Would Cheri Beasley Campaign With Biden? 'I'm Not Aware of What Their Schedules Are' (2022)

North Carolina’s Democratic Senate nominee kept finding reasons not to appear with President Joe Biden. Asked about inviting Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris onto the campaign trail, “You know, I’m not aware of what their schedules are,” Cheri Beasley said, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Sept. 7, 2022. “We are 62 days away from Election Day. And so we’re going to continue to run our race here in North Carolina.” [1]

“Democratic candidates across the country are increasingly reluctant to associate themselves with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris,” the Free Beacon reported. “Despite asking voters to send them to Washington so they can vote in support of the Biden-Harris agenda, Democrats in swing states want nothing to do with the historically unpopular leaders of their party.” [1]

The video above shows Beasley asked about campaigning with Biden in October 2022. Quotes are from the Free Beacon, Carolina Journal, WRAL and the office of Sen. Ted Budd [1][2][3][4].

”Cheri Is Focused on Her Campaign”

It was not the first time. When Harris visited Durham on Sept. 1, a WRAL reporter asked Beasley’s campaign whether it planned to attend any events with the vice president. “The campaign told Anderson that ‘While the vice president is in North Carolina for an official White House visit, Cheri is focused on her campaign to give North Carolinians a Senator in Washington who will work for them,’” Carolina Journal reported [2].

“Only six days later, Bloomberg reporter Christian Hall reported that Beasley again sidestepped calls to campaign with Biden or Harris,” Carolina Journal reported. Hall said Beasley “wouldn’t commit” to campaigning with the president or vice president [2].

A Map to Yellen’s Event

On Sept. 27, 2022, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen came to Durham, and Republicans made a show of inviting Beasley. “Republicans made this invitation official by hand-delivering a poster-sized event invite to Beasley’s office that included a map to Yellen’s event,” Carolina Journal reported [2].

“Two events were added to Beasley’s schedule — a 1 p.m. meet-and-greet at N.C. Central and a 3 p.m. meet-and-greet at N.C. State — after Yellen’s visit was confirmed,” the outlet reported [2].

“Beasley needs to be upfront with North Carolinians on why she embraces the Biden administration’s policies,” the Republican National Committee’s North Carolina press secretary, Taylor Mazock, told Carolina Journal. “We invite Cheri Beasley to attend the visit of Biden’s Treasury Secretary, given her own support of the Biden administration’s inflationary policies.” [2]

“Scheduling Conflicts”

The pattern went back to the spring. WRAL reported in May 2022 that Beasley “has also skipped recent visits to North Carolina made by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris—absences that have been seen by some political observers as an effort to create separation from an unpopular president.” [3]

“Beasley says scheduling conflicts prevented her from attending,” WRAL reported [3].

WRAL reported: “On the campaign trail, she has been critical of her own party.” Beasley gave her party some credit: “Democrats certainly get credit for making sure to address Covid-19 and making measures available [and] also in passing the bipartisan infrastructure legislation.” Then she added: “But at a time when so many people are struggling, [voters] really do want more and they want to feel some imminent relief right now,” Beasley said [3].

”Historically Unpopular”

The Free Beacon put numbers on it. “Biden has an approval rating of roughly 42 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight, while just 38 percent of Americans approve of Harris’s job performance,” it reported. “In the Tar Heel State, Beasley and Republican candidate Ted Budd are statistically tied.” [1]

Other Democrats did the same. A spokeswoman for Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, running for Senate against Republican J.D. Vance, said Ryan “wants to be the face of this campaign,” the Free Beacon reported, citing the Washington Post [1].

Others ducked, too. “Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.) deflected by suggesting ‘anyone’ is welcome to ‘come to Arizona and let me, you know, show them around the state,’” the Free Beacon reported. “Sen. Michael Bennet’s (D., Colo.) campaign had ‘no comment.’” [1]

“Moderate Positions”

WRAL reported that Beasley, a former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, “is placing a big bet that moderate positions will win over voters.” [3]

Yet on one of the Senate’s biggest fights, she sided with her party’s left. “Beasley supports eliminating the filibuster —the 60-vote threshold required in the U.S. Senate for most legislation, unlike some moderate members of her party,” WRAL reported [3].

By the Numbers

62: days to Election Day when Beasley said she didn’t know the schedules [1].
42%: Biden’s approval, per FiveThirtyEight via the Free Beacon [1].
38%: Harris’s approval, per the Free Beacon [1].
2: campaign events added to Beasley’s schedule the day of Yellen’s visit [2].

What Happened Next

Budd won. Republican Ted Budd “was elected on November 8, 2022,” his Senate office says. His official biography says that in the House, “Senator Budd was a strong supporter of the America First agenda.” [4]

For Biden’s news conference the day after the 2022 midterms, see HYGO News’ page on Nov. 9, 2022. For Harris’s favorite line before those midterms, see the page on Oct. 28, 2022.