Biden predicts Kamala will win Pennsylvania as he quietly campaigns in Pittsburgh with John Fetterman

President Joe Biden quietly campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris in Pittsburgh on Saturday, along with Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

Biden’s trip was announced by the White House with very few details shared and was left out of the Harris-Walz campaign’s “day before Saturday,” which detailed Harris’ whereabouts, her VP pick, Gov. Tim Walz, their spouses and others surrogates were included. .

For Pennsylvania, the campaign noted that surrogate Mark Cuban was also in Pittsburgh, Sen. Bernie Sanders was in Erie, and celebrities Kerry Washington, Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio were all in Philly.

But no attention was paid to Biden, nor to Fetterman, whose vocal support for Israel during the Gaza war has made him suddenly unpopular with the party’s far left despite his progressive appeal when he won his Senate seat two years ago.

Still, Biden received a positive reception when he appeared before LiUNA union workers in a small downtown hall — and later when he brought pies from Fiori’s Pizzaria to phone bank volunteers at another union headquarters.

“I have a good feeling about Pennsylvania, we’re going to win Pennsylvania,” the president said there.

As soon as Biden stepped off the plane, Fetterman — dressed in his signature gym shorts and hoodie — greeted him with a hug and then left the group, which included the former Pennsylvania Rep. Conor Lamb, taking a selfie.

The selfie fest for Fetterman continued at the LiUNA union building, located in the downtown theater arts district, and then at the Central Labor Council, where volunteers were doing phone banking.

Pennsylvania is practically a must-win state for Harris or former President Donald Trump — with Fetterman predicting earlier this week that he expected the race to be extremely tight.

After Biden handed his pizza to the volunteers to be served, he worked in the small room where the top phone bankers were gathered.

A female volunteer showed the president a selfie they had taken together earlier and the president said they needed a new one.

As Biden held up the camera, Fetterman crawled into the back and photobombed the photo.

The president’s relegation to small venues and niche audiences — on Friday he addressed Native Americans in Arizona on official business, but in a key swing state — is drastically different from the way he has been used in previous campaign cycles.

Biden used to be that way too the The Democrat was sent to swing states like Pennsylvania — where he can also boast that he was born in Scranton — to help shore up support among the white working class, a group that has flocked to Trump’s MAGA movement.

Senator John Fetterman (right) takes a selfie with (from left) Senator Chris Deluzio, President Joe Biden, Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa and former Representative Conor Lamb as Biden arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport on Saturday

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman (right) takes a selfie with LiUNA union workers Saturday during an event in downtown Pittsburgh with President Joe Biden in support of Vice President Kamala Harris

But with his low approval ratings and propensity for blunders, he is largely sidelined with just 10 days to go.

During a pleasant Thursday aboard Air Force One, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked if it was “strange” that the president had not done a campaign event all week.

He had made an official trip to New Hampshire — which made headlines when he said “lock him up” about Trump, and quickly clarified he meant “politics” — and was heading to Phoenix to apologize to the Native American communities on the federal government’s policies. forcibly send their children to boarding schools.

“I wouldn’t interpret it as strange at all,” Jean-Pierre replied. “Look, the president has been there. He campaigned. He campaigned with her.”

“We’ll have more to share. “I’m telling you, we’ll have more say in what the president will do,” the press secretary said.