Kamala Harris blasts Republican ‘extremists’ in race against Donald Trump
After days of silence on the subject, former US President Barack Obama has finally revealed his stance on Kamala Harris’ presidential run. Follow updates.
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Former US president Barack Obama has publicly stated he would endorse Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House, after days of abstaining.
“Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend Kamala Harris. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support,” Obama said on social media platform X.
“At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in November. We hope you’ll join us.”
Earlier this week, Michelle and I called our friend @KamalaHarris. We told her we think she’ll make a fantastic President of the United States, and that she has our full support. At this critical moment for our country, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she wins in… pic.twitter.com/0UIS0doIbA
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 26, 2024
It comes after reports it was “just a matter of time” before Mr Obama would put his considerable weight – and star power – behind Ms Harris.
The former US President “is serving as a sounding board for her as he has over the 20 years they’ve known each other,” a person familiar with the discussions told NBC.
Mr Obama believes Ms Harris “has had an impressive week”, and they are looking for the right moment for the endorsement, the person said.
While high profile Democrats – including Bill and Hillary Clinton – have lined up to support Ms Harris since US President Joe Biden’s withdrawal over the weekend, Donald Trump and Republican allies had clocked Obama’s silence.
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HARRIS LAUNCHES BLISTERING ATTACK ON TRUMP
It comes after Kamala Harris launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump and his “extremist” Republicans as she addressed teachers.
The first union to endorse Ms Harris - the American Federation of Teachers - applauded at their convention in Houston as she warned that the country was witnessing a “full-on attack” by Trump’s Republicans on “hard-won, hard-fought freedoms.”
“While you teach students about democracy and representative government, extremists attack the sacred freedom to vote. While you try to create safe and welcoming places where our children can learn, extremists attack our freedom to live safe from gun violence,” she said.
“They have the nerve to tell teachers to strap on a gun in the classroom while they refuse to pass common sense gun safety laws.” .
Calling herself “a proud product of public education,” she connected her personal story to her political outlook, telling her audience that the work of teaching was “personal and it is professional, and... so critically important.”
Ms Harris tied the event to a key campaign message about refusing to go back to Trump’s America, praising her audience as “visionaries” who look to the future.
And she contrasted Democratic efforts to cancel student debt and her vision of investment in public schools and universities with Trump’s vow to dismantle the Education Department and cut spending in half.
HARRIS CLOSES THE GAP IN NEW POLLS
Two new polls show Kamala Harris is outperforming Joe Biden against Donald Trump.
Donald Trump leads by 48 per cent to Kamala Harris’ 46 per cent in a New York Times/Siena College poll of registered voters conducted July 22 to 24.
But Ms Harris is doing better than Mr Biden, with a New York Times/Siena College poll conducted three weeks ago putting Mr Trump at 49 per cent against Mr Biden at 41 per cent.
The latest poll of 1142 registered voters nationwide had a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.
Meanwhile, an Emerson College/The Hill poll showed Mr Trump leading in four of the critical states: Arizona 49 per cent to 44 per cent, Georgia 48 per cent to 46 per cent, Michigan 46 per cent to 45% per cent, and Pennsylvania 48 per cent to 46 per cent.
Mr Trump and Ms Harris are tied at 47 per cent in Wisconsin, according to the poll.
Ms Harris surpassed Mr Biden’s performance in an Emerson poll conducted earlier this month in each of the five states.
WHY TRUMP WON’T AGREE TO HARRIS DEBATE
Donald Trump rejected scheduling a debate with Kamala Harris because she has not been officially named her party’s nominee, his campaign said.
“General election debate details cannot be finalised until Democrats formally decide on their nominee … it would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.
It comes after Ms Harris accused Mr Trump of trying to cancel the second presidential debate, in comments to reporters as she returned to Washington DC,
“I’m ready to debate Donald Trump. I have agreed to the previously agreed upon September 10 debate. He agreed to that previously,” she said.
“Now, here he is back-pedaling and I’m ready and I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage. And so, I’m ready to go.”
PRESIDENT’S MENTAL ACUITY ‘EXCELLENT’
Joe Biden’s physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor insists the US president doesn’t have Parkinson’s or a related condition and has “excellent” mental acuity, according to the New York Post.
