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Kamala Harris has attracted the support of enough delegates to become the Democratic Party's nominee for president, US media outlets reported on Tuesday, as the vice president received a wave of endorsements from potential rivals, lawmakers, governors and influential advocacy groups. Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, has received the backing from more than the 1,976 pledged delegates needed to win the Democratic Party's nomination on the first ballot, CNN reported on the first full day of her campaign. "I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon," Harris, 59, said in a statement late Monday, a day after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the race for the White House on November 5 and endorsed Harris. As party officials were preparing to finalise the process for formally nominating a candidate ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago from August 19-22, it was already clear that the biggest remaining question about the 2024 ...
Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy, who had predicted President Joe Biden would not be the Democratic presidential nominee for the November election, has said the country is not running against a candidate but an unelected managerial class machine. The Indian-American businessman-turned-politician said on Monday that the speed at which the ruling Democratic Party moved to replace incumbent President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris as a possible candidate for the November 5 polls raises lots of questions. We're not actually running against a candidate here. We're running against a machine. That's a deep understanding of what's going on that requires rejecting some of the things you might otherwise think, Ramaswamy said in a 15-minute long video posted on various social media platforms. During the Republican presidential debate last November, Ramaswamy, 38, had predicted that Biden would not be the Democratic presidential nominee, a claim dismissed as a conspiracy theory' b
A day after US President Joe Biden opted out of the presidential race and endorsed his deputy Kamala Harris, their Republican rival Donald Trump's campaign said it was a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to "defeat not just one Democrat nominee for president, but two in the same year." In a memorandum issued on Monday as Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off her presidential campaign, the Trump Campaign took credit for Biden's decision to drop out of the race and asserted the "'War on Democracy' will be stopped by the man who took a bullet for democracy". Donald Trump survived an attempt on his life on July 13 when a young gunman fired multiple shots at the former US president at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, injuring his right ear. "After being thoroughly decimated by President Trump three weeks ago at the debate in Atlanta, Joe Biden was fired. He was fired by Donald Trump. He has now been turned out to pasture, yet the Biden record of weakness and failure still stands," stat
Fresh off victories in other legal cases, Donald Trump on Monday pressed a New York appeals court to overturn the nearly USD 500 million New York civil fraud judgment that threatens to drain his personal cash reserves as he campaigns to retake the White House. In paperwork filed with the state's mid-level appeals court, the former president's lawyers said Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron's Feb. 16 finding that Trump lied to banks, insurers and others about his wealth was erroneous and egregious." Trump's appeal arguments echoed many of the gripes he delivered during his trial to TV cameras outside the courtroom. His lawyers argued that New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit should have been promptly dismissed, the statute of limitations barred some allegations, that no one was harmed by Trump's alleged fraud and that James' involvement in private business transactions threatens to drive business out of the state. Trump's lawyers contend that Engoron's decision, if upheld, .
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance used his first solo campaign rallies Monday to throw fresh barbs at Vice President Kamala Harris a day after President Joe Biden threw the presidential election into upheaval by dropping out and endorsing his second-in-command to lead Democrats against Donald Trump. The Ohio senator campaigned at his former high school in Middletown before an evening stop in Radford, Virginia, two venues intended to play up his conservative populist appeal across the Rust Belt and small-town America that he said the Biden-Harris administration has forgotten. History will remember Joe Biden as not just a quitter, which he is, but as one of the worst presidents in the history of the United States of America," Vance said in Virginia. But my friends, Kamala Harris is a million times worse and everybody knows it. She signed up for every single one of Joe Biden's failures, and she lied about his mental capacity to serve as president. Vance sought to saddle ...
US President Joe Biden has described his decision to drop out of the presidential race as "the right thing to do" and said he would campaign with his deputy Kamala Harris, whom he has endorsed as the Democratic Party's new nominee, for the November general elections. In a telephonic address on Monday to his former campaign team, which has now been rechristened Harris Campaign, Biden urged the members to "embrace" Vice President Harris (59) while asserting that the name of the campaign has changed but the mission remains the same -- defeating Donald Trump. Biden's decision to nominate Harris follows weeks of intense pressure from fellow Democrats after his disastrous presidential debate performance against his Republican rival and former US President Donald Trump last month. The 82-year-old US president, who is in self-isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, called the campaign headquarters on Monday moments before Harris made the maiden address to the team. "If I didn't have
US Vice President Kamala Harris has kicked off her presidential campaign with a scathing attack on her Republican rival Donald Trump, alleging the former president wants to take the country backwards. Addressing her campaign staffers at Wilmington in Delaware on Monday, Harris (59) alleged that Trump's Project 2025 would "weaken the middle class and bring us backwards to the failed trickle-down policies that gave huge tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and made working families pay for the cost". Biden's former campaign team has been rechristened Harris Campaign, a day after the 81-year-old incumbent president announced that he was withdrawing from the race to be the next president and endorsed Harris, who is of both Indian and African origin, as the Democratic Party's new nominee for the November 5 general elections. The vice president told the campaign staffers on Monday that she was retaining the same team from the Biden-Harris campaign. Targeting her Republican riv
Black voters expressed a mix of hope and worry on Monday over Joe Biden's exit from the presidential race and the prospect of Vice President Kamala Harris becoming the Democratic nominee. A key Democratic constituency, Black voters helped power Biden to victory in the 2020 primaries and ultimately to the White House, and they were among his most steadfast supporters, even as calls for him to quit grew. But as much pride as some Black Americans feel about the possibility of Harris, who is of Black and Indian descent, becoming president, the upending of the race has some voters feeling scared. I felt like we were doomed, said Brianna Smith, a 24-year-old school counselor from Decatur, Georgia, recounting her reaction to Biden's announcement. I don't see America actually accepting the fact that a Black woman is running for president. Cyria Adams, a 37-year-old hairstylist from Smyrna, Georgia, called Biden's decision heartbreaking. As speculation spread last week that the president mig
