Once is a coincidence, twice is a trend, and we are firmly seeing the latter with this latest news about Joe Biden’s public appearances.

You may recall that in mid-January, Biden traveled to Georgia to give a supposed landmark speech on voting rights. It turned out to be a disgusting, divisive spectacle full of falsehoods, but that was to be expected. What wasn’t expected was for Stacey Abrams, who is running for governor again in the Peach State, to dodge the president by claiming a scheduling mix-up.

No one bought that excuse, though. After all, what could be more pressing on her schedule than appearing with the President of the United States? None of it made sense, and the obvious indication was that Abrams didn’t want to be seen in public with Biden due to his crashing approval ratings. Unfortunately for her, Abrams is still getting trounced (for now, at least) by Brian Kemp, so the vanishing act didn’t pay dividends.

But while some assumed that was an isolated incident, it’s not so isolated anymore. Top Democrats in Pennsylvania are also running for the hills with the president set to appear Friday evening. Democrats Josh Shapiro, who is running for governor, and John Fetterman, who is running for Senate, have both cited “scheduling conflicts” as a reason to not be seen with the president.

Top Pa. Dems to miss Biden visit, cite scheduling conflicts (from @AP) https://t.co/MqRAparHVo

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) January 27, 2022

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a leading Senate candidate, and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the likely Democratic nominee in the race for governor, will be absent because of scheduling conflicts, according to their spokespeople. Another top Senate candidate, Rep. Conor Lamb, a longtime Biden supporter based in Pittsburgh, will attend, his office confirmed. All three had been invited to participate in a photo line with the president.

So, the president is coming to town, and Fetterman has chosen to attend a committee meeting instead? Shapiro didn’t even give a reason for his lack of attendance. But we all know the excuses are bunk. These men are not showing up because they know that Biden is a weight around their electoral necks.

While I had trouble finding up-to-date approval ratings for Biden in Pennsylvania, he was at just 45 percent approval there back in October of last year. There’s every reason to believe those numbers are far worse now, given his national collapse.

It’s a very bad look for the president’s own party members to be avoiding him like this, and it’s evidence of just how far his star has fallen. A year ago, most would have scoffed at the idea that Biden could become this toxic this quickly. Yet, here we are, with no bottom in sight. For his part, the president is insisting that he’s going to campaign for the midterms anyway. That sounds like a gift to Republicans, who are no doubt eager to nationalize many state-level races. Biden is an egomaniac, though, and like Obama in 2010, he doesn’t have the capacity to read the tea leaves and take a step back.