President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Downtown Scranton streets were blocked off Wednesday as President Joe Biden and his motorcade left the Radisson Station Hotel after 10:40 a.m. on Wednesday.
The motorcade made an unannounced stop at Zummo's Cafe on Marion Street in the Green Ridge section of Scranton. In a photo on the cafe's Facebook, Biden is handed a coffee mug that says "we love Scranton."
While inside, the president worked the room.
“I’m Joe Biden and I went to St Paul’s," he told one patron.
The president then stopped at Scranton Veterans Memorial Park near Scranton High School. He stood silently for a moment at a marker with a POW-MIA sign on the side. He walked to the wall of names, bent down and touched a name, then crossed himself. He stood silently before the wall for a few moments.
At the airport, he told reporters the stop was to honor his uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, who died in World War II. He also referenced former President Donald Trump's refusal to visit a war memorial.
Biden got back on Air Force One around 12:10 to leave for Pittsburgh.
Zummo's Cafe
President Joe Biden is handed a "cup of Joe" at Zummo's Cafe in Scranton before heading to Pittsburgh.
Biden's two-day visit to Scranton was his first of three campaign stops in Pennsylvania this week. He spoke to a group of 200 people at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
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President Joe Biden greets the audience at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden rests his hands on the podium during his speech at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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A member of the audience records President Joe Biden's speech at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden greets Amy McNulty, who introduced him at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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Scranton resident Joe Gilhooley holds a sign for President Joe Biden during the event at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden speaks at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks prior to President Joe Biden at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti speaks before President Joe Biden at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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Scranton City Councilwoman Jessica Rothchild holds her baby prior to Joe Biden's speech in Scranton on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks to audience members prior to President Joe Biden's address at the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
The president stepped off Air Force One at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport after 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro greeted the president at the airport.
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President Joe Biden exits Air Force One at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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President Joe Biden exits Air Force One before his campaign stop in Scranton.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Secret Service wait for the arrival of Air Force One.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and Governor Josh Shapiro awaiting the arrival of Air Force One.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Secret Service wait for the arrival of Air Force One.
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Secret Service wait for the arrival of Air Force One.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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A member of the secret service waits for Air Force One at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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An admiral salutes Air Force One.
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Secret Service stands outside Air Force One.
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Secret Service members provided extra security at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport as President Joe Biden arrived.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Air Force One lands at Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport on Tuesday afternoon.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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The Presidential Motorcade arrives to pick up President Joe Biden at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and President Joe Biden talk in the president's limo.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro enter President Joe Biden's limo called "the Beast."
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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WVIA News
President Joe Biden exits Air Force One at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
Aimee Dilger
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WVIA News
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti speaks to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro while waiting for President Biden at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.
After speaking in downtown Scranton, Biden traveled to his childhood home on North Washington Avenue in the city. He spent more than an hour inside the house.
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President Joe Biden walks out of his childhood home hand-in-hand with a group of young children.
Kat Bolus / WVIA News
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The Secret Service walks people to the childhood home of Joe Biden.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Marywood University students try to see the President Joe Biden at his childhood home in Scranton.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Children await the arrival of President Joe Biden at his childhood home.
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President Joe Biden's motorcade arrives at his childhood home in the Green Ridge section of Scranton.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
Scranton and Dunmore residents stood outside their homes and on the sides of streets to catch a glimpse of the presidential motorcade. Protestors for a cease fire in the war between Israel and Hamas, supporters of Biden and supporters of his opponent, former President Donald Trump, were also at each stop.
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People, standing at the corner of Mulberry Street and North Washington Avenue in Scranton, protest President Joe Biden's handling of the war in the Middle East during his visit to the Scranton Cultural Center on Tuesday.
Sarah Hofius Hall / WVIA News
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Orthodox Jews debated the war in Gaza with members of Christians for the Common Good and Catholic priests.
Isabela Weiss | WVIA News | Report for America
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A man holds a sign that reads "I'm Votin uncommitted" while waitting for President Biden.
Aimee Dilger
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A crowd of supporters for former president Donald Trump gathered in Scranton to protest the Biden Administration.
Isabela Weiss | WVIA News | Report for America
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Protesters wait for President Joe Biden to arrive in South Scranton.
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Protesters stand at Cedar and Pear Street waiting for President Joe Biden's motorcade.
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Protesters stand at Cedar and Pear Street and wait for the arrival of President Joe Biden.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Jewish protestors demand that the Israeli and U.S. governments bring the remaining hostages in Gaza back home. From left to right: Daniel Chejtec, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania; Dan Cardonick, CEO of the Scranton Jewish Community Center.
Isabela Weiss | WVIA News | Report for America
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Protesters stood on the corner of Cedar Ave. and Pear St. in Scranton before President Biden spoke at a campaign event at Carpenters Local Union 445.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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A group protesting the war in Gaza gathers outside of President Joe Biden's childhood home in Scranton Tuesday afternoon. Biden was giving a campaign speech at the Scranton Cultural Center and planned to stay overnight in the city.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
Biden ended the day at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners of American Local Union 445 hall on Pear Street in South Scranton. The president was last there the morning of Election Day 2020.
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President Joe Biden addresses a crowd of supporters at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local Union in South Scranton.
Kat Bolus / WVIA News
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People gather to try and see a glimpse of President Joe Biden.
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A military officer waits for President Joe Biden in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
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A mounted Pennsylvania State Police officer is on stand-by for President Joe Biden's visit to Scranton.
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A Pennsylvania State Police Officer stands between the presidential motorcade and citizens trying to get a glimpse of the president.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
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Pennsylvania State Police wait outside of the Carpenter and Joiners Union Hall in South Scranton for the arrival of President Joe Biden.
Aimee Dilger / WVIA News
Air Force One departed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (AVP) around 11 a.m. Wednesday. WVIA News recorded footage of the plane landing at AVP Tuesday around 1:20 p.m.
Kat Bolus is the community reporter for the newly-formed WVIA News Team. She is a former reporter and columnist at The Times-Tribune, a Scrantonian and cat mom.
Sarah Hofius Hall worked at The Times-Tribune in Scranton since 2006. For nearly all of that time, Hall covered education, visiting the region's classrooms and reporting on issues important to students, teachers, families and taxpayers.
Isabela Weiss is a storyteller turned reporter from Athens, GA. She is WVIA News's Rural Government Reporter and a Report for America corps member. Weiss lives in Wilkes-Barre with her fabulous cats, Boo and Lorelai.
Alexander Monelli is a producer/director at WVIA where he creates short and feature-length documentaries (“Agnes 50” and "Roar"). He earned a BFA in Film from Long Island University. Prior to WVIA, he produced the award-winning documentary "At The Drive-in" which opened the 2017 NEPA Film Festival and is now available on Amazon Prime and iTunes. Al resides in Clarks Summit with his wife, Amanda, and daughters, Mila and Nora.
