Biden Goes for Cherries Not Speeches on Campaign-style Michigan Trip

TRAVERSE CITY, MICH. - President Joe Biden focused on cherries Saturday during a trip to Michigan — and cherry pie and cherry ice cream — and voters who were mask-free as coronavirus restrictions have eased. It had all the hallmarks of a campaign stop that he couldn't make last year.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer greeted Biden when he arrived midday in Traverse City, which is hosting the National Cherry Festival, an event that attracted Presidents Herbert Hoover and Gerald Ford in the past. They skipped the festival in favor of a cherry farm in nearby Antrim County, where Biden pitched his immigration plans while chatting with two couples from Guatemala who were picking fruit. He then greeted a long line of enthusiastic supporters stretched out behind a rope. His trip was billed as part of a broader campaign by the administration to drum up public support for his bipartisan infrastructure package and other polices geared toward families and education. But the president was out for direct contact with voters and refrained from delivering remarks about his policy proposals.