Biden campaign ramping up Pennsylvania GOTV efforts ahead of June 27 debate

President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event on March 8, 2024 in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Biden campaign in Pennsylvania  is launching a statewide mobilization effort ahead of the first presidential debate this week, using more than 1,000 volunteers for canvassing and debate watch parties. 

On Monday, Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti will hold a reproductive rights rally, and the campaign plans  pre-debate events in Philadelphia and the Johnstown-Altoona area on Tuesday, and in Pittsburgh and Erie on Wednesday. The Biden campaign also said it is hosting more than 50 debate watch parties across the state on Thursday. And the weekend after the debate, it will host canvass launches and phone banking events with volunteers. 

During a campaign rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, criticized the parameters of the first debate, which is occurring earlier than usual this cycle, and complained about CNN, the network airing the debate.

“Will anybody be watching the debate on Thursday night?” Trump said. “They’ve taken so much fun out of it. There’s no audience.” Trump is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Virginia the day after the debate.

“This week, on the debate stage, Pennsylvania voters are going to witness the clear choice in this race between President Biden’s vision for America, where freedoms are protected and every Pennsylvanian has a fair shot, versus Donald Trump’s pledge to serve as a dictator on day one, give tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy, and repeatedly attack women’s rights,” Biden Pennsylvania Campaign Manager Nikki Lu said in a statement.

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