President Joe Biden quietly campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh on Saturday alongside Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.
Biden’s trip was announced by the White House with very few details shared and was left out of the Harris-Walz campaign’s ‘next day to Saturday’, which included Harris’ whereabouts, her vice presidential pick, Gov. Tim Walz, their spouses and other surrogates. .
For Pennsylvania, the campaign mentioned that surrogate Mark Cuban was also in Pittsburgh, Sen. Bernie Sanders was in Erie and celebrities Kerry Washington, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio were all in Philadelphia.
But there was nary a peep about Biden, nor about Fetterman, whose vocal support for Israel amid the war in Gaza has made him suddenly unpopular among the party’s far left, despite his progressive appeal when he won his Senate seat ago. two years.
Still, Biden got a positive reception when he appeared in front of LiUNA union workers at a small downtown location, and later when he brought pastries from Fiori’s Pizzaria to call on bank volunteers at another union headquarters.
‘I feel good about Pennsylvania, we are going to win Pennsylvania,’ the president said there.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (center) photographed a selfie that President Joe Biden (second from right) was taking with a phone banking volunteer Saturday at the Steamfitters Technology Center in Pittsburgh.
As soon as Biden stepped off the plane, Fetterman greeted him (wearing his trademark gym shorts and a hoodie) with a hug and then had the group, which included former Pennsylvania Rep. Conor Lamb, take a selfie.
The selfie fest for Fetterman continued at the LiUNA union building, located in the downtown theater arts district, and then at the Central Labor Council, where volunteers conducted telephone banking.
Pennsylvania is practically a must-win state for Harris or former President Donald Trump; Fetterman predicted earlier this week that he expected the race to be extremely close.
After Biden handed over his pizza to be served to volunteers, he worked in the small room where the top telephone bankers had gathered.
A volunteer showed the president a selfie they had taken together previously and the president said they needed a new one.
As Biden raised the camera, Fetterman slid back and photographed the image.
That the president is relegated to small venues and specific audiences (on Friday he addressed Native Americans in Arizona for official business, but in a key state) is drastically different from how he has been used in previous campaign cycles.
Biden used to be he The Democrat was sent to swing states like Pennsylvania, where he can also boast being born in Scranton, to help shore up support among working-class white men, a group that has gravitated toward Trump’s MAGA movement.
Senator John Fetterman (right) takes a selfie with (from left) Senator Chris Deluzio, President Joe Biden, Pennsylvania State Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, and former Representative Conor Lamb as Biden arrived at the Airport Pittsburgh International on Saturday.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (R) takes a selfie with LiUNA union workers at an event in downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday with President Joe Biden in support of Vice President Kamala Harris.
But with his low approval ratings and his propensity to make mistakes, he has been largely sidelined with just 10 days left.
During a meeting Thursday aboard Air Force One, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked if it was “strange” that the president had not attended any campaign events all week. .
He had made an official trip to New Hampshire – who made headlines when he said “lock him up” about Trump, quickly clarifying that he meant “politically” – and was headed to Phoenix to apologize to Native American communities for the federal government’s policy of sending forcibly sending their children to boarding schools.
“I wouldn’t interpret it as something strange at all,” Jean-Pierre replied. ‘Look, the president has been out there. He has campaigned. He has campaigned with her.
‘We will have more to share. “I tell you we will have more to share about what the president is going to do,” the press secretary said.
