In desperate need of a boost, President Biden went to a Philly church to ‘feel the love’

The pastor called it divine intervention.

President Joe Biden, in the midst of mounting pressure from Democrats to drop out of the presidential race, went to church in West Oak Lane on Sunday, after a previously scheduled speaking event at a teachers union gathering was canceled.

After saying it would take the “Lord Almighty” for him to suspend his candidacy, which he has acknowledged he may have just days to salvage, Biden got a rousing pep talk from preachers at the largely Black church, Mount Airy Church of God in Christ.

Biden said it was “good to be home,” in a brief but strongly voiced seven-minute speech. He did not stumble over his words as he spoke from prepared remarks at a lectern, saying, “We’re all imperfect beings,” and stressing his commitment to service.

“I’ve been doing this a long time and I, honest to God, have never been more optimistic about America’s future,” he said, adding loudly: “If we stick together.”

Bishop J. Louis Felton, the senior pastor at the church, compared Biden’s current situation to the story of Joseph in the Bible, who was “betrayed by his brothers,” and told him to keep fighting, like Joseph.

“It’s a tough race, it’s a tough battle but we’re coming out of the pit,” Felton said. “We’ve been hurt, we’ve been slandered, but we’re coming out of the pit. Go, Joseph. You can make it, Joseph!”

Biden’s stop in Philadelphia — ahead of another stop in Harrisburg later Sunday afternoon — is part of a blitz of campaign events he’s doing in the aftermath of a disastrous debate performance that has divided some in the party over whether he should continue as the nominee.

A small handful of members of Congress have said they’ve lost faith in his ability to defeat President Donald Trump and called for him to step aside. A larger group of House and Senate Democrats is reportedly keeping quiet and mulling whether to sign onto calls for him to decline the nomination.

Biden also visited a campaign office in Roxborough where he spoke to campaign volunteers without a script. Later, he flew on Air Force One to Harrisburg for an ice cream social campaign event with the first lady at AFSCME Council 13 headquarters.

Biden’s brief remarks in Harrisburg were also unscripted and largely focused on his support for labor unions and early life in Scranton. He struggled at the third event on a few occasions to get some of his stump speech out, and stumbled over a few words.

It was at least Biden’s sixth visit to Philadelphia this year as he continues to campaign in the hugely impactful swing state. The region has also become something of a home base for him in tough moments and no week has been more challenging, politically, than the past one.

Trump, who held a Philadelphia rally late last month, has also prioritized Pennsylvania and announced that he’ll be back for a rally in Butler County, near Pittsburgh, next week.

In Pennsylvania, Biden was flanked by party leaders, including Sen. Bob Casey, who is in his own tough reelection battle; Sen. John Fetterman, who had a bad debate in the 2022 Senate race and has been a vocal defender of Biden; and Gov. Josh Shapiro, another Biden supporter whose name has frequently come up as a possible presidential or vice presidential replacement.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and U.S. Reps. Brendan Boyle and Madeleine Dean also campaigned with Biden on Sunday. The region’s other Democratic House members, U.S. Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, Chrissy Houlahan, and Dwight Evans, who is recovering from a stroke, did not attend the events.

At a visit to a campaign office in Roxborough, Fetterman stood beside Biden and said, “I know what it’s like to have a rough debate and I’m standing here as your senator.”

Dean recalled her time in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the building. ”Democracy is on the line,” she said. “There’s one man who understands it. It’s Joe Biden.”

In Harrisburg, Biden met with Shapiro — who has defended the president and said he supports his reelection — during an unscheduled campaign stop at Denim Coffee, a coffee shop across the street from the state Capitol building. Over a strawberry smoothie (Biden’s order) and an iced coffee (Shapiro’s), they talked, but it was unclear about what. Biden put a $20 bill in the tip jar.

Just a handful of the 213 Democratic members of Congress have publicly called on Biden to leave the race but the next week will be critical as more members are reportedly considering speaking out or signing letters telling Biden his reelection campaign should sunset.

Biden has been adamant about staying in the race telling George Stephanopoulos in a Friday interview that only the “Lord Almighty” could convince him to end his campaign. His team has sought to quell the panic triggered by the debate by scheduling multiple events and interviews, including one with WURD in Philadelphia.

Surrogates have spread out across the country. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential replacement should Biden leave the race, stumped for him in Bucks County this weekend.

But the response has also had its pitfalls. In the ABC interview, Biden downplayed the severity of the concerns, refused to commit to a cognitive test, and said if Trump won, his reaction would be that he did “his goodest.”

Instead of the content of his radio interviews making the news, reports that his campaign sent over suggested questions dominated headlines. The campaign claimed it was a standard practice and not a requirement for interviews. But WURD said on Sunday it was parting ways with the interviewer, Andrea Lawful-Sanders, over the use of prearranged questions in the interview.

A picture of the larger fallout from the debate is still becoming clear. A New York Times poll showed Biden slipping since the debate, trailing Trump by about 6 points nationally. A Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll of battleground states found Biden had actually narrowed the gap with Trump in some swing states since the debate, though it showed his standing in Pennsylvania had fallen.

As the Democratic chaos plays out, some Republicans are trying to capitalize on the moment. Senate GOP candidate Dave McCormick called Casey “Biden’s best friend” in a release accusing Casey of not being honest about Biden’s mental acuity.

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Whatley pointed to Biden’s low approval rating in the state ahead of his visit. “From crippling inflation and housing prices that are making life unaffordable to police shortages and deadly fentanyl that are making communities less safe, it’s no wonder why Pennsylvania voters are lining up to Make America Great Again by supporting President Trump,” he said.

Biden’s campaign has argued that the outcry is more pundit class than real people.

Outside of the church on Sunday, a small group of protesters came out to stress they thought it was time for him to step aside.

Peter Lehu, of Mount Airy, held a sign that read “Thank you Joe, but time to go.”

“I think he needs to step aside and step aside quickly,” Lehu said. “I’m terrified of another Trump presidency. I think the second one would be more disastrous and more dangerous to folks than the first one. And I’m concerned that in all Biden’s public appearances, he doesn’t seem to be able to express himself to offer a rebuttal in a manner that’s going to convince people that he’s going to be the right president for the next four years.”

Lehu said he’d vote for whoever the Democrat is.

Church attendees had more confidence in the president.

“I’d rather have someone who’s honest, loves democracy, and loves the people,” said Fern Hamilton-Strother, of West Oak Lane.

“Why would he drop out? He has my vote, so I expect him to be there.”

Vera Primus of Mount Airy said her “heart is with Biden.”

“He may be tired, but we’re all tired,” Primus said. “What I don’t want is that knucklehead in here who doesn’t care about anybody and lies. I’m sticking with Biden, I don’t care how old he is. He could be in a wheelchair.”