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)
MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germans on Saturday mourned both the victims and their shaken sense of security after a Saudi doctor intentionally drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers, killing at least five people, including a small child, and wounding at least 200 others.
Authorities arrested a 50-year-old man at the site of the attack in Magdeburg on Friday evening and took him into custody for questioning. He has lived in Germany since 2006, practicing medicine in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Magdeburg. officials said.
The state governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters that the death toll rose to five from a previous figure of two and that more than 200 people in total were injured.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that nearly 40 of them "are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them.”
Several German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A., withholding his last name in line with privacy laws, and reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy.
Mourners lit candles and placed flowers outside a church near the market on the cold and gloomy day. Several people stopped and cried. A Berlin church choir whose members witnessed a previous Christmas market attack in 2016 sang Amazing Grace, a hymn about God's mercy, offering their prayers and solidarity with the victims.
There were still no answers Saturday as to what motivated the man to drive his black BMW into a crowd in the eastern German city.
Describing himself as a former Muslim, the suspect shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes, criticizing the religion and congratulating Muslims who left the faith.
He also accused German authorities of failing to do enough to combat what he said was the “Islamism of Europe.” Some described him as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Haseloff said Friday that authorities believed the man acted alone.
The violence shocked Germany and the city, bringing its mayor to the verge of tears and marring a festive event that’s part of a centuries-old German tradition. It prompted several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss. Berlin kept its markets open but has increased its police presence at them.
Germany has suffered a string of extremist attacks in recent years, including a knife attack that killed three people and wounded eight at a festival in the western city of Solingen in August.
Magdeburg is a city of about 240,000 people, west of Berlin, that serves as Saxony-Anhalt’s capital. Friday’s attack came eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
Chancellor Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser traveled to Magdeburg on Saturday, and a memorial service is to take place in the city cathedral in the evening. Faeser ordered flags lowered to half-staff at federal buildings across the country.
Verified bystander footage distributed by the German news agency dpa showed the suspect’s arrest at a tram stop in the middle of the road. A nearby police officer pointing a handgun at the man shouted at him as he lay prone, his head arched up slightly. Other officers swarmed around the suspect and took him into custody.
Thi Linh Chi Nguyen, a 34-year-old manicurist from Vietnam whose salon is located in a mall across from the Christmas market, was on the phone during a break when she heard loud bangs and thought at first they were fireworks. She then saw a car drive through the market at high speed. People screamed and a child was thrown into the air by the car.
Shaking as she described the horror of what she witnessed, she recalled seeing the car bursting out of the market and turning right onto Ernst-Reuter-Allee street and then coming to a standstill at the tram stop where the suspect was arrested.
The number of injured people was overwhelming.
“My husband and I helped them for two hours. He ran back home and grabbed as many blankets as he could find because they didn’t have enough to cover the injured people. And it was so cold," she said.
The market itself was still cordoned off Saturday with red-and-white tape and police vans every 50 meters (yards). Police with machine pistols guarded every entry to the market. Some thermal security blankets still lay on the street.
Christmas markets are a German holiday tradition cherished since the Middle Ages, now successfully exported to much of the Western world.
Aboubakr reported from Cairo and Gera from Warsaw, Poland. Geir Moulson contributed from Berlin.
A blanket lies on a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Policemen guard a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Policemen guard a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, centre, speaks at a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Citizens pay tribute to deaths outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noorozi)
Citizens pay tribute and cry for deaths outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noorozi)
A policeman, right, stands on a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Citizens pay tribute to deaths outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noorozi)
Two firefighters walk through a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A damaged car sits with its doors open after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Police stand at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, after a driver plowed into a group of people at the market late Friday. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Police stand at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, after a driver plowed into a group of people at the market late Friday. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
A damaged car sits with its doors open after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Police officers and police emergency vehicles are seen at the Christmas market in Magdeburg after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Matthias Bein/dpa via AP)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A barrier tape and police vehicles are seen in front of the entrance to the Christmas market in Magdeburg after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Sebastian Kahnert/dpa via AP)
The car that was crashed into a crowd of people at the Magdeburg Christmas market is seen following the attack in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
People mourn in front of St. John's Church for the victims of Friday's attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Matthias Bein/dpa via AP)
Police tape cordons-off a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer stands guard at at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Police officers patrol a cordoned-off area at a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Reiner Haseloff, Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, center, is flanked by Tamara Zieschang, Minister of the Interior and Sport of Saxony-Anhalt, left, and Simone Borris, Mayor of the City of Magdeburg, at a press conference after a car plowed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A police officer guards at a blocked road near a Christmas Market, after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Dörthe Hein/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
Emergency services attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A police officer guards at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
In this screen grab image from video, special police forces attend an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Thomas Schulz/dpa via AP)
Reiner Haseloff (M, CDU), Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, makes a statement after an incident at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A police officer speaks with a man at a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A policeman is seen at the Christmas market where an incident happened in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A firefighter walks through a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after a car drove into a crowd in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
A view of the cordoned-off Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/dpa via AP)
A police officer guards at a blocked road near a Christmas market after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday, Dec. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The car that was crashed into a crowd of people at the Magdeburg Christmas market is seen following the attack in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Security guards stand in front of a cordoned-off Christmas Market after a car crashed into a crowd of people, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The car that was crashed into a crowd of people at the Magdeburg Christmas market is seen following the attack in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday early morning, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Forensics work on a damaged car sitting with its doors open after a driver plowed into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, early Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/dpa via AP)
