Biden absent from campaign trail in home state after viral ‘smack’ gaffe

On the eve of Election Day, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is taking center stage as both nominees vie for final votes in the battleground state during a bevy of rallies and campaign stops. 

President Biden, who was born in the Keystone State, however, has already wrapped up his campaigning for the Harris ticket and will be absent from his vice president’s list of campaign events in his old backyard. 

Harris’ Monday schedule includes campaign events in Scranton, Allentown and Reading, as well as a rally in Pittsburgh before her last speech to Pennsylvania voters during a rally in Philadelphia Monday evening. Along the campaign trail, the VP will be joined at various times by supporters and surrogates, such as second gentleman Doug Emhoff, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and a long list of celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Oprah Winfrey. 

Pennsylvania is again a key battleground state this cycle, and is expected to determine the outcome of the overall election. Biden won the Keystone State in his successful 2020 race, after Trump won the state when he squared off against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. 

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President Biden speaks at the Carpenters Local Union 445 “Get Out The Vote” event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 2, 2024. (Ting Shen / AFP via Getty Images)

Biden was born in Scranton and lived there until the age of 10, with the Biden family holding deep roots in the area and state overall.

Biden’s great-grandfather, for example, Edward Francis Blewitt, was a Scranton fixture at the turn of the century. He served as chairman of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1897, was elected to the state Senate in 1906 and co-founded the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in Scranton in 1908. Fast-forward about 100 years, his great-grandson’s last name is emblazoned on street signs and has become synonymous with the city itself. 

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Biden, however, is not scheduled to join Harris during her final pitch to Keystone voters – or elsewhere on the campaign trail – after delivering his final Harris stump speech in Scranton on Saturday. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Harris campaign inquiring about Biden’s absence from his home state in the final stretch of the election, but did not receive replies.

Biden reflected on his love of Pennsylvania and Scranton during his final remarks supporting Harris’ campaign on Saturday, where he spoke to union workers. 

“Scranton becomes part of your heart,” Biden said. “It crawls into your heart. It’s real. It’s not hyperbole. It’s not a joke. It’s real.”

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The former Central Scranton Expressway, now named for President Biden. (Charles Creitz)

The event, however, was underscored by a viral moment about “macho guys” and Biden’s apparent desire to “smack” Republicans. 

“There’s one more thing Trump and his Republican friends want to do: they want another giant tax cut for the wealthy. Now, I know some of you guys are tempted to think it’s macho guys,” he said Saturday. 

“But I tell you what, man, when I lived in Scranton, I said, you remember we used to have a little trouble going down to The Plot once in a while? Green Ridge. But I’m serious. These [are] the kind of guys you’d like to smack in the a—,” Biden continued.

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The comments were ridiculed on social media, as critics argued Biden was intentionally trying to undermine the Harris campaign, comparing it to when Biden suggested Trump supporters were “garbage” last month. 

Bob Woodward’s new book details accounts of President Biden’s alleged senility from more than a year before he stepped down from his re-election campaign. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“I’m not sure I’d have Joe on the campaign trail right now. The Bidenisms are something I’ll miss,” editor-at-large of the Foundation for Economic Education Jon Miltimore remarked.

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“Wonder if @flotus ‘pushed’ an otherwise silent @JoeBiden out front in the closing days of the campaign to talk s— and undermine @TheDemocrats and @KamalaHarris efforts as payback for unceremoniously sacking her man? Nah, it’s all probably just a coincidence,” CNN commentator David Urban joked.

Meghan McCain agreed: “He’s intentionally trying to hurt Harris and no one can convince me differently at this point.”

President Biden stepped aside and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. (Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images)

Biden will leave office on Jan. 20, after initially kicking off the 2024 election cycle fully committed to running for re-election. That plan began crumbling over the summer as concerns mounted over the president’s mental acuity and age following repeated gaffes on the campaign trail and in his official capacity as commander in chief. 

Biden’s June presidential debate against Trump officially opened the floodgates to traditional Democratic allies joining a chorus of calls for Biden to drop out of the race and pass the torch to a younger generation. 

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Biden dropped out in a social media post in July, and shortly after threw his support behind Harris in a follow-up post on X. 

Former President Trump gestures at Desert Diamond Arena, on Thursday, Oct. 31, in Glendale, Arizona. (AP/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

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As Harris crisscrosses the Keystone State, former President Trump has also zeroed-in on Pennsylvania. Trump is holding rallies in both Reading and Pittsburgh on Monday, as well as a rally in North Carolina and another in Michigan Monday evening. 

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.