Former President Barack Obama is preparing to begin campaigning for Vice President Harris next week, focusing on key battleground states leading up to Election Day, according to a campaign official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
Mr. Obama, who served as president from 2009 to 2017, will begin campaigning in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania on Thursday, but the state remains one of the closest in the nation, and future developments are uncertain. may tilt significantly. Either candidate.
A Fox News poll of Pennsylvania voters last week found that Harris had a narrow 2-point lead (50% to 48%) over Trump among registered voters, while the race had a lead of 49% among likely voters. They are lined up. In 2020, President Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes.
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Former President Obama speaks at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on August 20th. President Obama is preparing to launch a campaign for Vice President Harris next week, focusing on key battleground states in the run-up to the election. election day. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama formally endorsed Harris as a presidential candidate in July, five days after President Biden ended his 2024 re-election bid in a major announcement.
The 44th president later endorsed Harris at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, saying she was “ready to take office.”
“It's up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in,” President Obama said. “And don't get me wrong, it's going to be a fight.”
“This is someone who has spent her life fighting for people who need a voice and an advocate. Kamala wasn't born into privilege. She worked for what she had. and she actually cares about what happens to other people.'' “
New poll shows whether Harris or Trump is making gains among younger voters
Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago on August 22nd. (Reuters/Mike Seeger)
Harris and Obama's friendship goes back 20 years, to when they met on the campaign trail when Harris was running for the Illinois Senate, a campaign official said. The person said Harris had been an early supporter of the 2008 presidential campaign, even knocking on doors for her in Iowa ahead of the caucuses.
Last month, former President Obama headlined a fundraiser for Harris, which raised $4 million, according to the Washington Post. According to the media, $76 million has been raised so far in fundraising efforts on her behalf (fundraising content and events featuring him).
Jen O'Malley Dillon Harris, who is leading the Harris campaign, is a veteran of two Obama campaigns, also led President Biden's 2020 campaign and built the 2024 strategy from the White House. It's a person.
Other former Obama advisers on the Harris team include David Plouffe, who ran Obama's presidential campaign in 2008 and served as a senior aide during his 2012 reelection victory.
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Vice President Kamala Harris (left) arrives to speak at a campaign event at Ripon University in Ripon, Wisconsin, on Thursday with former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo., right). (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Harris campaigned in the battleground state of Wisconsin on Thursday with former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney and others.
Meanwhile, Trump is scheduled to return to Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday for a campaign event. This will be Butler's first return since the July 13 assassination attempt.
On Wednesday, during a rally in Mint Hill, North Carolina, President Trump said he wanted to return to the venue to “finish the speech.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
