President Joe Biden hit the campaign trail for a campaign-style stop — even if the White House insisted otherwise.

White House officials called Saturday’s labor union rally a “political rally” that Biden was participating in. Biden himself, early on into his remarks, said that this wasn’t “a campaign speech,” but “a speech about the future of this country.” 

But the rally itself had all the hallmarks of a traditional campaign rally: Signs with Biden-Harris 2024 signs, surrogates touting the Biden-Harris agenda and, most importantly, the official rollout of critical union endorsements. 

“We’re doing our endorsement of their re-election a year ahead of time than we would normally do. We’d normally be doing this in March of the election year,” explained Daniel Bauder, President of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO. “The reason that we’re doing it now is because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the most pro-Union administration that we’ve had, certainly in my lifetime, and probably, you know, in the league the last 100 years. Everything about their administration has been worker-forward, worker-focused.”

The rally in Philadelphia comes just over four years after Biden announced his 2020 presidential bid on the Ben Franklin Parkway in the city, and a speech in a labor hall in Pittsburgh. His return to the City of Brotherly Love highlights how critical Pennsylvania and union support will be in his bid for re-election.

“I’ve been doing this a long time, but I’ve never felt a sense of camaraderie, pride that I feel today with you,” said Biden, thanking the crowd for their support and becoming emotional.

Speaking for roughly 25 minutes, Biden highlighted some of his administration’s achievements over the last two and a half years, including the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the CHIPS and Science Act, as well as clean energy and environmental initiatives.

“When Republicans come after what I’ve done, when they come back, try to get rid of all these clean energy investments and try to stop the plan on infrastructure — and guess what? They’re coming for your jobs,” Biden told the crowd.

“I’m looking forward to this campaign and I want you to know why,” said Biden. “We got a story to tell, got a record to run on. Most importantly, we’re not only changing this country, we’re transforming it.”

It’s been a slow roll for the Biden campaign since the president announced his bid for reelection in April. The campaign still doesn’t have headquarters set up in Delaware, though that same White House official said Saturday that one would likely be set up sometime this summer. Saturday’s rally also marks the first real campaign event for Biden’s re-election bid. When pressed why it’s taken so long to get the president on the trail, a White House official said that’s to be expected with the 24/7 demands of being president, pointing to the fact that former President Barack Obama barely campaigned until a Republican nominee was clear in the 2012 race.

“You still have to be president and that is your job, so you’re not going to be campaigning seven days a week,” they said.

“At the end of the day, the way that we’re going to grow this economy is by growing the middle class,” that same White House official said. “The President four years ago said that he was running for president for three reasons: [to] restore the soul of the nation, rebuild the backbone of the nation, the middle class, and unify the nation. And today, what you see is absolute.”

Despite the slow start, many attendees at Saturday’s rally told Spectrum News they were excited to back Biden in 2024.

“I’m just happy to support the Biden-Harris agenda,” said Philip Cisco, a member of the Service Employees International Union. “I come from a hardworking family. We’re all hard workers. I believe out of anybody out there on the ballot right now, nobody has our best interest in mind like [Biden] does.”

“I believe he’s the right man to lead the country,” added Janet Lewis, who has been an SEIU member since 1993. “I believe he has our backs.”

“It’s so important for us to support this ticket for re-election because the investments that have been made by this administration, both in our infrastructure and in other areas within the country, are really starting to pay dividends, and the continuation of those programs is only going to strengthen our economy, strengthen our Social Security, strengthen Medicare, but also these investments in infrastructure,” said Bauder.

Biden will cross the country for a three-day fundraising blitz in California starting Monday, indicating the 2024 election cycle is in full swing.