Joe Biden: ‘I’m Not Able’ to Campaign in Crowds for Kamala Harris; Secret Service Says ‘It’s Too Dangerous’ 

Election 2024 Harris
Susan Walsh/AP

“I’m not able” to campaign in crowds for Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris because the Secret Service said “it’s too dangerous,” President Joe Biden told a reporter on Monday night.

Biden’s limitations appear to be new rules for the president that coincide with his new job as a Harris campaign surrogate. The Harris campaign announced Monday it would allow Biden to become a top surrogate for her White House bid.

Biden’s reemergence could be a liability for the Harris campaign. Biden, who appears to be the target of damaging leaks after stepping aside as his party’s nominee, is 81 years old and prone to gaffes, with a sour political track record. Only 41 percent approve of Biden’s job performance, while 54 percent disapprove, according to RealClearPolitic’s polling average as of September 2.

Nevertheless, Biden joined Harris in Pittsburgh for a campaign rally at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall. On his return to the White House, a reporter asked him how it was to reemerge as a campaign surrogate after spending weeks at the beach.

“Feels good — except I’m not able to go out into crowds anymore; the Secret Service doesn’t let me,” Biden said. When asked why, Biden replied that the Secret Service told him “it’s too dangerous.”

“No one gets to go out,” he added:

CNN reported on the Harris campaign’s decision to bring Biden into the campaign, along with “how the president can be utilized on the fundraising circuit in the fall”:

Biden told reporters he’s looking forward to hitting the campaign trail after a two-week vacation in California and Delaware. His advisers have spent the past few weeks sketching out what his fall plans will entail on the campaign trail as he looks to burnish his legacy, sources familiar with the situation said.

The president is emerging with an initial roadmap running through Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan over the next five days, visiting the critical “blue wall” states where he narrowly beat former President Donald Trump in 2020. It will include a mix of campaign and official events to promote popular agenda items, offering a blueprint for how he’ll be deployed in the coming months.

There is close coordination between the West Wing, the vice president’s office and the campaign on plans to get Biden on the road where most helpful, a source familiar with the matter said. Exactly where and how often he is deployed could evolve as the race progresses, sources said, as Harris’ campaign faces a truncated period to make its case to voters.

It appears Biden’s usefulness to the swamp is coming to an end, as reports surfaced of the Washington, DC, establishment pushing Biden out to make room for Harris.

Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.

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