Former President Barack Obama will join Vice President Kamala Harris for the first time on the campaign trail this election season with a rally next week in Georgia as Democrats race to turn out more Black voters.
Campaign officials didn’t immediately disclose the location of the Oct. 24 event in the battleground state, which comes a day after former President Donald Trump headlines a rally in Gwinnett County.
It will be Obama’s first stop in Georgia this campaign cycle, and one of a handful of appearances he’s scheduled on the trail. He held his first rally in Pittsburgh earlier this month, and will soon hold events in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.
Obama, the nation’s first Black president remains a popular figure among Democrats. An August YouGov survey found that 94% of Democrats and about half of independent voters still view him favorably.
Democrats hope he can particularly help buoy Harris’ support among Black voters, which a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution polls shows is lower than what President Joe Biden registered in Georgia when he captured the state in 2020.
During his visit to Pittsburgh, Obama had stern words for Black men contemplating sitting out the November election, saying he’s “got a problem” with those who are still up in the air about November.
“Part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that,” Obama said.
He added that “women in our lives have been getting our backs this entire time.”
“When we get in trouble and the system isn’t working for us, they’re the ones out there marching and protesting.”
Former first lady Michelle Obama will also hold a rally with Harris in Michigan on Oct. 26, her first time on the trail for the vice president. She’ll headline an Oct. 29 rally in Atlanta for When We All Vote, a nonpartisan initiative that aims to turn out younger, diverse voters.
Harris has deep ties to Barack Obama dating back two decades when they met on the campaign trail during his U.S. Senate bid in Illinois. And while serving as district attorney of San Francisco in 2007, she trekked to Iowa to knock on doors for his presidential campaign.
Early voting is already underway in Georgia, where polls show a neck-and-neck race between Harris and Trump. Democrats are aggressively working to turn out early votes in deep-blue metro Atlanta counties while also appealing to swing independent voters.
The event with Obama will be Harris’ third stop in Atlanta within a week. She is holding a rally in Atlanta on Saturday followed by a “souls to the polls” drive at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in south DeKalb on Sunday.
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