It wasn’t the way Vice President Kamala Harris wanted to spend the week before the election.

Heading toward Election Day in a tight race, Harris was responding to comments made by President Joe Biden who appeared to call supporters of former President Donald Trump “trash.”

Harris distanced herself from the quote, as she did from Biden throughout his shortened campaign. Biden clarified that he was referring to a shocking comedian who made a disparaging comment about Puerto Rico, not all Trump supporters. “His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable,” Biden said. “That’s all I wanted to say.”

Now, the 81-year-old president, whose career spans 50 years of campaigning, is ramping up his political activity, heading to the most important swing state in the race with just four days until Election Day.

On Friday, Biden will hold an official event at the White House in Philadelphia focused on unions. On Saturday he will attend a political event in his hometown of Scranton. Neither Harris nor Sen. Bob Casey, a longtime Biden ally, are likely to be within earshot. Harris is not scheduled to be in Pennsylvania either day and Casey, who He has also distanced himself from the presidentwill campaign in Beaver County when Biden visits Scranton.

Biden, who walked away from his party’s nomination in July, has a legacy at stake. According to those who know him well, he feels he can help Harris in Pennsylvania in the final days of the race, even amid gaffes that have made Democrats wary of what he might say in the spotlight.

“He loves campaigning; “He is looking forward to continuing to be an important part of this campaign,” said Chris Coons, a friend of Biden and fellow senator from Delaware. “…I think Joe Biden will come to Scranton and Philadelphia because he is loved, has a strong record and wants to continue to be part of the fight against Donald Trump.”

With such a close race and just four days left, the goal is to minimize the risk of any surprises, said Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia-based public affairs strategist.

“At this point, it’s all about Kamala Harris, and she needs to separate herself from Biden,” Ceisler said. “The speeches and demonstrations now have to be about her and they have to be inspiring. (Barack) Obama, (Bill) Clinton and others are better prepared for that task than the president. The recognition of the Democratic base is still there, but the need for him to run is not.”

The “trash” comment was just the most recent example of a verbal conflict. Speaking about Trump in New Hampshire earlier this month, Biden told Democratic campaign workers: “We have to lock him up.” He quickly stopped himself from adding: “Lock him up politically. Leave it out. That’s what we have to do.”

After a hero’s welcome at the Democratic National CommitteeWhere he was praised for walking away from the nomination under intense party pressure, Biden has been less present on the campaign trail. Harris has kept her boss with arm extended as he tries to win a deadlocked race while Biden remains unpopular among most Americans, many of whom blame his administration for inflation.

Biden joined Harris in Pittsburgh in September. He and first lady Jill Biden appeared baffled by Harris in mid-October. During that visit, Biden headlined a Philadelphia Democratic Municipal Committee dinner, chaired by his longtime friend and former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady.

He did his part to help Harris differentiate herself, saying in Philadelphia: “I was loyal to Barack Obama, but I made my own way as president. That’s what Kamala is going to do. “He’s been loyal until now, but he’s going to blaze his own trail.”

Back on the road

For Biden, there is a lot at stake and a long connection to the state that could determine who succeeds him.

“What’s at stake for him is what’s at stake for everyone in this country,” Coons said, noting that a Trump victory would be a marked departure from the priorities of the Biden-Harris administration, particularly on issues that relate with Biden’s legacy, such as his work to repair relations abroad and galvanize support for Ukraine.

Coons warned that Trump’s tax cuts could give fewer people access to the Affordable Care Act, a hallmark of the Obama-Biden administration. Coons said he sees a risk to manufacturing jobs, which increased under Biden, if Trump abandons investments in electric vehicles.

Biden was often called Pennsylvania’s third senator while in Congress, and he spent so much time here on the campaign trail that Pennsylvanians had a kind of direct line to the White House.

Biden, who is irish catholic, lived in Scranton until his family moved to Delaware when he was 10, but the city became the theme of his 2020 race when he ran as a champion of the working class and unions.

“Scranton is a place that goes into your heart and never comes out,” Biden said in April during a visit when he was still the nominee. Biden has not held a public event in Scranton since he walked away from the nomination. He attended a friend’s private funeral there about a month ago.

Northeastern Pennsylvania is a must-win region for both campaigns. Scranton’s allies said it still has a unique appeal there.

“I think he’s been in this game a long time, and this is the World Series for politics, so … I think he wants to play now,” said Ed Mitchell, a veteran Democratic organizer in Lackawanna County. “In Scranton he is highly respected and honored as a native son.”

Virginia McGregor, a longtime Biden supporter and fundraiser, said Wednesday from a Harris rally in Harrisburg that Biden is “loved” in his former hometown. “He’s our guy. “He’s excited to come home and it’s about coming home and making sure everyone knows what to do on Election Day.”

Still, even some allies were processing the “trash” comment with an eye toward his next visit.

“Where Joe failed, as Hillary (Clinton) failed, is to put American citizens who can vote for his opponent in the same degrading terms that they think of their opponent,” said Sam Waltz, former head of the US House of Representatives. . the Delaware News Journal that has known Biden for 50 years.

Waltz, who reported on Biden, knows his family well and lives near him in Greenville. He became close to Biden’s late son, Beau Biden.

“Many, if not most, Trump voters gravitate toward him not because they like him or deify him, but because they are ‘issues voters’ or ‘values ​​voters.’ …By calling those people ‘trash,’ as Hillary called them ‘deplorables,’ Joe Biden risks unnecessarily ‘making it personal,’” Waltz said.

Coons downplayed the impact of Biden’s gaffe.

“Joe Biden represents 50 years of dedicated public service,” his old friend said. “This is someone who deep down you know is fighting for the middle class, for unions, to strengthen the manufacturing industry, doing everything he can to help the American people, and I think that’s the spirit in which he will be received.” “.