Former President Barack Obama is slated to return to Michigan later this month to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris as part of a swing-state tour, her campaign confirmed Saturday.

Obama is expected to visit Detroit to boost the Democratic ticket on Oct. 22 and encourage voters to cast ballots early, exactly two weeks out from Election Day.

Michigan communities are legally required to begin offering nine days of early, in-person voting on Oct. 26, but are allowed to open early voting centers before that date. In Detroit, early voting centers open on Oct. 19.

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Obama returned to the campaign trail on Thursday with a stop in Pittsburgh, where he urged Black men to vote for Harris for president at a rally at the University of Pittsburgh and stopped by a campaign office to thank volunteers.

The former two-term Democratic president said Harris is “a leader who has spent her life fighting on behalf of people who need a voice and a chance” and declared, “Kamala is as prepared for the job as any nominee for president has ever been," according to the Associated Press.

Obama also bashed former President Donald Trump, saying his successor is "a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago."

"Pennsylvania, we don't need four more years of that. We don't need four more years of arrogance and bumbling and bluster and division," Obama said.

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The visit will follow a parade of surrogates and candidates hitting the battleground state this month, following Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz who spoke in Macomb County on Friday, Trump himself who spoke before the Detroit Economic Club on Thursday and a Tuesday visit by Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump's running mate. First lady Jill Biden is expected in Oakland County on Monday.

Obama's last known trip to Michigan was in June for the Kresge Foundation's centennial celebration at the Detroit Institute of Arts, where he was the keynote speaker.

As president, Obama was a partner in helping the city emerge from municipal bankruptcy in 2014 and also pushed through an $80 billion bailout for the ailing auto industry in 2009, his first year in office.

mburke@detroitnews.com