The publication says it asked Dr O’Connor about the president’s mental cognition.
His response was: “It’s excellent”.
When pressed whether there is a reason he didn’t perform a cognitive test on the 81-year-old president, The Post reports Dr O’Connor said: “We don’t need to. He’s here every day”.
The physician was also asked whether Mr Biden had anything related to Parkinson’s.
The Post reports Dr O’Connor responded: “No, he’s good.”
BIDEN, HARRIS PUSH FOR GAZA CEASEFIRE
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a Gaza ceasefire, with friendly greetings in separate meetings masking tense ties.
Ms Harris signalled a major shift in Gaza policy, telling the Israeli PM she had “serious concern” over casualties and telling him to get a peace deal done.
“We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering and I will not be silent,” Ms Harris said.
TRUMP SLAMS ‘DANGEROUS’ HARRIS
Donald Trump claimed he doesn’t believe the 25th Amendment should be invoked against Joe Biden, warning it would be more “dangerous” to put Kamala Harris in office because she’s “real garbage” and “worse than he is”.
The 25th Amendment in the US Constitution addresses issues related to presidential succession and disability.
It clarifies that the vice president becomes president if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office through impeachment.
Speaking during an appearance on Fox News, Mr Trump said he didn’t think the 25th Amendment should be invoked as Mr Biden will be out of office in six months.
“I don’t think they should use the 25th Amendment. Not long to go, you know, we have four months now and then he’s got another month and a half,” Mr Trump said.
The Republican presidential nominee also took aim at his likely opponent in November.
“I will say this, the world is in a very dangerous place. I think if [Biden] goes, [Kamala] then takes over and she’s worse than he is. I believe she’s a San Francisco radical. I believe she’s actually much worse and a way worse candidate than he is and she’s not doing very well,” he said.
Mr Trump claimed America would not survive a Harris presidency, calling her “the most radical person we’ve probably had in office”.
The former president criticised Mr Biden and Ms Harris’ debate performance during the 2020 primary, saying, “I thought he was terrible but she was terrible. She was horrible.”
He then questioned how Mr Biden could have picked Ms Harris to be his running mate when he won the primary, saying she was the “meanest” person running and had not treated Mr Biden well.
“She was the meanest person up there. She was meaner to [Biden] than anybody else. She accused him of being racist with the buses,” Mr Trump said.
“Not a very good debater and nasty, just nasty to him. And when he chose her I said ‘How do you do that?’ A person treats you so badly — he was treated so badly during the debates.”
Mr Trump also responded to Ms Harris alleging he was a “predator” in a speech earlier this week.
“I think it’s disgusting,” he said.
“And I get a kick out of one thing. They say, ‘Sir, be nice. You just got hit with a bullet. Maybe he’s changed. Be nice,’ and I’d love to be nice, but I’m dealing against real garbage when you hear that.”
Mr Trump’s comments come days after he and his running mate, JD Vance, accused the Democratic Party of leading a “coup” against Mr Biden — with the vice presidential candidate arguing that if Biden isn’t fit to run for president, he shouldn’t be able to serve the rest of his term.
“If they want to take him down because he’s mentally incapable of serving, invoke the 25th Amendment. You don’t get to sort of do this in the most politically beneficial way for Democrats,” Mr Vance said.
“If it’s an actual problem, they should take care of it the appropriate way.”
The interview was filmed before it became public that Mr Biden was withdrawing from the 2024 general election and endorsing Harris as the presumptive new Democratic nominee.
HARRIS LAUNCHES FIRST CAMPAIGN AD
Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris launched her first campaign ad, slamming Republican rival Donald Trump for his criminal convictions and positioning herself as the candidate who wants a country “where no one is above the law”.
The ad leans into Ms Harris’ background as a prosecutor, contrasting her anti-chaos vision with that of the Republican ticket of Mr Trump and DJ Vance – though they themselves are running on a campaign of law and order.
I’m Kamala Harris, and I’m running for President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/6qAM32btjj
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 25, 2024
The ad was released as Ms Harris headed to Texas to address a teachers union — a key ingredient in the Democratic coalition — as she seeks to maintain her fast start in the bid to take on Mr Trump for the presidency this November.
