The VP is being backed by the Democratic Party to replace Biden
\nWASHINGTON
\nUS Vice President Kamala Harris launched her election campaign Monday with a blistering personal attack on Donald Trump and vowed to win in November despite the \u201crollercoaster\u201d of President Joe Biden\u2019s shock exit.
\nAs she closed in on the Democratic party\u2019s nomination with the support of a slew of heavyweights and massive voter donations, Harris lashed out at Trump in her first speech to campaign workers since Biden\u2019s announcement Sunday.
\nBiden, 81, meanwhile made his first public remarks for nearly a week as he recovers from a bout of COVID-19.
\nHe called in to the campaign meeting to say that dropping out \u2014 after mounting party and voter concerns over his health and mental acuity \u2014 had been the \u201cright thing to do\u201d and he praised Harris as \u201cthe best.\u201d
\n\u201cWe are going to win in November,\u201d a smiling Harris told campaign workers in her fiery speech at campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.
\nShe said she had gone to the Wilmington office to address them personally after the \u201crollercoaster\u201d of the last few days.
\nTurning her fire on Trump, Harris referred to her past role as California\u2019s chief prosecutor, saying she \u201ctook on perpetrators of all kinds.\u201d
\n\u201cPredators 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\u2019s type,\u201d she said to applause.
\nHarris also pledged to focus on the politically explosive issue of abortion, after Trump praised the Supreme Court\u2019s 2022 decision to overturn the long-held federal right to the procedure.
\nLimitless optimism
\nBiden dropped out on Sunday and endorsed Harris after three weeks of intensifying pressure, triggered by a disastrous debate performance against Trump.
\nAiming to become the first woman president in US history, the 59-year-old Harris won the backing of a seemingly unassailable number of Democrats.
\nNotably among them was powerful former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said she endorsed Harris \u201cwith immense pride and limitless optimism\u201d.
\nThe major AFL-CIO union federation also gave its formal endorsement on Monday.
\nDonors have rallied behind Harris, pouring a record $81 million into her campaign in the 24 hours after Biden stood aside.
\nThe campaign claimed the haul was the largest one-day sum in presidential history \u2014 and that, among the 888,000 grassroots donors, some 60 percent were making their first 2024 contribution.
\nIn his comments, Biden pledged to keep working on key topics, including ending the war in Gaza.
\nAddressing Harris, he added: \u201cI\u00b4m watching you kid. I love you.\u201d
\nAn aide to Harris later said she would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week during his Washington visit \u2014 separate from Biden\u2019s own planned sit-down.
\nHarris will not attend Netanyahu\u2019s address to Congress, the aide said, due to a previously scheduled event.
\nIn a strikingly symbolic moment on Monday morning, Harris hosted a ceremony for college athletes at the White House while Biden remained stuck in isolation with COVID at his Delaware beach house.
\nThe president will return to the White House on Tuesday, according to his official schedule, which was updated after his doctor reported that Biden\u2019s symptoms \u201chave almost resolved completely.\u201d
\nThreat to democracy
\nBiden\u2019s stunning withdrawal has completely upended the 2024 race, transforming a long slog between two unpopular elderly men into one of the most compelling races in modern US history.
\nThe move has jolted a demoralised party that Harris could now unify, and could give America its first female president.
\nIt has also hit Republicans hard, with former president Trump, 78 \u2014 now the oldest presidential nominee in US history \u2014 having to completely retool a strategy that had been built around attacking Biden over his age and physical frailty.
\nHarris\u2019s entry not only flips the age issue, but puts Trump \u2014 a convicted felon also found liable of sexual assault \u2014 up against a woman and former prosecutor.
\nAnd Trump has seemingly found it hard to move on from Biden.
\nHe launched a series of invective-filled social media posts after Biden quit, mocking the president\u2019s age and saying he and Harris posed a \u201cthreat to democracy.\u201d
\nTrump\u2019s running mate J.D. Vance echoed that line of attack at a rally in Ohio Monday, telling supporters that Harris had the momentum because \u201celite Democrats got in a smoke-filled room and decided to throw Joe Biden overboard.\u201d
\n\u201cThat is not how it works. That is a threat to democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The VP is being backed by the Democratic Party to replace Biden WASHINGTON US Vice President Kamala Harris launched her election campaign Monday with a blistering personal attack on Donald Trump and vowed to win in November despite the \u201crollercoaster\u201d of President Joe Biden\u2019s shock exit. As she closed in on the Democratic party\u2019s nomination …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":67747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67748,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67723\/revisions\/67748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}