BRYN MAWR, Pa. (AP) — President Joe Biden made a rare jump into the 2024 political battleground fray since taking a step back after ending his reelection bid.
He campaigned Tuesday in Pennsylvania for a close ally after having stopped in Wisconsin to spotlight a signature legislative achievement.
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President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, to discuss his administration's progress in replacing lead pipes in Wisconsin and across the country. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, to discuss his administration's progress in replacing lead pipes in Wisconsin and across the country. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the federal government's response to Hurricane Helene and preparations for Hurricane Milton in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Washington, as Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, left, and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, right, look on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the federal government's response to Hurricane Helene and preparations for Hurricane Milton in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Washington, as Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm looks on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the federal government's response to Hurricane Helene and preparations for Hurricane Milton in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden is greeted by officials after arriving at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden is greeted by officials as he arrives at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden is greeted by Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., right, and other officials after arriving at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden, left, and first lady Jill Biden walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden gestures to the media as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden speaks at the top of the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
FILE - President Joe Biden, right, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris campaign at the IBEW Local Union #5 union hall in Pittsburgh, on Labor Day, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, with Col. Paul Pawluk, Vice Commander of the 89th Airlift Wing. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
But as Biden made a quick swing through the key states, two Democratic senators locked in competitive reelection battles took markedly different approaches to the outgoing president, whose approval ratings in a significant swath of the country remain in the pits.
Biden was fully embraced by Democratic Sen. Bob Casey when participating in a private campaign fundraiser in suburban Philadelphia for the senior Pennsylvania senator. The event overlapped with the Philadelphia Phillies baseball playoff game against the New York Mets.
But in Milwaukee, where Biden spotlighted his administration’s efforts to replace the nation’s toxic lead pipes, incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin was conspicuously absent.
“Democrats in tight races, for the most part, are calculating that the risk of embracing Biden far exceeds any reward that his efforts would bring to their campaign,” said Christopher Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion in Pennsylvania. “There just aren’t many places where he can be of much help to Democrats in competitive races.”
Biden has spent scant time on the campaign trail since ending his reelection effort in July. That makes his stops in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — two tightly contested states that Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump see as crucial — all the more notable.
Casey's and Baldwin's races are also seen as must-wins for Democrats who are trying to maintain their razor-tight control of the Senate.
Biden, after dropping out, pledged to campaign hard for Harris and Democrats. But as the campaign season has played out, he's largely stayed on the sidelines as he remains a flawed surrogate for Harris and down-ballot Democrats.
Still, Democrats are thoroughly united in opposition to Trump, and Biden lambasted his predecessor at both appearances.
In Pennsylvania, Biden highlighted the revelations in the new Bob Woodward book “War” that Trump secretly sent COVID-19 tests to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Democrats have long suggested that Trump's seeming coziness with Putin is a national security risk.
“You see what came out today?" Biden said at the fundraiser. "So he calls his good friend Putin — not a joke — and makes sure he had the tests. He had the tests.”
Casey, running against Republican David McCormick as he seeks a fourth Senate term, has a long-running relationship with Biden and grew up on the same street in Scranton as the president.
Biden noted that he shares “Scranton” values with Casey, whereas Trump has “Mar-a-Lago” values, a reference to the former president's resort and residence in Florida.
Still, Biden, 81, faces considerable skepticism inside a state that — along with Delaware — he considers to be his own. About 4 in 10 Pennsylvania voters had a favorable view of Biden and about 6 in 10 had an unfavorable view, according to a Monmouth University poll published in late September.
In Wisconsin, Baldwin was spending Tuesday on the other side of the state from Biden, attending campaign events and getting an award, according to her campaign and Senate office.
“Senator Baldwin had a previously scheduled event at a family farm in Eau Claire to receive the American Farm Bureau Federation’s ‘Friend of Farm Bureau’ award recognizing her leadership fighting for America’s hardworking farmers, growers, and producers," said Eli Rosen, Baldwin's communications director, in response to a query about why she was skipping the president's visit.
