President Joe Biden revs up Philly Democrats by slamming Trump as focus turns to voter turnout in the city

President Joe Biden said former President Donald Trump has “become unhinged” and framed the Republican’s perspective as “old and failed,” a message the president used to rev up a room of Philadelphia Democrats just three weeks before Election Day.

“He’s become unhinged. Look at his rallies,” Biden said of Trump before invoking a town hall event the Republican nominee held Monday in Montgomery County that went off the rails. “[Trump] stood on the stage for 30 minutes and danced. I’m serious. What’s wrong with this guy?”

But Biden, after repeatedly hitting Trump’s record, ended his 20-minute remarks on a hopeful note, saying turning out voters in the city could make Vice President Kamala Harris his successor — a stark reminder of the pressure on Philadelphia voters as the presidential race could hinge on Pennsylvania and its largest city.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, especially here in Pennsylvania, especially here in Philadelphia,” Biden said Tuesday night. “How you go is going to determine the election.”

The Democratic president was the guest of honor at a fundraiser for the Democratic City Committee, held at the Sheet Metal Workers Banquet Hall on Columbus Boulevard. The event, with tickets starting at $75 for young Democrats and $20,000 for hosts, drew a raucous crowd of more than 600 people wielding signs reading: “Thank you, Joe.” Lt. Gov. Austin Davis and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker were among the bevy of elected officials in attendance.

Just before Biden spoke in the city, first lady Jill Biden campaigned in the Philadelphia suburbs, stopping at a phone-banking event in West Chester and a college in Blue Bell to stump for Harris. Their appearances came during a busy campaigning week in Pennsylvania, with events featuring both presidential candidates and their running mates.

» READ MORE: The Trump and Harris campaigns are flooding the zone in Pennsylvania this week

The president’s visit, just 21 days before Election Day, also underscored how critical Philadelphia and its collar counties could be for Harris. She is expected to win the deep-blue city, where Democrats far outnumber Republicans, and she must run up the score in voter-rich Southeastern Pennsylvania in order to prevail in the crucial battleground state.

» READ MORE: Six trends that could decide Pennsylvania for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump

However, Trump’s campaign thinks he can perform better in the city than Republican nominees have in the past, given frustration with the economy and his working-class appeal. Polls show Trump has made inroads with Black and Latino voters compared with 2020, when he lost Pennsylvania by about 80,000 votes.

And some Democratic City Committee members have raised alarm this year about the party’s turnout operation, suggesting longtime party chair Bob Brady — a former congressman and a close friend to Biden — wasn’t overseeing a cohesive, citywide strategy.

But Brady and other party leaders projected confidence Tuesday, saying the party and the campaign are working closely to blanket neighborhoods across the city in an effort to turn out voters.

“Many people are working, really pushing it,” Brady said. “People say it’s the most important election in their lifetime. It’s not. It’s the most important election in my mother and father’s life, their mother and father’s life. … We can’t put this nut back in the White House.”

And Parker acknowledged the attention on the city, quipping: “You are Democratic leaders in the largest city in the swingiest state in the nation — no pressure.”

“People are doubting you. They’re thinking we won’t have it. They’re thinking we won’t turn out,” the mayor said. “But I know the commitment to each of you from neighborhoods across the city. You know what we do better than anybody.”

The president spent the majority of his remarks poking at Trump, repeatedly referring to him as a “loser” and ticking through what he sees as the former president’s failures, pointing several times to his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election. Biden won the race, but Trump has for years lied about the results and sown doubt about the electoral system.

“Trump wasn’t only a loser in 2020,” Biden said. “He’s a loser in everything he does.”

The president jabbed at Trump about his refusal to debate Harris for a second time, saying “he’s scared to death” and “knows he’d lose again.” Biden sarcastically referred to Trump as a “great American” after saying Trump’s opposition to a bipartisan immigration bill tanked the legislation.

And Biden at one point used one of Harris’ campaign slogans through a coughing spell. As he took a drink of water, the president uttered: “We’re not going back.”

» READ MORE: The Trump and Harris campaigns are flooding the zone in Pennsylvania this week

Party members, labor leaders, and elected officials heaped praise on the president while they sipped on Miller Lite and noshed on pasta at the event, the party’s annual fall dinner. Brady said Biden has been a friend of the city “for 50 years” and said he spoke to Biden just after he decided to drop out of the presidential race in July and endorse Harris.

“Not many people would sacrifice what he did,” Brady said. “Not many people would put country first.”

And Kevin Poole, a Democratic committee member from the city’s 59th Ward in Northwest Philadelphia, said Biden’s speech served as a call to action.

“I’m all fired up,” Poole said. “We feel like we’re under assault and under attack by Trump, and [Biden] spelled out the specific issues that are needed to make us win, to make us push harder, to believe in ourselves.”

Before her husband began speaking in Philadelphia, Jill Biden campaigned in the suburbs and talked to a crowd of about 200 enthusiastic Harris supporters at Montgomery County Community College. She contrasted Trump with Harris, saying the vice president’s values are “predicated on a lifelong sense of doing for others.”

But Trump, she said, “wakes up every morning and thinks about one person and one person only — himself.”

The first lady said Harris would fight corporate greed, help first-time homebuyers, and restore the right to abortion previously guaranteed under Roe v. Wade. But she got her largest ovation of the night when she spoke of “leaders who put our country first — like Joe Biden,” a reference to her husband’s decision not to run for a second term.

Before her appearance in Montgomery County, Jill Biden — who has worked in education for 40 years — dropped in on a phone-banking event of teachers supporting Harris, saying: “I’m on my fall break, but I still have about 14 midterms to grade.”

With a borrowed cell phone, the first lady called members of the state teachers’ union, reminding them to vote for Harris and Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, who is seeking reelection.

”Hi, this is Jill Biden,” she began each call. When she learned that a teacher she’d contacted worked at Henderson High School in West Goshen, the first lady responded with nonchalance, saying: “I dated a guy who was a student teacher there.”

The teachers Jill Biden was working alongside said they were motivated by the visit.

”Everything is at stake in this election,” said Caitlin Merto, 39, who teaches communication technology at STEM Academy at Showalter in the Chester Upland School District. “We need a president who’ll put education first.”