Biden, Harris visiting Philadelphia Wednesday to launch Black voter outreach campaign

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — With the 2024 White House race approaching, President Biden will travel to Pennsylvania on Wednesday for another campaign event in Philadelphia.

On his final stop in the Keystone State, Biden will be joined by Vice President Kamala Harris. The president and vice president will appear at Girard College in Fairmount to launch the “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” initiative.

“Today, the Biden-Harris Team is launching Black Voters for Biden-Harris, a national organizing program to reinforce our ongoing historic investments in reaching the backbone of the Biden-Harris coalition – Black voters,” the Biden campaign said in an announcement. “These voters were instrumental in electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020, paving the way for the Biden-Harris administration to deliver record black unemployment, black wealth increased 60%, more black Americans with health coverage than ever before . , and forgiven billions in student loan debt that disproportionately impacts borrowers of color. Now, these same voters will be essential to defeat. [former President Donald] Trump’s racist, toxic agenda at the ballot box – again.”

Biden also plans to visit a Black-owned small business in the city after the event at Girard College, where he will meet with local business owners to “continue discussions around this administration’s commitment to increasing Black wealth.”

Timing and traffic impacts of Biden’s visit

Biden is expected to land at Philadelphia International Airport around 12:55 p.m., where Mayor Cherelle Parker is expected to greet him. He will then travel to Girard College, located in the Fairmount section of the city, for remarks scheduled to begin at approximately 1:30 p.m.

Biden is scheduled to depart PHL at 4:45 p.m., so the evening commute along I-95 south may be affected by delays.

Initiative that aims to mobilize black voters

According to the Biden team, the Black Voters for Biden-Harris campaign involves an eight-figure investment in programming with Black community groups and student and faith-based organizations in swing states and across the country.

Throughout the summer, the coalition will work to increase outreach to Black voters, work to improve education and voter registration, and, according to the campaign, “safeguard the Black vote from continued MAGA attacks.”

“This coalition and the recently announced summer outreach and engagement schedule serve as the next phase of our campaign’s ongoing historic investments in outreach to the backbone of the Biden-Harris coalition – Black voters,” said Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks wrote in part in a statement. “While we are busy working to gain the support of Black America – Donald Trump continues to show how ignorant he is. Organizing clumsy rap concerts to hide the fact that he lacks the resources and expertise to genuinely engage our community.”

According to Pew Research Center92% of black voters opted for Biden in 2020, compared to 8% of those who voted for Trump.

The launch of Black Voters for Biden-Harris is the Democratic incumbent’s latest move to court black voters. Earlier this month, Mr. Biden delivered the graduation speech at Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta, before traveling to Detroit to meet with black businesspeople and speak at the NAACP’s “Fight for Freedom Fund” dinner.

In a March CBS News Poll in Georgia, 82% of black voters said they would vote for Biden, compared with 88% in a 2020 exit poll. In an April CBS News poll in Michigan, Biden won the support of 77% of black voters , with other third-party options on the ballot.

Biden and Harris making frequent visits to Pennsylvania

The president has already made several visits to Pennsylvania this year, most recently in April, when I spent three days crisscrossing the community for appearances in Pittsburgh, Scranton and Philadelphia.

While in Philadelphia on April 18, Biden was endorsed by members of the Kennedy family during an event at the Martin Luther King Jr. Rec Center.

Harris has also been to Pennsylvania several times this campaign season. On May 21, the vice president was the keynote speaker at the SEIU International Convention. Earlier this month, the vice president appeared alongside actress Sheryl Lee Ralph in Montgomery County for a discussion about access to abortion and women’s health care.

In April, a CBS News Poll found that Biden and Trump were in a tight race in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, all of which proved to be key battleground states.

After exchanging criticism in speeches and on social media, Biden and Trump agreed to meet for two debates before the November elections, first on June 27th and again on September 10th.