Biden’s favorability in Wisconsin has hovered around 40% for the past year and did not increase after he dropped out of the presidential race this summer, according to a recent Marquette University Law School poll.
Baldwin, who is seeking her third term, is facing Republican Eric Hovde, the CEO of a Wisconsin real estate development company.
She skipped four of Biden’s five appearances in the state this year, but she has appeared with Harris, including speaking to a crowd of more than 10,000 people last month in Madison.
“Baldwin may be able to skip a Biden event, but she cannot avoid the verdict of working families in Wisconsin when they head to the polls,” said Wisconsin GOP chairman Brian Schimming.
Biden's visit to Wisconsin, which has some 340,000 lead pipes, came as the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued a final rule requiring drinking water systems across the country to identify and replace lead pipes within 10 years.
Biden's 2021 infrastructure law provides $15 billion to find and replace the toxic pipes, a legacy the Biden White House says will have an impact on generations to come. Lead can lower IQ and create behavioral problems in children, and the administration believes the legislation will go a long way in removing some 9.2 million lead pipes carrying water to U.S. homes.
Biden used his speech in Milwaukee to take digs at Trump and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., who voted against the infrastructure law. Going back to a stock line, Biden noted that Trump routinely had “infrastructure week” during his own presidency but “he didn't build a damn thing.”
The president's appearance was also a touch wistful as Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers lavished praise on Biden for being a strong partner for Milwaukee, a place Trump once called a “horrible city.”
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, whose district includes Wisconsin’s deeply Democratic capital city of Madison, said Biden’s policies are popular in the battleground state even if polls show he is not. Pocan, who is not in a competitive race, also defended Baldwin not appearing with Biden.
“If you’re in a competitive race, you have your calendar,” he said. “You have a strategy based on where you’re trying to get votes and you don’t change it when you have a surrogate come.”
Next week, Biden’s wife, Jill, is scheduled to campaign for Harris in Madison as part of a five-day effort by the first lady through the battleground states of Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, Harris' campaign and the White House announced Tuesday.
Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press writers Linley Sanders and Matthew Daly in Washington contributed to this report.
President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, to discuss his administration's progress in replacing lead pipes in Wisconsin and across the country. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden speaks at an event at the Milwaukee Department of Public Works in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, to discuss his administration's progress in replacing lead pipes in Wisconsin and across the country. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the federal government's response to Hurricane Helene and preparations for Hurricane Milton in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Washington, as Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, left, and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, right, look on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the federal government's response to Hurricane Helene and preparations for Hurricane Milton in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Washington, as Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm looks on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the federal government's response to Hurricane Helene and preparations for Hurricane Milton in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden is greeted by officials after arriving at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden is greeted by officials as he arrives at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden is greeted by Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., right, and other officials after arriving at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
President Joe Biden, left, and first lady Jill Biden walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden gestures to the media as he walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
President Joe Biden speaks at the top of the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
FILE - President Joe Biden, right, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris campaign at the IBEW Local Union #5 union hall in Pittsburgh, on Labor Day, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, with Col. Paul Pawluk, Vice Commander of the 89th Airlift Wing. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Israel said on Monday it has terminated the agreement facilitating the work of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza, in what appeared to be a step to implement legislation passed last month that would sever ties with the agency and prevent it from operating in Israel.
Israel says the agency, known as UNRWA, has been infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA denies the allegations and says it takes measures to ensure its neutrality.
On Sunday, Israel said its troops had carried out a ground raid into Syria to seize a Syrian it accuses of working with Iran. It was the first time in the current war that Israel announced its troops operated in Syrian territory.
Despite growing pressure from the United States and others in the international community for a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, intensified Israeli strikes against the Hezbollah militant group are expanding beyond Lebanon’s border areas. Israel is also fighting a seemingly endless war against Hamas in northern Gaza.
