Kamala Harris made her first public appearance paying tribute to the legacy of Joe Biden after he stood down as presidential candidate, as ITV News US Correspondent Dan Rivers reports.
Joe Biden has spoken for the first time since dropping out of the presidential race, saying it was the “right thing to do” and vowing to “work like hell” as he helps campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The US President, who is recovering from Covid at his home in Delaware, called into Harris’ campaign meeting on Monday to lend his support to the vice president.
“If I didn’t have Covid, I’d be standing there with you,” said Biden, whose voice sounded a touch gravelly.
“The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all,” Biden said, promising he was “not going anywhere” and plans to campaign on Harris’ behalf.
Biden said of his decision to step aside: “It was the right thing to do.”
In her speech, Harris said it was her intention “to go out and earn this nomination and to win”.
And she laid out her case against Trump, invoking a host of the former president’s scandals and legal troubles.
She pointed to her time as a district attorney and California attorney general, saying that she “took on perpetrators of all kinds.”
“Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own game,” Harris said. “So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.”
Speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, Harris acknowledged the “rollercoaster” of the last several weeks but expressed confidence in her new campaign team.
Harris won the backing of more than two-thirds of the Democratic delegates she needs to become her party’s nominee and set a new fundraising record on Monday in her first 24 hours as a presidential candidate.
Top democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who played a pivotal role in persuading Biden to step aside, got behind Harris on Monday.
Ever since Biden’s announcement Harris has been receiving endorsements from across the party as the Democrats united around her, including from many of her potential rivals for the nomination.
Pelosi, who is one of the most influential Democrats in the party, had initially been reported as being one of the holdouts of a Harris campaign.
Kamala Harris used her first speech since Joe Biden pulled out of the race to praise the president’s record.
But on Monday she said she backed Harris with “immense pride and limitless optimism” saying her support for the vice president was “official, personal and political.”
In order to become the official Democratic she would need to win a majority of delegates at the party’s convention in August.
With Biden withdrawing from the race he has now released all of the delegates pledged to him.
Analysis by the Associated Press on Monday evening found that Harris had already accumulated over 1,000 delegates out of the 1,976 she needed to secure the nomination.
Joe Biden said picking Kamala Harris as her Vice President was one of the best decisions he’s ever made.
AP said out of all of the delegates they had spoken to they all either committed to Harris or would not comment, no other potential candidate has been mentioned.
Speaking on Monday at an event on the lawn of the White House that Biden missed as he recovers, Harris said that the president, in one term, got more done than many two-term presidents.
“I am firsthand witness that every day, our President Joe Biden fights for the American people,” she said. “And we are deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation.”
Donations to the party surged as Biden urged his vast list of supporters to contribute to what is now the campaign to get Harris elected.
The Republicans have quickly switched to attacking Kamala Harris, with JD Vance criticising her during a speech on Monday
ActBlue, the liberal political action committee, says $46.7m was raised in the hours after Biden withdrew from the race.
In response to the weekend’s events, the Republicans have been quick to accuse the Democrats of hypocrisy after seemingly installing Harris without giving a member a real say.
Speaking during a campaign in his home state of Ohio on Monday Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance said the idea that “a couple of elite Democrats got in a smoke-filled room and decided to throw Joe Biden overboard, that is not how it works”.
“That is a threat to democracy, not the Republican Party, which is fighting for democracy every single day.”
Elsewhere, global markets rose in the wake of Biden’s exit and his endorsement of Harris, with European stocks and premarket trading in the US seeing an uptick.
In an email sent Sunday afternoon, Biden said picking her as his running mate is the “best decision I’ve made.”
“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year,” Biden wrote. “Democrats – it’s time to come together and beat Trump. And if you’re with us, donate to her campaign here.”
Biden’s campaign formally changed its name to Harris for President on Sunday afternoon.
Following Biden’s announcement that he would step down, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he “respected” the move.
