WASHINGTON: US Vice President Kamala Harris was moving swiftly on Monday to try to lock up the Democratic presidential nomination, the day after President Joe Biden, 81, abandoned his reelection bid in the face of growing opposition by his own party.
Harris, 59, was due to speak at the White House at 11:30 a.m. ET (1530 GMT) on Monday, her first public remarks since she entered the race on Sunday.
Campaign officials and allies have already made hundreds of calls on her behalf, urging delegates to next month’s Democratic Party convention to join in nominating her for president in the Nov. 5 election against Republican Donald Trump.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, seen as a possible rival for the Democratic nomination after Biden’s exit, endorsed Harris on Monday in a post on X, saying the vice president had her full support. Several other potential Democratic challengers, including California Governor Gavin Newsom and Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, have backed Harris’ bid.
Biden’s departure was the latest shock to a White House race that included the near-assassination of former President Trump by a gunman during a campaign stop and the nomination of Trump’s fellow hardliner, US Senator J.D. Vance, as his running mate.
“My intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said in a statement. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump.” Harris, who is Black and Asian-American, would fashion an entirely new dynamic with Trump, 78, offering a vivid generational and cultural split-screen.
The Trump campaign has been preparing for her possible rise for weeks, sources told Reuters, and planned to try to tie her closely to Biden’s policies on immigration and the economy.
Biden, the oldest person ever to have occupied the Oval Office, said he would remain in the presidency until his term ends on Jan. 20, 2025, while endorsing Harris to run in his place.
Biden’s shaky June 27 debate performance against Trump led the president’s fellow Democrats to urge him to end his run, but senior Republicans have demanded he resign from office, arguing that if he is not fit to campaign, he is not fit to govern.
Harris spent Sunday working the phones, dressed in a Howard University sweatshirt and eating pizza with anchovies as she spoke with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a potential vice presidential running mate, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Congressional Black Caucus chair Representative Steven Horsford, according to sources.
Biden’s withdrawal leaves less than four months to wage a campaign.
Trump, whose false claims that his 2020 loss to Biden was the result of fraud inspired the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol, on Monday questioned Democrats’ right to change candidates.
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