Obama to kick off campaign swing for Harris in key battleground state of Pennsylvania

Former President Obama is set to hit the campaign trail for Vice President Harris this month, starting his blitz in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania next week.

Obama’s first campaign stop for Harris will be in the Pittsburgh area Oct. 10, according to a senior campaign official. The former president is then expected to travel to other battleground states in the days leading up to the election.

The former president held a solo fundraiser for Harris in Los Angeles last month, raising $4 million. Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama endorsed Harris less than a week after she took over at the top of the Democratic ticket when President Biden dropped out of the race. The former president was widely seen as having a behind-the-scenes hand in the July pressure campaign for Biden to move aside.

The Obamas’ endorsement was highly anticipated because other Democrats rallied around Harris within a few days of her campaign. It came in the form of a video showing a phone call during which the Democratic couple gave their support for Harris.

Harris and former President Obama’s friendship goes back 20 years to when they met on the campaign trail as he was running for Senate, the senior campaign official noted. Harris was an early supporter of Obama’s successful 2008 presidential bid and knocked on doors for him in Iowa before the caucuses.

The Obamas delivered some of the most memorable speeches at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. The former president called for the nation to move beyond divisiveness, while the former first lady took swings at former President Trump in her remarks.