Kamala Harris races to firm up White House bid, Donald Trump campaign switches gears

Washington, July 22

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.

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 November 5 election against Republican Donald Trump.

Praises Biden’s ‘unmatched’ legacy

• Kamala Harris lauded President Joe Biden’s accomplishments in her first public appearance on Monday.
• “Joe Biden’s legacy over the last three years is unmatched in modern history,” Harris said at a White House event.
• “Every day, our President, Joe Biden, fights for the American people and we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation,” she said.

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 JD Vance, as his running mate.

“My intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris, 59, 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. Sources within the Trump campaign said it will cast Harris, the likely Democratic candidate after President Biden quit the race on Sunday, as the “co-pilot” of administration polices it says are behind both sources of voter discontent. — Reuters