the way have caused headaches for her more than once.
Harris had criticized Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in the wake of multiple hurricanes battering his state, but Biden undercut that by praising the governor’s handling of the crisis.
The president also made a surprise appearance during a White House press briefing while Harris was taking the stage for a major rally. Biden’s visit to the press room was his first during his time in the White House and took media attention away from the Harris rally.
During a visit on Sept. 11, Biden donned a Trump hat given to him by one of the people at the fire department in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, meant to show the “bipartisan unity” after the terrorist attacks that horrified the country 23 years earlier.
The latest instance of Biden flubbing an appearance came earlier this week when he referred to Trump supporters as “garbage” during an organizing call with Voto Latino.
White House communications went into immediate damage mitigation mode, saying the president was referring to a joke a comedian made about Puerto Rico during a Trump rally on Sunday.
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Harris distanced herself from Biden’s comments, but Trump seized on the remark by showing up to his Green Bay, Wisconsin, rally the next day in a garbage truck.
The president, now entering his final few months in the White House, may have more trouble with the errant comments. The Associated Press reported Thursday that the White House press office altered the stenographed transcript in a bid to clean up what Biden had said.
