President Joe Biden used a story about his great-grandfather and striking miners in 19th-century Pennsylvania to say Kamala Harris is the new champion of workers’ rights in a speech to union members on Labor Day.
The 81-year-old commander in chief repeatedly joked about his age as he campaigned for the first time with the vice president who replaced him on the Democratic ticket.
He referred to his former relative who was the second Catholic elected in the Keystone State in 1906, and how he was accused of being a “Molly Maguire.”
Biden mentioned members of a secret society of Irish immigrants who, in the 1840s, killed coal mine foremen if they took advantage of workers and dumped their bodies on their family’s doorstep.
“They accuse my great-grandfather of being a Molly when he wasn’t, but we’re very disappointed,” Biden said before stating that “that’s a joke.”
Kamala Harris and Joe Biden made their first campaign appearance together in Pittsburgh, rallying union members
The duo kicked off their campaign rally in Pittsburgh, rallying union members in the critical battleground state.
The packed crowd, which was loud and raucous, had a rainbow of support: the unions represented on the T-shirts worn by the crowd were the IBEW in green shirts, the Iron Workers (blue), the SEIU (purple), and the United Steelworkers (gray).
And, in a sign that the torch had truly been passed, Biden spoke first, introducing his former running mate, who is now the star. The two even appeared in matching outfits: navy suits with a light blue dress shirt.
Biden, 81, lavishly praised her, describing her as someone who had “the backbone of a ramrod and the moral compass of a saint.”
He also called her a “true friend” of workers and then bragged about how many jobs his administration has created before attacking Trump.
“Do you think this guy cares about your pensions?” he said to cheers from the crowd. “I’m serious. Do you think he wastes a moment of sleep over that? Or does he think he cares about all the work you do every day?”
And then she said of Trump and picket lines: “He’d rather cross one than walk it, when I have no problem walking on a picket line.”
The president concluded his remarks with a resounding endorsement of Harris: “I know she will be a good president,” and declared that she knows what she is doing.
President Joe Biden gives Kamala Harris a kiss on the forehead
“I promise you that if you elect Kamala Harris as president it will be the best decision you’ve ever made,” he told the crowd.
He held her hand as she spoke. When she finished, they hugged. Biden kissed her on the forehead.
Harris was effusively complimentary of Biden. “Thank you, Joe,” she said when he introduced her.
He then paid tribute to the labor movement, saying that “when unions are strong, America is strong.”
“We fight for workers. We fight for families,” he said to thunderous applause.
He also pledged to “always support American steelworkers” and called for the company to remain under American ownership, as opposed to an attempt by a Japanese company to buy it.
The atmosphere was festive. Union workers were seen carrying plastic cups filled with beer. Cakes were on hand.
The crowd chanted “thanks, Joe” during Biden’s first joint campaign appearance with Vice President Harris after she replaced him as the nominee.
Before their remarks, Harris and Biden held a small meeting with union workers and their families before addressing a larger crowd. There were plenty of smiles, hugs and selfies as Harris and Biden, who remained close to each other, worked the room.
The date and session of their first campaign rally together are significant: It will take place on Labor Day in a must-win state.
But their journey is overshadowed by the war in the Middle East.
Before heading out to campaign that day, Harris joined Biden in the Situation Room to meet with the U.S. hostage deal negotiating team to discuss efforts to free the remaining hostages.
Israel said Sunday morning it had recovered the bodies of six hostages, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The deaths prompted thousands of people to protest in the streets of Israel.
Harris has backed Biden’s efforts to arm Israel and reach a deal on hostage-taking and a ceasefire. She has also expressed concern about the treatment of civilians in Gaza.
He then headed to Detroit, where he spoke with union workers before traveling on to Pennsylvania.
He spent most of his remarks praising unions and the work they do.
“On Labor Day and every day, we celebrate the dignity of work. We celebrate unions, because unions helped build America,” he said.
He said unions were demanding fair wages, better benefits and safer working conditions.
“Everyone in our nation has benefited from that work. You may not be a union member, but you better thank a union member,” he said.
“When unions are strong, America is strong.”
Both Michigan and Pennsylvania make up the Democrats’ “blue wall,” a series of Midwestern states that are seen as critical to retaining the White House. Biden won both states in the 2020 election, but Donald Trump won them in 2016.
They were joined in Pittsburgh by Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was a candidate to be Harris’ running mate.
Harris and her campaign have been cautious about deploying Biden. The president dropped out of the ticket in July when Democrats began to worry that he would lose to Trump and drag them down with him.
But he may still be an effective surrogate among older voters, white men and in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born and considers his second home.
The rest of the week will be spent on his own: on Thursday, the president will be in Wisconsin (another “blue wall” state) to promote his administration’s investment in that state’s communities. On Friday, he will go to Michigan to do the same.
Kamala Harris poses for a photo with the daughters of a union member while campaigning with President Joe Biden at IBEW Local #5 in Pittsburgh
Vice President Kamala Harris greets Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and his daughter Harper upon their arrival in Pittsburgh
Harris poses for a selfie with a union worker
Biden and Harris appeared together on Aug. 15 in Largo, Maryland, at an event promoting the administration’s work to lower prescription drug prices. But the visit was an official visit to the White House, not a campaign stop.
They were also together on stage after Biden spoke on the first day of the Democratic National Convention.
Labor Day is the traditional kickoff to the fall campaign season, when millions of voters begin tuning into the race.
Harris and her surrogates are on a massive Labor Day campaign trail: Her running mate, Tim Walz, and his wife, Gwen Walz, will be in Milwaukee, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will be in Newport News, Virginia.
With less than three months until the election, Harris’ campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, maintains that Harris and Walz are the “clear underdogs” in the race.
“Donald Trump has a motivated base of support, with more support and higher favorability than at any time since 2020,” he wrote in a campaign memo, adding that “the race will continue to be incredibly close, and it will take extraordinary work to win over the voters who will decide this election. But we have the candidate, the message, and the operation that unites Americans to chart a new path forward, so we can once again defeat Donald Trump.”
Both parties are worried about complacency: that their voters will simply stay home on Election Day.
Unions are a key element of Democratic coherence and can help turn out voters. Biden was the first sitting president to join a picket line, when he marched alongside striking autoworkers in Michigan.
Harris has the backing of the United Auto Workers union, which has a strong presence in Michigan, and the United Steelworkers union, which dominates western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh.
The biggest union backer Harris’s campaign lacks is the Teamsters, which has so far refrained from endorsing Harris or Trump.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greet union workers
Kamala Harris speaks at a Labor Day event at Northwestern High School in Detroit, Michigan
Harris’ campaign notes that under the administration, support for union membership has grown to its highest level in half a century.
The administration also extended overtime pay protections for workers and helped create millions of union jobs through the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Pittsburgh stop is Harris’ ninth trip to Pennsylvania this year, while the Detroit visit is her sixth to Michigan in 2024.
Polls in Michigan and Pennsylvania show Harris and Trump tied.
The Trump campaign has not publicly announced any events for Labor Day weekend.
The former president will participate in a town hall on FOX on Wednesday hosted by Sean Hannity, and later this week he will address the Fraternal Order of Police at its fall meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, and hold a rally in Wisconsin.