WASHINGTON: Former US president Barack Obama will stump for Kamala Harris in key swing states, adding his star power to the Democrat's White House bid in the final month before election day, her campaign said Friday.
Obama, America's first Black president, will make his first appearance next Thursday in the industrial city of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, perhaps the most critical state in Harris's battle with Republican Donald Trump.
The 63-year-old remains an influential voice among Democrats, and he and former first lady Michelle Obama delivered rapturously received speeches backing Harris at the party's national convention in August.
"President Obama believes the stakes of this election could not be more consequential and that is why he is doing everything he can to help elect Vice President Harris, Governor (and vice presidential nominee Tim) Walz and Democrats across the country," Obama's senior advisor Eric Schultz said in a statement.
Obama will campaign in battlegrounds up until election day, Harris's campaign said.
He could have a crucial role in getting out the vote in a desperately tight election against Trump, particularly as Harris seeks to mobilize younger people and Black voters.
The ex-president endorsed Harris, 59, after President Joe Biden dropped out of the White House race in July.
He portrayed Harris -- America's first female, Black and South Asian vice president -- as the political heir to his own trailblazing path in his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Obama led the crowd in chants of "Yes she can" -- a riff on the "Yes he can" chants from his own 2008 campaign -- but warned that 2024 would "still be a tight race in a closely divided country."
While he has pulled in more than $76 million for the Democratic ticket in this year's presidential race, it will be the first time Obama has hit the campaign trail.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden will visit two closely contested 2024 election states next week on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, rescheduling travel delayed because of Hurricane Helene, according to a Biden adviser.
Biden plans to visit Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for events on Harris' behalf, the adviser said.
The states are two of the mostly highly prized in the race for the White House and reflect an indication of how Harris' campaign will use the current president in the waning weeks of the race.
Biden had delayed his travel given the hurricane response, the port strike resolved on Thursday and the Iran attack on Israel on Tuesday.
Biden will continue to prioritize both the hurricane response and the Middle East conflict as he travels, the adviser said.
The hope is that Biden will have a message to sell voters on what they tell public opinion pollsters is their No 1 issue - the economy - after the resolution of the port strike and a strong jobs report on Friday.
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