President Joe Biden together with the United States’ Vice President and Democratic Party’s candidate, Kamala Harris, will next week make their first joint campaign trip since Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, the White House announced on Friday.
In a bid to enhance his legacy during his final months in office and back the new Democratic ticket, the two will visit Maryland on Thursday to “highlight the progress being made to reduce costs for the American people,” the White House said.
However, inflation remains a weak spot for Democrats ahead of November’s election, as reported by CBS news.
Harris has fired up the Democratic Party since ascending to the top spot on the ticket after Biden announced he was leaving the race following a disastrous debate against former President Donald Trump that highlighted concerns about his age and mental acuity, LEADERSHIP recalls.
The first female, Black and South Asian vice president in U.S. history has held a series of packed rallies, pulled in record fundraising amounts, and wiped out Trump’s lead in the polls.
In contrast, Mr. Biden has kept a low profile with few public events in what has become a lame-duck presidency with nearly six months left until his successor takes power in January.
The president, who is currently spending a long weekend at his Delaware beach house, was not expected to make any major political appearances in support of Harris until the Democratic National Convention, which starts August 19 in Chicago.
But there have also been signs that Mr. Biden is keen to promote his legacy as he prepares to bow out from a nearly five-decade career in politics.
Part of that is doing whatever he can to help secure Harris’s victory against Trump, his nemesis, and the man he beat in the 2020 election.
Harris was a very visible presence at Biden’s side in a historic moment last week when they both welcomed home U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich and other detainees freed in a huge prisoner swap with Russia.
Harris now wants President Biden’s support in battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan, where he’s still popular, especially with older white voters.
But he would ensure that the spotlight stayed on Harris, embarking mainly on a limited campaign schedule in the fall, according to the outlet.
Biden meanwhile earlier this week warned against any repeat of the events after the 2020 election, when Trump disputed his loss, and his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
In his first interview since dropping out of the race, the president said in an interview for the upcoming “CBS Sunday Morning” he was “not confident at all” of a peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses a second time.
Another priority for Biden’s remaining days in office is to push for a ceasefire to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, an issue that is still dividing Democrats.
The US President and the leaders of Egypt and Qatar have invited the warring parties to resume talks on August 15, the same day of his joint appearance with Harris, to push for a deal.
The president and Harris took part in a Situation Room meeting earlier this week about the Middle East situation.
