Former US President Barack Obama will offer some star power to Kamala Harris’ campaign in Pennsylvania, a must-win swing state, on Thursday, as Democrats seek to turn the tide against Donald Trump.
America’s first Black president will hold a rally in Pittsburgh, his first stop on a month-long tour of battleground states, to encourage people to vote early in November’s tense election.
Harris will travel to other swing states, Nevada and Arizona, to reach out to Latino voters, but the White House said the vice president also participated in a virtual briefing on Hurricane Milton, which struck Florida overnight.
Republican former President Trump increased his critiques of Harris and President Joe Biden for their response to the catastrophe, which Biden has labeled a “onslaught of lies.”
“Hopefully on January 20 you’re going to have somebody who’s really going to help you,” Trump said in a video message to the people of Florida, where he lives.
Trump’s campaign also bashed Harris on the economy after US consumer inflation cooled last month, though slightly less than expected. High prices for Americans are one of the biggest issues in the election.
“Kamala Harris’s terrible economic policies continue to hit the American people where it hurts,” spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
In a sign of Pennsylvania’s critical importance to the White House race, Trump rallied there on Wednesday in Biden’s childhood hometown of Scranton. He is heading on Thursday to the auto industry capital of Detroit in Michigan, another battleground.
Harris meanwhile said she had accepted an offer for a CNN town hall on October 23 in Pennsylvania, after Trump turned down a final televised debate with her.
‘All hands on deck’
Democrats are hoping Obama, 63, who served in the White House from 2009 to 2017 before Trump’s single term, will give Harris a boost in a race that is still neck-and-neck.
Despite an initial boost in polls following her stunning replacement of Biden as Democratic contender, as well as a projected $1 billion in fundraising, Harris and Trump remain effectively deadlocked nationwide and in battleground states.
“President Obama believes this is an all hands on deck moment which is why he’ll be doing everything he can to help elect vice president Harris,” said the president’s office.
Obama is likely to discuss the “enormous stakes” of the election and advocate for the “critical early voting period in Pennsylvania,” according to the report.
Democrats have historically preferred early voting over Republicans.
Meanwhile, Trump has frequently spoken out against anything other than day-of voting, blaming mail-in votes for his 2020 defeat to Biden.
Despite his campaign’s efforts to promote early voting, the Republican has also questioned it on occasion.
Obama remains extremely influential in the Democratic Party, and he endorsed Harris, 59, when Biden withdrew out of the race in July.
Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama delivered enthusiastic remarks in support of Harris at the Democratic National Convention in August.
He positioned Harris, America’s first female, Black, and South Asian vice president, as the political heir to his own trailblazing legacy.
Obama led the crowd in shouts of “Yes she can” — a play on the “Yes we can” chants from his own 2008 campaign — but warned that 2024 would “still be a tight race in a closely divided country.”
The former president has also raised more than $76 million for the Democratic ticket in this year’s presidential election.
Former President Bill Clinton is also set to visit battleground areas in the coming days to campaign for Harris, CNN said.