PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – With the 2024 race for the White House in full swing, President Biden will travel to Pennsylvania on Wednesday for another campaign event in Philadelphia.
On his latest stop in the Keystone State, Mr. Biden will be joined by Vice President Kamala Harris. The president and vice president will appear at Girard College in Fairmount to launch their “Black Voters for Biden-Harris” initiative.
“Today, Team Biden-Harris is launching Black Voters for Biden-Harris, a national organizing program to amplify our continued historic investments in reaching the backbone of the Biden-Harris coalition – Black voters,” the Biden campaign said in a statement . “These voters were instrumental in the 2020 election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, paving the way for the Biden-Harris administration to achieve a record low black unemployment rate, increase black wealth by 60%, and more Black Americans with health care coverage than ever before , and billions forgiven in student loans that disproportionately impact Black borrowers. Now those same voters will be crucial to the defeat [former President Donald] Trump's racist and toxic agenda at the ballot box – again.”
Mr. 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 entrepreneurs to “continue discussions about this administration's commitment to advancing Black wealth enlarge.”
Timing and traffic impacts of Biden's visit
Mr. Biden will land at Philadelphia International Airport around 12:55 p.m., where Mayor Cherelle Parker will greet him. He will then travel to Girard College, located in the Fairmount section of the city, for remarks beginning around 1:30 p.m.
Mr. Biden is expected to depart PHL at 4:45 p.m., so evening traffic along southbound I-95 could be affected by delays.
Initiative aimed at mobilizing black voters
According to the Biden team, the Black Voters for Biden-Harris campaign includes an eight-figure investment in programming with Black community groups and student and faith organizations in battleground states and across the country.
Over the summer, the coalition will work to expand Black voter reach, improve voter education and registration and, according to the campaign, “protect the Black vote from continued MAGA attacks.”
“This coalition and the newly announced summer outreach and engagement programming serve as the next phase of our campaign's continued historic investments in reaching the backbone of the Biden-Harris coalition – the Black voter,” Deputy Campaign Manager Quentin Fulks said in part a statement. . “While we are busy earning the support of Black America, Donald Trump continues to show how ignorant he is. He organizes janky rap concerts to hide the fact that he does not have the resources and competence to truly engage our community.”
According to the Pew Research CenterIn 2020, 92% of black voters chose Biden, compared to 8% of those who voted for Trump.
The launch of Black Voters for Biden-Harris is the latest move by the Democratic incumbent to court Black voters. Earlier this month, Mr. Biden delivered to the starting address at Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta, before traveling to Detroit to meet with black business owners and address 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 to 88% in a 2020 exit poll. In an April CBS News poll in Michigan, Mr. Biden had the support of 77% of black voters, while other third parties were also on the ballot paper.
Biden and Harris make regular visits to Pennsylvania
The president has already made several visits to Pennsylvania this year, most recently in April when he… spent three days crisscrossing the Commonwealth for performances 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 in Montgomery County for an appearance with actress Sheryl Lee Ralph discussion about access to abortion and women's health care.
In April one CBS News poll found that Mr. Biden and Trump were locked in a close race in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, all of which have emerged as key battleground states.
After trading criticism back and forth in speeches and on social media, Biden and Trump agreed come together for two debates before the November elections, first on June 27 and then again on September 10.