Harris, 59, outlined a series of policies she promised to pursue including signing laws to protect abortion rights and ban assault rifles
Ignoring the political chaos surrounding President Joe Biden's decision to end his reelection campaign, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head to Asia this week on a long-planned eight-day trip aimed at shoring up ties with Indo-Pacific allies and partners but with the priority of assuring them that the United States remains committed to the region. The State Department announced on Monday that Blinken, a longtime close aide to Biden dating from the president's days in the Senate, will travel to Vietnam, Laos, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and Mongolia for a series of international and bilateral meetings. Those will include discussions in Laos with his Chinese counterpart and strategic and security talks in Tokyo and Manila also involving Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. The trip had been scheduled well before Biden's announcement on Sunday that he was withdrawing from the presidential race. State Department officials said there was no discussion of cancelling or postponing
Vance joked that he was upset he doesn't get to debate Harris now because she will face Trump on the debate stage in September
The Democratic Party plans to push forward with a virtual roll call in which delegates to its convention can choose a presidential nominee before they meet in person next month in Chicago, with Vice President Kamala Harris heavily favoured now that President Joe Biden has abandoned his reelection bid. The convention rules committee will meet Wednesday to approve how the virtual roll call will work, but a draft of the plan they are set to approve was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday. The proposal does not list a date for when the virtual roll call begins, but Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said the process will be completed by Aug. 7. We can and will be both fast and fair as we execute this nomination, Harrison on a conference call with reporters. The party says the virtual roll call will potentially feature multiple rounds of voting on nominees. To qualify, candidates must have the electronic signatures of 300 convention delegates. The Democratic Nati
Even before President Joe Biden's long-speculated withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race, allies of former President Donald Trump floated the possibility of suing to block Democrats from having anyone other than Biden on the ballot in November. But election administration and legal experts said the timing of Biden's exit on Sunday makes it unlikely that any Republican ballot access challenges will succeed, with some calling the idea ridiculous and frivolous. Democrats are on safe legal ground as they identify a new standard-bearer, they say, because the party hasn't officially chosen its nominee. That typically occurs with a vote of delegates at the party's convention. It's ridiculous for people to talk about replacing Biden.' He hasn't been nominated yet, said Richard Winger, a leading expert on state ballot access laws and the longtime editor of the Ballot Access News newsletter. Talk of possible Republican legal challenges has been swirling since Democrats began discussing
It's a daunting to-do list. Vice President Kamala Harris suddenly needs to whip up a presidential campaign almost from scratch. It's a process that usually takes months, even years. Harris has only about two months before early voting starts. And, of course, nothing is guaranteed, despite her getting the endorsement of President Joe Biden - and significant pieces of his campaign - after he exited the race on Sunday. That means she is in a rush to raise money, figure out a strategy, hire staff, win delegates, set up a website, make some ads, plan a convention and on and on. The checklist is long, but at least, as of Monday morning, she has a campaign logo. And Harris does have a big advantage in that she's already on the Democratic ticket as the vice presidential nominee and had run previously in 2020 for the presidency. With Biden's endorsement, she's piling up delegates at a rapid pace. It's less of a lift to do it with Harris, who has been on the national stage," says Democratic
59-year-old Harris, whom Biden has endorsed, or virtually every other Democrat who could end up atop the ticket would deprive Trump of the argument, and might even be able to turn the tables on him
The director of the Secret Service says the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump was the agency's most significant operational failure in decades. Director Kimberly Cheatle told lawmakers Monday during a congressional hearing: On July 13, we failed." Cheatle says she takes full responsibility for the agency's missteps related to the attack at Trump's Pennsylvania rally earlier this month. Cheatle was testifing Monday before a congressional committee as calls mount for her to resign over security failures at a rally where a 20-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate the Republican former president. The House Oversight Committee heard Cheatle's first appearance before lawmakers since the July 13 Pennsylvania rally shooting that left one spectator dead. Trump was wounded in the ear and two other attendees were injured after Thomas Matthew Crooks climbed atop the roof of a nearby building and opened fire. Lawmakers have been expressing anger over how the gunman could
Vice President Kamala Harris moved swiftly to lock up Democratic delegates behind her campaign for the White House after President Joe Biden stepped aside amid concerns from within their party that he would be unable to defeat Republican Donald Trump. Biden's exit Sunday, prompted by Democratic worries over his fitness for office, was a seismic shift to the presidential contest that upended both major political parties' carefully honed plans for the 2024 race. Aiming to put weeks of intraparty drama over Biden's candidacy behind them, prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organisations quickly lined up behind Harris in the hours after Biden announced he was dropping his reelection campaign. Biden's departure frees his delegates to vote for whomever they choose. Harris, whom Biden backed after ending his candidacy, is thus far the only declared candidate and was working to quickly secure endorsements from a majority of delegates. Additional endorsements
Kamala Harris has said she plans to "earn and win" the Democratic presidential nomination to defeat Donald Trump after President Joe Biden decided not to seek re-election, putting her on the path to become the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead a major political party's ticket. Vice President Harris, 59, said she was honoured to receive Biden's endorsement and voiced her appreciation for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and his decades of service to the country. I am honoured to have the President's endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination, she said in a statement on Sunday. The historic endorsement came after Biden, 81, announced Sunday that he is dropping out of the race following weeks of disarray within the Democratic Party. Biden's disastrous first presidential debate with his Republican rival and former president Donald Trump called into question his ability to win a second term and govern for another four .
US has sought to cultivate deeper partnership with India as bulwark against more assertive China, while India has sought greater US investment and deeper cooperation in technology sharing and defence