“I am proud to have acquired the broad support needed to become the party’s nominee” for the Democratic Party, Kamala Harris said on Tuesday, July 23. The American vice president replaced Joe Biden at short notice, who announced Sunday that he was dropping out of the race for the White House. According to American media, a majority of Democratic delegates – the 4,000 or so people responsible for officially nominating the party’s candidate – have already announced their intention to support her. This choice will have to be formalized at the Democratic convention in mid-August in Chicago.
“I look forward to formally accepting this nomination soon,” she added in her statement. “I am grateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who has decided to put their trust in me,” Harris continued. She will now test her candidacy with voters: the Democrat is holding a rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday, a decisive state for her likely duel with Donald Trump.
Comparing the 78-year-old Republican candidate to a “predator” and a “crook,” the current American vice president declared in what was her first campaign speech: “We will win.”
In a first campaign speech on Monday, Kamala Harris acknowledged that the campaign had been a “roller coaster” ride. “I know that […] “We’re all filled with so many mixed feelings about this. I love Joe Biden,” she said from her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, east. She also promised to put abortion rights at the heart of her campaign strategy. “We’re going to fight for the right to control your body, knowing full well that if Trump has the chance, he’s going to enact an abortion ban in every single state,” she said.
The vice president will also meet this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, her office announced.
Before his speech, it was Joe Biden, his voice still hoarse from Covid-19, who spoke on the phone from his vacation home – the same one from which he announced Sunday that he was throwing in the towel. He is due back at the White House on Tuesday, according to his official schedule, with his doctor assuring that he is almost symptom-free. “It’s the best,” the president insisted, again affirming that his decision to withdraw was the “right one.” Joe Biden is due to address the country later this week.
Significant support obtained by the first female vice president in the history of the United States, that of the Democratic tenor Nancy Pelosi, saying she had “full confidence” in Kamala Harris. The vice president received the strong support of several important governors, some of whom are considered potential rivals, including Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan) and Gavin Newsom (California). Support also came from a series of elected Democrats, from the moderate wing of the party to the most left-wing, as well as from the main American union group, the AFL-CIO. However, some major Democratic figures, such as former President Barack Obama or the leader of the Democrats in the Senate Chuck Schumer, have not yet given direct support to the woman who is also the first black vice president.
Joe Biden’s withdrawal also brought big benefits to Democrats, with $81 million raised in 24 hours, a record amount from small donors.
Major twists and turns
In just eight days, the race for the White House has seen two major historic twists that have completely reshuffled the cards of an election that Americans were not very passionate about: first the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on July 13, then the thunderclap on Sunday of Joe Biden’s withdrawal, forced to give in under pressure from his own camp.
Now the oldest candidate in the race, at 78, Donald Trump continued to joke about the president’s mental abilities. “Joe Biden doesn’t remember dropping out of the race yesterday!” he mocked on his social network. Because on the Republican side, this announcement shakes up Donald Trump’s candidacy, forcing him to review his electoral strategy, which was very focused on the president’s fitness.
According to an average of polls conducted before Sunday’s turning point, Kamala Harris would obtain a slightly better score on November 5 than Joe Biden against Donald Trump, but would still trail the Republican by two percentage points (46% against 48% for him).
Donald Trump’s campaign team has already prepared election ads attacking Kamala Harris. Senator JD Vance, chosen to be the Republican’s running mate, denounced on Monday an “undemocratic” process to sideline Joe Biden and select Kamala Harris in his place. Taking advantage of the Democratic setbacks, Donald Trump also continues to survey the electoral terrain, capitalizing on the unifying effect of his party’s convention that officially inaugurated him as candidate last week. He will hold a new campaign rally on Wednesday in North Carolina.