Biden pledged to campaign hard for Harris. So far, he’s been mostly a no-show

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the last day of August, President Joe Biden was asked about his fall campaign plans. He promised a Labor Day appearance in Pittsburgh and said he would be “on the road from there on.”

Biden did campaign with Vice President Kamala Harris on Labor Day, but he largely has been a campaign no-show since. Beyond that, sometimes his official events push hers to the background.

Case in point: After Hurricane Helene, Harris scrapped campaign events in Las Vegas to hurry back to Washington for a briefing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. But as Harris stepped to a podium in the command center, Biden was delivering his own storm response comments from the Oval Office, pulling the political spotlight away from his intended successor.

The lack of presidential campaigning and occasional schedule clashes could matter not just for Harris but as Democrats try to hold control of the Senate and retake the House and compete in races further down the ballot.

Even former President Barack Obama announced he will campaign for Harris. Obama will appear in Pittsburgh on Thursday and plans to spend the remaining time before the Nov. 5 election traveling to battleground states. He also recorded ads promoting Democratic Senate candidates in Michigan, Maryland and Florida.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«More election coverage» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-parsely-title=«Related Stories» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> More election coverage <use xlink:href="#link-caret" xmlns:xlink=«http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink»> </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Obama will campaign with Harris in key swing states