On Friday, two minutes after Kamala Harris walked on stage at a campaign event in Detroit, Joe Biden decided to do something he has never done as president: he walked into the White House press briefing room. Cable news shifted immediately to the moment, with Biden chuckling as he introduced himself to the media, touted the jobs report and took questions.

The moment was astonishing not just because Biden has operated at such a remove from the public eye since he was replaced as the Democratic nominee, but because it seemed intentionally designed to distract from his vice president and remind everyone that he’s still around, and yes, for all his struggles, still technically president.

Internal Harris campaign research on the September presidential debate found that one of the most popular moments for the vice president was when she said, “Clearly, I am not Joe Biden.”

On Friday, after weeks of some junior White House aides complaining to colleagues about having to run statements and other ideas by the campaign, Biden took a different approach.

“She was a major player in everything we’ve done, including the passage of legislation which we were told we could never pass,” Biden said. “She’s been, and her staff is interlocked with mine in terms of all the things we’re doing.”