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What to know now that Biden has left the race
- Vice President Kamala Harris has quickly shored up support for her campaign, with a majority of pledged delegates backing her and endorsements from scores of Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Bill and Hillary Clinton.
- In her first visit to campaign headquarters, Harris gave a glimpse of how she would battle former President Donald Trump if she's the Democratic nominee. President Joe Biden called into her campaign headquarters during the visit and made his first public remarks since he dropped out of the race.
- Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, today held his first campaign events as the GOP vice presidential nominee. Before Vance took the stage at his first event, an Ohio lawmaker warned that "it's going to take a civil war to save this country" if Trump loses. The lawmaker later apologized for the remark.
Majority of pledged Democratic delegates endorse Harris on first full day as a candidate
A majority of pledged Democratic convention delegates have endorsed Harris, who said today in her first campaign remarks as a presidential candidate that she knows how to take on Trump.
Harris has been quickly consolidating support around her day-old bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, with seemingly all of her major potential rivals rallying around her less than 24 hours after Biden announced he was bowing out and with state delegate slates endorsing her quickly, too.
Democratic convention delegations across a number of states unanimously endorsed Harris as the party prepares for its nominating vote in August. The Democratic National Committee has not yet finalized its rules for that vote, but the flock of delegates to the Harris reflected broader coalescing of support throughout the Democratic Party.
You can call her ‘Mother’: Harris’ queer fans move fast with viral memes
Less than 24 hours after Harris announced she would run for president following Biden’s exit from the race, queer people flooded the internet with cheeky videos and memes about her candidacy.
A supercut of Harris laughing, set to a Charli XCX song from the album “Brat,” quickly went viral, with more than 1.3 million views. Within hours of the announcement, photos and videos circulated of a group of men on Fire Island Pines, a queer-friendly beach on New York’s Long Island, wearing cropped T-shirts in “brat” lime green — the color of Charli XCX’s album — with “Kamala” emblazoned on the front in the same typeface used on the album.
“BRAT Kamala shirts already on Fire Island. The gays move SO FAST,” a user wrote.
The internet has entered its Kamala Harris ‘coconut tree’ era
Democrats may soon nominate a presidential candidate capable of rivaling Trump in memeability.
After Biden announced his decision to forfeit re-election, a tidal wave of memes about Harris — whom Biden backed as the Democratic presidential candidate — flooded the internet.
On platforms like TikTok and X, the mood felt celebratory as many left-leaning accounts posted upbeat fan edits of Harris and made memes out of her more memorable lines from speeches. On Sunday, British pop artist Charli XCX appeared to back Harris, calling her a “brat,” a reference to her new album, which has become the Gen Z theme of the summer.
How Kamala Harris became part of Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ summer
Harris’ campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination has been bolstered by an unexpected group of supporters: Charli XCX fans.
Excitement around the Harris campaign grew on social media after people began editing viral videos and memes fusing songs from British pop star Charli XCX’s album “Brat” with clips of Harris throughout her career.
After Charli XCX appeared to endorse Harris yesterday, writing “Kamala IS Brat,” Harris’ campaign embraced the moment, reposting the show of support, using the album’s signature green color and typeface in one of its social media profiles and posting “Brat”-themed memes.
More than 1,100 delegates have pledged support to Harris
Over a thousand pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention — 1,120 — have endorsed Harris since Biden announced yesterday that he would not seek re-election, according to an NBC News review of public statements by state parties and individual delegates.
Officials at the Democratic National Committee said today they still plan to go ahead with a virtual nominating contest to formally select a Democratic nominee before Aug. 7. Democrats have almost 4,000 pledged delegates to their convention.
Harris is the only major candidate seeking the Democratic nomination, and there does not appear to be a significant number of delegates organizing in support of an opponent.
Vance says he’s annoyed he won’t have the chance to debate Harris
Vance was not happy when Biden ended his re-election campaign, throwing the Democratic Party’s ticket into turmoil and robbing Vance of a moment he was looking forward to: debating Harris.
“I was told I was going to debate Kamala Harris,” Vance said today in Middletown, Ohio, at his first solo event as Trump’s running mate. “And now President Trump is going to get to debate her? I’m kind of pissed off about that, if I’m being honest with you.”
The event, held at the high school Vance graduated from in 2003, came a day after Biden dropped out of the presidential race. Biden, who was under pressure to step aside amid questions about his fitness for office and ability to run a winning campaign, endorsed Harris to replace him as the Democratic nominee. Much of the party’s establishment has followed suit — a development that Vance cast in his remarks as an affront to democracy.
Biden to return to White House tomorrow after bout with Covid
Biden is scheduled to return to the White House tomorrow, almost a week after he tested positive for Covid, the White House said tonight.
Biden tested positive Wednesday and has been self-isolating in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
Democrats stick to plans for early nomination as Harris consolidates support
Democrats are moving forward with plans to select their next presidential nominee virtually, despite Biden’s dropping his re-election bid, the party announced tonight.
During a call with reporters outlining the rules, party officials were clear: The plan remains to formally nominate the presidential candidate before Aug. 7, which officials say is a critical deadline because of a potential legal issue in Ohio that they worry could force them off the ballot.
The party vowed in a memo that the online process will “mirror the candidate nomination rules used for in-person conventions to the greatest extent possible” but said the process will move incredibly quickly, with candidates given just days to declare their intentions to run and make their cases to voters.
What a Harris presidency would mean for health care in America
A Harris presidency could have far-reaching consequences for the U.S. health care system, from abortion rights to insurance coverage to drug pricing, according to policy experts and former advisers to the vice president.
For starters, Harris is expected to focus heavily on protecting abortion access, an issue she has been fluent in using against Trump and the Republican Party.
“She will attack them repeatedly and mercilessly on reproductive rights,” said Drew Altman, the president and CEO of KFF, a nonpartisan research group. “I think it’s been a winning card for her so far, and I would expect to see her dial that up tremendously.”
Vance comes out swinging against Harris at Virginia rally
At his second campaign event of the day, Vance laid into Harris, calling her "worse" than Biden.
"History will remember Joe Biden as not just a quitter, which he is, but one of the worst presidents in the United States of America," Vance told supporters in Radford, Virginia. "But, my friends, Kamala Harris is a million times worse."
Vance described Harris as supporting "every single one of Joe Biden's failures" and accused her of lying about Biden's "mental capacity to serve as president."
"Harris is actually even more extreme than Biden," he added.