Since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted last year, at least 2,900 people have been killed and 13,150 wounded in Lebanon, the Health Ministry reports, not including Friday’s toll. Health authorities say that a quarter of those killed were women and children.
More than a year of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 people, Palestinian health officials say. They do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but say more than half of those killed were women and children. The war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducting 250 others.
Here’s the latest:
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Gaza Health Ministry says ambulances are no longer operating in the north of the enclave, where Israel has been waging a renewed offensive for nearly a month.
Eyad Zaqout, a senior ministry official, told reporters Monday that “a large number of injured people are bleeding on the roads.”
The ministry also said in a statement that Israeli forces continue to bombard Kamal Adwan Hospital with strikes on Monday, injuring some staff and patients.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The Civil Defense, first responders operating under the Hamas-run government, said last week that they were no longer able to operate in the north because crews had been fired upon by Israeli forces.
Israel launched its latest offensive in northern Gaza in early October, focusing on Jabaliya, a densely populated, decades-old urban refugee camp where it says Hamas had regrouped. It has also carried out strikes in nearby Beit Lahiya.
Israel has ordered the entire population in northern Gaza to evacuate, and tens of thousands have fled to Gaza City in recent weeks.
The three hospitals serving the northern areas are barely functioning and have been largely cut off by the fighting. Israeli forces raided one of them, saying militants were sheltering there, allegations denied by Palestinian officials.
Israel has also sharply reduced the amount of aid allowed into Gaza, even after a warning from the United States that it could jeopardize American military support.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian officials said Israeli settlers were behind an attack in which several cars were torched overnight just a few kilometers (miles) away from the Palestinian Authority’s headquarters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
No one was wounded in the attack overnight into Monday in Al-Bireh, a city adjacent to Ramallah, where the Western-backed Palestinian Authority is headquartered. An Associated Press reporter counted 18 burned-out cars.
Settler attacks on Palestinians and their property have surged since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel.
But attacks in and around Ramallah, home to senior Palestinian officials and international missions, are rare.
The Palestinian Authority, which administers population centers in the territory, condemned the attack. Israeli police, who handle law enforcement matters involving settlers in the West Bank, said they were investigating.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. The territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy over less than half of the territory.
Over 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship live in scores of settlements across the West Bank, which most of the international community considers illegal.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel said Monday it had terminated the agreement facilitating the work of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza.
It appeared to be the first step in implementing legislation passed last month that would sever ties with the agency, which Israel says has been infiltrated by Hamas, and prevent it from operating in Israel.
The agency, known as UNRWA, denies the allegations and says it takes measures to ensure its neutrality.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it had notified the U.N. of the cancellation of an agreement dating back to 1967 that facilitates UNRWA’s work. It said UNRWA “is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution.”
Aid groups have warned that the legislation could severely hamper UNRWA’s work, creating further obstacles to addressing a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel has said other U.N. agencies and aid groups can fill the gap, but those organizations say UNRWA is essential.
The agency provides education, health and other basic services to Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and their descendants, who now number nearly 6 million. Refugee families make up the majority of Gaza’s population.
Mourners carry the body of Naji al-Baba,16, who the Palestinian Health Ministry said was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Halhul, West Bank, during his funeral on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinians mourn over the body of Naji al-Baba,16, who the Palestinian Health Ministry said was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Halhul, West Bank, during his funeral on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinians mourn over the body of Naji al-Baba,16, who the Palestinian Health Ministry said was killed by Israeli forces in the town of Halhul, West Bank, during his funeral on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
People inspect a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
People search for victims at a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Ghaziyeh town, south Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
People inspect a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Rescue workers search for victims at a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Ghaziyeh town, south Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A man inspects a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Ghaziyeh town, south Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
People search for victims at a destroyed building hit in an Israeli airstrike, in Ghaziyeh town, south Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Palestinians gather to receive bags of flour distributed by UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians gather to receive bags of flour distributed by UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians gather to receive bags of flour distributed by UNRWA, the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)