President Joe Biden voted early in the presidential election months after he dramatically dropped out and Kamala Harris replaced him on the Democratic ticket.
The 81-year-old president joined the nearly 50 million Americans who have already voted in what could be one of the closest races in history.
Polls are deadlocked with just eight days left in the campaign and former President Donald Trump and Harris are focused on the seven swing states that will likely decide the winner.
Biden also criticized Elon Musk for handing out $1 million checks to registered voters when he left.
“Tell him I’m registered,” the president joked as he proudly showed off his “I Voted” sticker to the press.
As he entered the polling station in New Castle, he passed a voter wearing a MAGA hat with the message “Elect that son of a bitch again.”
The commander in chief looked like an ordinary citizen as he stood in line with his secret service agents and greeted a woman in a wheelchair.
When he went to cast his vote, he showed his driver’s license to the staff, without being asked.
President Joe Biden voted early in the presidential election months after he dramatically dropped out and Kamala Harris replaced him on the Democratic ticket.
The president participated in early voting on this date four years ago, voting for himself at the top of the list and Harris as his number two.
Four years later, he will now vote for Harris after her surprising decision to abandon her re-election bid in late July.
Biden started his day with breakfast at The Legend Restaurant & Bakery in New Castle, Delaware, alongside Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, who is running for Delaware’s open Senate seat.
Not much polling has been done since the race is not expected to be competitive, but a September poll had Blunt Rochester up 20 points.
Biden hands over his driver’s license as proof of identification while casting his early vote in New Castle, Delaware.
Biden, 81, smiles with his license in hand as he waits to vote alongside other Delaware residents.
The president draws the black curtain that surrounds the ballot boxes after casting his vote.
The commander in chief looked like an ordinary citizen as he stood in line with Secret Service agents and greeted a woman in a wheelchair.
The commander in chief proudly displays his ‘I voted’ sticker while speaking to the media
The 81-year-old president walked past a voter (left) wearing a MAGA hat with the message “I elected that son of a bitch” again before entering the polling station in New Castle.
Since Biden dropped out of the race, due to a disastrous debate performance, he has rarely been seen alongside Democrats in competitive races.
He campaigned in Pittsburgh on Saturday, addressing a smaller group of LiUNA union workers, asking them to help Harris cross the line.
Biden also brought pizza to volunteers doing phone banking at another union headquarters.
He ran with Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman – who is not running for re-election – and who has lost the support of the progressive community for his support of Israel in the midst of the war in Gaza.
Sen. Bob Casey, whose race against Republican David McCormick is tightening, was not present.
Biden leaves The Legend Restaurant & Bakery with Democratic Representative and Senate candidate Lisa Blunt Rochester
This week Biden will travel to Baltimore on official business to talk about infrastructure. He will also return to the swing state of Pennsylvania on Friday, bound for Philadelphia.
The fact that the sitting president is no longer being used on the campaign trail with eight days left says a lot about the challenges Harris faces as she seeks to enact change but is currently in office.
There are currently no planned events in which Biden and Harris will appear together before Election Day.
Biden is not even expected to attend Harris’ speech Tuesday night at the Ellipse, even though it is literally in the president’s backyard.
Axios reported Monday that this is intentional, as Biden’s team has kept open dates for the president to defend Harris, and those days have passed without an invitation.
Harris’ team continues to respond that they will reach out to the president’s people, as they are reluctant to say outright that they believe Biden is a political liability.
Biden greets a woman outside a polling station in New Castle, Delaware, on Monday before casting his vote in the presidential election.
An Axios source compared it to a slow breakup.
However, many people on Biden’s team – including some working on the Delaware-based campaign that Harris inherited – believe that thinking is a mistake, since the president could still shore up support for Harris among white, middle-class men. worker, a demographic that has run with open arms towards the MAGA movement.
It’s reminiscent of Vice President Al Gore keeping President Bill Clinton at arm’s length after the Monica Lewinsky affair during his failed campaign for the White House in 2000.
In retrospect, Clinton’s snub potentially cost him the race, as Gore won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to Republican George W. Bush.
One key difference: Clinton had a 57 percent approval rating and a 38 percent disapproval rating at this point in his presidency.
Biden’s current approval rating is 39 percent.