Ms Harris has enjoyed a groundswell of support since announcing her 11th-hour candidacy to replace Mr Biden as the Democratic candidate.
She has rapidly united the Democratic Party behind her, getting a slew of endorsements from labour groups, Black and Latino voters and a surge in interest from young voters.
While Mr Biden used to target Mr Trump as a threat to democracy, Ms Harris has adopted a more personal and targeted approach, focusing on his record as a felon.
She pointed to her work as a California prosecutor dealing with what she said were “predators” and “fraudsters” before adding: “So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type.”
Mr Trump alleged on Fox News that Ms Harris had benefited from a Democratic “coup” against Mr Biden.
“I think it was a coup. They didn’t want him running. He was way down in the polls, and they thought he was going to lose,” the former president said.
“They went to him and they said, you can’t win the race … and they forced him out — between Pelosi and Obama and some others that you see on television.”
One of the most urgent tasks facing Ms Harris is to forge her own political identity before she can be defined by Mr Trump as inseparable from the unpopular Mr Biden.
This will include quickly spending some of the $US126 million-plus ($A192 million) that she has raised in the opening days to tell her personal story and to counter Republican characterisations of her as an out-of-touch liberal and responsible for illegal immigration.
The Harris campaign sought to plant an early flag with its first TV spot Thursday — an ad featuring the Beyonce hit Freedom, warning that Americans’ rights are under threat from Trump.
Under the slogan “We Choose Freedom,” Ms Harris invites voters to unite against Project 2025 — a radical blueprint for centralising power in the presidency that was promoted by Mr Trump and prepared by many of his current and former aides.
Mr Trump has recently tried to distance himself from the 900-page plan, which would remake the federal government in his image, removing key checks on his power and purging the entire administration of officials who are not unswervingly loyal.
However the plan tracks closely with many of the policies Mr Trump and his closest advisers have said they want to pursue.
Ms Harris accuses Mr Trump, of “running a campaign of revenge and retribution for himself, no matter who else he hurts”.
HARRIS VETTING VP LIST
Kamala Harris is narrowing her pick for a potential vice presidential running mate, according to sources familiar with the campaign.
The presumptive Democratic Party nominee has been moving quickly to formalise a campaign ticket after Joe Biden stepped down over the weekend.
Ms Harris’s team has requested information on approximately a dozen individuals, according to anonymous sources speaking to AFP.
Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, and Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina are among the most-discussed prospects for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination.
Ms Harris’ selection will set the tone for her last-minute presidential campaign launched with an endorsement of Mr Biden following his sudden and unexpected withdrawal from the race.
Many top Democrats have endorsed Ms Harris, with the Clintons, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries all backing the former California prosecutor.
ANISTON SLAMS VP OVER ‘CHILDLESS CAT LADY’ COMMENTS
One of Hollywood’s biggest stars has spoken out about unearthed comments by vice presidential hopeful, JD Vance, over “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives” while speaking about Kamala Harris in 2021.
Jennifer Aniston, who has been open about her own fertility issues, hit back at the senator from Ohio atop a video of him speaking with US media commentator Tucker Carlson.
“I truly can’t believe that this is coming from a potential VP of the United States,” Aniston wrote on Instagram.
“All I can say is … Mr Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day.”
“I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too.”
The comments Vance made in 2021 questioning Ms Harris´ leadership because she did not have biological children resurfaced earlier this week.
During Vance’s bid for the Senate in Ohio, he said in a Fox News interview that “we are effectively run in this country via the Democrats”, and referred to them as “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they´ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too”.
He said that included Ms Harris, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat.
Mr Vance said to Carlson in the interview, “It’s just a basic fact – you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC – the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children. And how does it make any sense that we’ve turned our country over to people who don’t really have a direct stake in it?”
Kerstin Emhoff, the ex-wife of Ms Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, came to the Vice President’s defence.
Kerstin Emhoff, who was married to Dogh Emhoff for 16 years and had two children – Cole and Ella – with him, called the attacks “baseless”, calling the vice president a “loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present” co-parent.
“These are baseless attacks,” she said in a statement to CNN.
“For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I. She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present,” she said.
“I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
– with AFP
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