Harris secures enough delegates for nomination as donations roll in

Washington: Vice President Kamala Harris has all but cleared the Democratic presidential field, with the last of her potential rivals endorsing her, quashing the likelihood of a serious challenge for the White House nomination.

Harris has garnered the support of more than the 1976 delegates she needs at the Democratic national convention to be nominated by her party, according to an AP survey. A number of state delegations met on Tuesday (AEST) to make their support official, but Harris still needs them to vote for her at the convention.

In another sign of the momentum behind her, the Harris campaign said on Monday it had raised $US81 million ($122 million) in donations in the first 24 hours following President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out and endorse her.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, July 22, 2024. Credit: nna\KCampbell

And after warning Biden that he would lose to Trump, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – one of the most influential Democrats in the country – gave her unequivocal backing to his 59-year-old deputy.

“Today, it is with immense pride and limitless optimism for our country’s future that I endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“My enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris for President is official, personal and political.”

President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address as Vice President Kamala Harris and then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi look on.Credit: AP

The rapid show of support for Harris was a stunning shift after weeks of anxiety among Democrats, leaving Republicans scrambling to recalibrate their campaign message, which until now had been centred largely on Biden’s fitness for office.

Harris also made her first public appearance at the White House, using a pre-scheduled celebration of national college athletes to briefly praise the president’s record of achievement in office as “unmatched in modern history”.

Later, she addressed staff at what used to be Biden’s campaign headquarters in Delaware – which are now the headquarters for her own campaign – and began to make her case for the presidency.

Citing her time as California’s attorney general and also as a courtroom prosecutor, she said: “I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump’s type.”

Biden, still isolating from his home in Delaware, also phoned into the event, telling his former staff: “I know yesterday’s news was surprising, it was so hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do. I know it’s hard because you poured your heart and soul into me... I’m hoping you’ll give every bit of your heart and soul that you gave to me to Kamala.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, left, kisses second gentleman Doug Emhoff as she addresses staff at Harris HQ in DelawareCredit: AP

The televised remarks were the first the public has heard from Biden since his decision to withdraw from the race. The vice president spent Sunday afternoon in her Washington home, dressed in her Howard University hoodie and sweatpants, working the phones to secure the support of dozens of Democratic leaders across the country.

By Monday morning, she had secured endorsements from the majority of Democrats in the House and Senate, two key unions and more than half of the nation’s 23 governors, including three who have often been touted as presidential contenders: Michigan firebrand Gretchen Whitmer; Illinois governor JB Pritzker; and Maryland rising star Wes Moore.

“She is the fighter we need at this moment to realise the full promise of our nation,” Moore said.

Their backing came on top of other often-named contenders including California governor Gavin Newsom and Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg – effectively ending speculation of a serious challenge for the presidential nomination.

Former Democrat turned independent Senator Joe Manchin, who had flirted with the idea of throwing his hat into the ring, also said he would not seek the nomination.

The momentum behind Harris means she will probably be selected as the Democratic presidential nominee when thousands of delegates descend on Chicago next month for the party’s national convention.

While some party members are still pushing for a mini-primary or open convention in the interest of democracy – which would allow other candidates to throw their hat into the ring and make their case to delegates – it is highly unlikely they would have the kind of backing Harris does.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Credit: nna\KCampbell

Biden, meanwhile, remained in COVID isolation in Delaware but is expected to address the nation later this week.

After weeks of defections within his ranks, the president has been praised for his decision to withdraw from the race – including from Trump’s former Republican vice president Mike Pence, who wrote on X: “President Joe Biden made the right decision for our country and I thank him for putting the interests of our Nation ahead of his own.”

“After the assassination attempt on President Trump and President Biden’s decision to end his campaign, now is a time for leaders in both parties to project calm and send a message of strength and resolve to America’s friends and enemies alike that, whatever the state of our politics, the American people are strong and our American military stands ready to defend our freedom and our vital national interests anywhere in the world,” he added.

Trump, however, began the day trolling Biden, putting out a post on his Truth Social platform saying: “It’s a new day and Joe Biden doesn’t remember quitting the race yesterday! He is demanding his campaign schedule and arranging talks with Presidents Xi of China, and Putin of Russia, concerning the possible start of World War 3.”

But the former president’s humour belies the work going on behind the scenes as Republicans move tweak their campaign from Biden to Harris.

While they are ratcheting up attacks over her role as the administration’s so-called “border czar” and claiming she covered up Biden’s cognitive decline, it is not clear how much emphasis they will put on the sensitive issues of race and gender.

The daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, Harris is a former California attorney general, a district attorney of San Francisco and has been a key member of some of the Senate’s most powerful committees. In recent months, she has also played a central role galvanising voters over abortion and other social justice issues.

However, some Republicans and conservative US media outlets have long portrayed her as someone who got her job due to identity politics rather than merit.

This continued today, with Tennessee congressman Tim Burchett describing her as a “DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) hire” with an “abysmal” record.

“Biden said first off he’s gonna hire a black female for vice president. What about white females, what about any other group? When you go down that route, you take mediocrity and that’s what they have right now as a vice president,” he said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a former Trump rival who has endorsed the former president at last week’s Republican National Convention, said: “After pushing Biden out, it was predictable that corporate media would provide hundreds of millions of dollars worth of glowing coverage to his replacement.

Democrat House leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is expected to endorse Harris after he and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer meet with her tomorrow, said it was clear “former president Donald Trump and the extreme MAGA republicans are having a meltdown right now.”

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.