Biden reelection campaign offering joint meeting with Obama as ex-president enters 2024 fray early

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is elevating cash for his reelection marketing campaign by providing donors the prospect to satisfy himself and Barack Obama, which means the previous president will probably be coming into the 2024 political fray sooner than he did throughout final yr’s midterms or the final presidential election.

An electronic mail to supporters urged them to donate for an opportunity to “meet President Biden and President Obama” and featured a hypothetical textual content message chain the place Biden writes “Hey pal, what do you say we band collectively to thank some grassroots supporters in individual” and Obama replies “See you there” along with a smiling emoji carrying sun shades.

Biden additionally posted on the X platform, previously referred to as Twitter, “You and a visitor may win a visit to satisfy @BarackObama and me” over a photograph of the 2 posing for a selfie.

Obama has incessantly campaigned for his former vice chairman and Democratic leaders across the nation, although often not this early within the marketing campaign cycle, provided that the 2024 election continues to be about 15 months away.

The previous president campaigned for Democrats in key swing states together with Nevada and Wisconsin within the days earlier than final November’s election, when Democrats defied historic precedent and did much better than anticipated, selecting up a seat within the Senate and solely narrowly shedding management of the Home to Republicans. He additionally did fundraising for the Democratic Nationwide Committee within the yr main up the midterms, just like how he’s now elevating cash for Biden.

And Obama campaigned for Biden amid the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, releasing a joint video together with his former No. 2 that summer season. It featured a socially distanced assembly between the pair that was their first because the pandemic started, and confirmed them in discussions defending the Obama administration’s report whereas criticizing then-President Donald Trump as unworthy of the White Home.

Later that fall, Obama held drive-in occasions for Biden in Florida and reunited together with his former vice chairman for an out of doors rally in Philadelphia the weekend earlier than Election Day. However these efforts solely got here after Obama shunned taking sides throughout the Democrats’ aggressive 2020 presidential major, which Biden rallied to win after opening losses in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

The Biden reelection marketing campaign says its high surrogates, together with Obama, are broadly targeted on the marketing campaign’s present high priorities, which embody fundraising, and that providing a gathering with Biden and Obama to entice donors does not imply the previous president is prone to be out campaigning for Biden anytime quickly.

Since asserting his reelection bid in April, in the meantime, Biden himself has targeted extra on governing than campaigning. To date, the president has attended only one 2024 rally, a June occasion in Philadelphia sponsored by lots of the nation’s high labor organizations.