Biden was absent from his home state campaign after the viral ‘smack’ gaffe

On the eve of Election Day, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania takes center stage as both candidates battle for final votes in a battleground state during a series of rallies and campaign stops.

President Biden, who was born in the Keystone State, however, has ended his campaign for the Harris ticket and will not be on his deputy’s list of campaign events in his old backyard.

Harris’ Monday schedule includes campaign events in Scranton, Allentown and Reading, and a rally in Pittsburgh before his final address to Pennsylvania voters during a rally in Philadelphia on Monday evening. On the campaign trail, the VP will be joined at various times by supporters and incumbents, such as second-in-command Doug Emhoff, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and a long list of celebrities like Lady Gaga. and Oprah Winfrey.

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

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Born in Scranton and living there until he was 10, the Biden family has deep roots in the area and across the state.

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

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Biden, however, is not scheduled to join Harris in his final Keystone voter turnout — or anywhere else on the campaign trail — after delivering his final Harris speech in Scranton on Saturday.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House campaign and Harris to ask about Biden’s absence from his home country during the last election, but did not receive an answer.

Biden showed his love for Pennsylvania and Scranton during his final campaign support speech for Harris on Saturday, where he spoke to union workers.

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

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

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

“There is one more thing that Trump and his Republican friends want to do: they want another big tax cut for the rich. Now, I know some of you guys are tempted to think that they are guys,” he said on Saturday.

“But I tell you what, man, when I was still living in Scranton, I said, remember we had trouble going to The Plot once? Green Ridge. But I’m serious. These [are] the kind of guys you’d want to beat in the —-,” Biden continued.

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The comment was derided on social media, with critics saying Biden was deliberately trying to undermine Harris’ campaign, comparing it to when Biden suggested Trump supporters were “scum” last month.

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

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

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“I wonder if @flotus ‘pushed’ the otherwise quiet @JoeBiden in the closing days of the campaign speech — and undermined the efforts of @TheDemocrats and @KamalaHarris in return for unfairly firing her husband? Accidental,” CNN commentator David Urban made a joke.

Meghan McCain agreed: “You’re trying to hurt Harris on purpose and no one can convince me otherwise right now.”

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

Biden will leave office on January 20, after beginning the 2024 election cycle with a full commitment to run for re-election. That plan began to crumble over the summer as concerns grew about the president’s sanity and age following repeated outcries on the campaign trail and in his official role as commander-in-chief.

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

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Biden retracted the social media post in July, and shortly thereafter endorsed Harris in a follow-up tweet to X.

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

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As Harris crossed the Keystone State, former President Trump also entered Pennsylvania. Trump held rallies in Reading and Pittsburgh on Monday, as well as a rally in North Carolina and another in Michigan on Monday evening.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign, exclusive interviews and more on our Fox News Digital election site.