President Biden seeks to remain relevant in the political conversation in the final stretch toward Election Day.

NEW CASTLE, Delaware — Like President Joe Biden With his 50 years in elected office nearing its end, he doesn’t seem content to quietly leave the political stage.

One week left until the end Election dayBiden intends to promote his administration’s record and defend Americans’ support Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats on the ballot, whether they want it or not.

He is determined to keep a busy schedule during the final sprint to November 5, even as many in his group seem to stay away from him.

Biden, in an exchange with reporters on Monday, downplayed the fact that he has not campaigned alongside Harris since their joint appearance at the Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh and that he has made few public campaign appearances with Democrats in competitive races. .

“I’ve done a lot of things as a surrogate, and the fact is, I also had to remain president at the same time,” Biden told reporters. after casting your early vote Monday in his home state of Delaware.

Biden said he and Harris still “talk all the time.” He added that he has also made several visits to battleground states in his official capacity in recent months, and plans to do more campaigning in the coming days in Pennsylvania, including his childhood hometown of Scranton.

Officials say Biden also plans to attend a campaign-related event in Maryland on Tuesday with U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, make a series of campaign calls on Thursday and return to the Pennsylvania battleground on Friday to highlight the Democratic support for unions.

Biden said Harris’ campaign is asking him to go “where they think I should be to help them the most.”

he had he promised to run a tough campaign for Democrats after dropping out of school. However, few Democrats have invited him to campaign alongside them since he ended his re-election bid.

The dynamic has meant that the outgoing president has had to choose your spots carefully while trying to remain a relevant voice in a chaotic political season.

On Monday, Trump took to his social media platform to mock Harris and Democrats for keeping Biden at arm’s length.

“Not only have Democrats greatly demeaned and embarrassed corrupt Joe Biden, but they are now demanding that he not be anywhere near Lyin’ Kamala’s campaign,” Trump said on Truth Social. “It’s not enough that they took away his presidency, like candy is taken from a baby, but now they have to embarrass him even more by telling him, “GET LOSE.”

To be sure, not all Democrats are avoiding Biden.

Two Democratic Senate candidates, incumbent Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, campaigned with Biden this month. Both have deep ties to the president.

On Monday, Biden stopped at a breakfast spot near his home outside Wilmington with Rochester, a longtime ally vying to become the first Black woman to represent Delaware in the U.S. Senate.

The night before the breakfast, he formally endorsed Blunt Rochester in a short video his campaign posted on social media. Biden, in his endorsement, praised Blunt Rochester for being “Delaware through and through.”

The four-term House lawmaker has known Biden for about 30 years and is a heavy favorite to win the Democrat-dominated Delaware seat.

At various points in recent weeks, Biden has used friendly campaign trips to troll Trump.

At a Pittsburgh union hall on Saturday, Biden delivered a mostly standard stump speech before veering into a strong attack on Trump supporter Elon Musk. He accused the billionaire tech mogul of working illegally when he first came to the United States to attend college.

The “richest man in the world is now your ally, right?” Biden said, referring to a recent Washington Post report that questioned Musk’s status when he was a student at Stanford University. “Well, that richest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker here when he was here” as a student.

Musk, who was born in South Africa, denies the allegation.

Last week, during a stop at a New Hampshire campaign office to meet with Democratic volunteers, Biden borrowed some of Trump’s tough rhetoric.

“We have to lock him down,” Biden told volunteers, before quickly amending his comments to say he meant Democrats need to “lock him down politically.”

Blunt Rochester joined Biden on Monday as he waited in line for about 40 minutes at a busy early voting location not far from his home.

Biden thought he had one more election left before deciding to end your campaign in July due to Democrats’ growing concerns about their chances of defeating Triumph.

He chatted with voters while waiting in line to cast his ballot and helped push an older woman in a wheelchair in front of him. He handed his ID to a poll worker, who had him sign a form and announced: “Joseph Biden is now voting.”

Outside the electoral college, Biden told reporters that the moment was more “sweet” than bitter. He expressed confidence when asked if he thought Democrats, including Harris, would win.

“I think we will,” he said.

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AP reporter Colleen Long in Washington contributed reporting.