Harris gets back on the trail as Biden recovers from COVID

PROVINCETOWN, Mass./REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Vice President Harris was back on the campaign trail this weekend, raising money for the Biden-Harris ticket on Cape Cod while President Biden remained sidelined by a case of COVID in his beach house in Delaware.

In a large tent near the the harbor, hundreds of Democratic donors cheered and waved fans imprinted with "Veeptown" — a play on P-Town, as the beach town known for its LGBTQ history and community is called.

Harris focused on former President Donald Trump's policies that removed protections for discrimination for LGBTQ people for health care, employment, and students and his ban on transgender military service.

She said Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, "undoubtedly will be a rubber stamp for Trump's extremist anti-LGBTQ agenda," citing legislation he proposed that would ban gender-affirming care. That prompted a yell of "Go get 'em, Kamala!" from one of the donors.

Harris is in the spotlight as Biden is sidelined

The fundraiser came as the future of Biden's campaign is in question. A disastrous debate against Trump three weeks ago fueled a growing chorus of calls from Democratic party officials and donors for Biden, 81, to end his bid for a second term and let a younger candidate take over. Biden has insisted he will stay in the race.

Harris has not publicly engaged in the debate, and did not mention it in her Provincetown remarks. She praised Biden, saying she was "testifying" that he fights for "everyday working Americans."

But some of the lawmakers asking Biden to step aside have been testifying that Harris should be at the top of the ticket.

On Saturday, Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., called her a "tenacious prosecutor" with the experience to beat Trump. "Joe, I love you and respect you. But the stakes are too high to fail. It's time to pass the torch to Kamala," Takano said in a statement.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. — who has not called for Biden to leave the race — said Harris would unite the party if Biden changes his mind, and praised her for her work on economic issues and abortion rights. "Look — if you're running against a convicted felon, then a prosecutor like Kamala is really a good person to make that case," Warren said on MSBNC.

Biden has said he'll be back on the trail this week

Biden had been pushing back on concerns about his age and abilities, doing a flurry of events in swing states, as well as as a solo press conference and several interviews. But that came to a halt when he tested positive for COVID last week.

His doctor said in a memo on Saturday that Biden's symptoms are improving, though he still has a cough. Since the Republican National Convention ended, the pace of Democrats asking Biden to leave has picked up.

Campaign spokesman Michael Tyler told reporters on Saturday that the president would be back out on the trail next week once he gets the green light from his doctor.