WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris hit the campaign trail together for the first time Monday, in a public display of unity after she replaced him as candidate and revived Democratic election hopes.
The 81-year-old president bowed out in late July under mounting pressure after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
His rapid endorsement of Vice President Harris, 59, saw her quickly shore up party support and she became the formal Democratic nominee last month.
Riding a wave of fresh enthusiasm, she has held packed rallies in key swing states across the country and raked in cash donations for the final two-month stretch of the campaign.
Polls show her entry improving the party’s chances at defeating Republican Trump, but with the race still neck and neck.
Kamala Harris says she supports eliminating taxes on tips, like Trump
Harris last appeared with Biden after his speech two weeks ago at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
As she works to define her platform, the vice president has sought to promise changes, while avoiding criticism of Biden’s tenure.
With Monday the national Labor Day holiday, Biden and Harris were expected to argue she would be better for workers than Trump, choosing the union-heavy city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the backdrop.
“The most pro-labor administration in history, under President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, support for union membership has grown to its highest level in half a century,” her campaign said in a statement previewing the day’s events.
Pennsylvania is one of a handful of states that will decide the election, and is viewed as possibly the one on which the outcome will hinge.
Close race
Harris and Biden will speak at a union hall where they will meet local members.
Harris is expected to say that US Steel – which Japan’s Nippon Steel is seeking to buy – should remain domestically owned, a campaign official said.
During a campaign tour last week in swing-state Georgia, Harris held her first in-depth interview since becoming the party standard-bearer, accompanied by her running-mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Harris aimed to stake out a centrist position in the CNN sit-down, insisting she will be tough on illegal immigration and support oil and gas fracking – but not abandon her longtime liberal values.
In her 2020 campaign, she had pledged to ban fracking – a major source of income in Pennsylvania.
Monday’s joint appearance with Biden is also seen as launching the two-month sprint to the November vote, with Labor Day marking the traditional end to the US summer.
Before the Pittsburgh rally, Biden and Harris received a briefing at the White House on ceasefire negotiations in the Israel-Hamas war.
The meeting was added to their schedules late Sunday after six hostages were killed in Gaza over the weekend, including a US citizen.
After the briefing, Harris headed to Detroit, Michigan for another event with union leaders, before joining Biden in Pittsburgh.
Walz was separately to hold an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while Trump and his VP pick J.D. Vance had stops scheduled for later in the week.
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