Election live updates: Harris to make first campaign stop in battleground state

WASHINGTON – Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to a key battleground state on Tuesday in her first campaign stop after President Joe Biden stepped back from the 2024 election.

Harris will hold an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — the site of the Republican National Convention last week. The event was previously scheduled but now comes amid Harris’ campaign to seek Democratic nomination. Since Sunday, Harris is garnered widespread support from members of her own party and Democratic voters.

The vice president made her case Monday evening to take on former President Donald Trump, pointing to her past career as California Attorney General and a courtroom prosecutor.

“In those roles I took on perpetrators of all kinds,” Harris said during remarks at the Harris, formerly Biden, campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del. “So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type.

“And in this campaign, I will proudly – I will proudly – put my record against his,” she said.

Biden, 81, on Sunday dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Harris to be the party’s presidential nominee after facing widespread pressure to withdraw his name from the election. Trump, 78, is now reckoning with a new opponent in the November election.

Follow along with USA TODAY’s live updates.

Trump and his aides have been talking about a non-Biden race for months
In recent eventful days, Trump aides said they have been preparing for the possibility of having to run against another Democratic candidate besides Joe Biden. Some are backing up that claim with records; Axios reported on a memo from May about what possible responses if “something happens” and the Democrats “have no choice but to nominate a replacement at the convention or special meeting of the DNC.” Trump aides have discussed that scenario with reporters for months.

As far back as a briefing in December, Trump campaign aides said they were prepared to alter their strategy if Biden dropped out of the race. On the stump throughout the year, Trump repeatedly suggested that Biden would not make it to the general election, although some of that seemed designed to get under Biden’s skin.

-David Jackson

Trump demands refund for money spent campaigning against Biden
Donald Trump went on a Truth Social posting spree to complain that his campaign has to “start all over” after Joe Biden’s exit from the 2024 race.

“So, we are forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden, he polls badly after having a terrible debate, and quits the race,” Trump said. “Shouldn’t the Republican Party be reimbursed for fraud in that everybody around Joe, including his doctors and the Fake News Media, knew he was not capable of running for, or being, President? Just askin’?”

In his conspiracy-filled rant, Trump claimed the president never had COVID, he is not running the country, and Democrats stole the primary race from him. He also bestowed a nickname upon his apparent new opponent: Lyin’ Kamala Harris.

–Rachel Barber

Melinda French Gates endorses Harris
Melinda French Gates, ex-wife of Bill Gates who is estimated to have a net worth of about $11 billion, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

“There is so much riding on the election in November. We need a leader who will stand up for reproductive freedom. A leader who understands that supporting caregivers leads to healthier families and a stronger economy. A leader who knows that when women have their full power in society, we all thrive,” she wrote.

“I am supporting Vice President Kamala Harris because she is that leader. She has an inspiring vision for America—and she has the experience to make it a reality, she added.

Before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race, Gates had endorsed him, marking her first ever presidential endorsement.

— Sudiksha Kochi

Harris is embracing ‘brat summer.’ It could be cool or cringe. It’s a fine line.
If you’re unsure why “kamala IS brat,” or what that even means, you’re not alone. We can explain it all. But even among voters who are fully clued in on these viral moments, there are those warning Harris not to lean too deep into the memes. There’s a fine line between “cool” and “cringe” and for a woman, that line may be even finer.

For the most part, the Harris campaign’s posts are being praised. Young voters appreciate that she gets it, but plenty are also warning her not to go too far with the joke. Among the good-natured responses, some cautioned: “Don’t be like Hillary.”

During her bid for the presidency, Hillary Clinton, in an effort to reach millennial women, appeared on a 2016 episode of the sit-com “Broad City” making a short, slow motion cameo. One user surmised in a tweet, “brat is best when fun and mean … This is dangerously close to Hillary on Broad City. We must pull back before it’s too late.”

— Alyssa Goldberg

Clooney back Harris after dropping Biden
Actor and Democratic fundraiser George Clooney endorsed Vice President Harris in a statement to CNN Tuesday.

“President Biden has shown what true leadership is,” Clooney said. “He’s saving democracy once again. We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest.”

Clooney joined the swell of donors and officials airing public concerns about Biden’s health and ability to run in 2024.

— Savannah Kuchar

Andy Beshear calls J.D. Vance a “phony” on CNN
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance a “phony” on CNN after Vance claimed at a rally in Ohio Monday that Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats lied about President Joe Biden’s mental capability to serve as president.

“J.D. Vance is a phony, he’s fake. I mean, he first says that Donald Trump is like Hitler, and now he’s acting like he’s Lincoln. The problem with JD Vance is he has no conviction, but I guess his running mate has 34,” Beshear said, referring to Trump’s conviction in New York on 34 counts for falsifying business records.

— Sudiksha Koch

Harris’ fundraising tops $100 million since Biden’s exit
Vice President Kamala Harris has raised more than $100 million since President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the election two days ago, the campaign said Tuesday.

It’s the largest fundraising haul of any candidate ever over that time, according to the campaign, and includes 1.1 million unique donors, 62% of whom have made their first financial contributions of the election cycle.

Since Harris announced her bid, the campaign has also seen 58,000 sign up to volunteer, which is more than 100 times more than an average day for the campaign.

— Joey Garrison

As DNC sets virtual vote, Harris’ nomination all but certain

The Democratic National Committee plans to plow ahead with a virtual nomination at next month’s convention as Vice President Kamala Harris gathers the support she needs from party delegates to replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket.

A memo shared by the committee on Monday evening said the nominating process “must have an electronic voting component.” The purpose is to ensure that the Democratic nominee is on the ballot in all 50 states and D.C. and the party is united by the time of the convention, the memo said.

— Sudiksha Kochi and Francesca Chambers

Kamala Harris’ VP pick: Who’s on her running mate list?

Kamala Harris is moving swiftly to lock up the Democratic nomination for president and could have enough delegate support to do so by midweek.

Her next major task: selecting a running mate.

Potential running mates include a deep bench of younger Democrats who have been widely seen as White House contenders in their own right once President Joe Biden got out of the picture. They range from swing state governors to a former astronaut now serving in the U.S. Senate and one popular Cabinet official who ran for president against Biden and Harris in 2020.

— Phillip M. Bailey, Francesca Chambers and Karissa Waddick

Senate Republican campaign arm hits Harris

The National Republican Senate Committee, the fundraising arm for Senate Republicans, released a messaging memo to candidates Monday titled: “Harris creates strong down-ballot opportunity.”

The group argues that the case against Biden − that he was “mentally unfit to hold office” − didn’t work well against down-ballot Democrats. But Harris “owns the Biden Administration’s baggage,” they write, making her “arguably a bigger threat to Democrats’ Senate majority than Joe Biden.”

The memo details Harris’ policy positions and concludes with a section titled “weird,” including noting that she laughs at “inappropriate moments” and loves Venn diagrams.

− Riley Beggin

How to pronounce Kamala Harris

Despite decades in the public spotlight, mispronunciations of the vice president’s name have not gone away. Several of her political opponents at the Republican National Convention last week called her “Camel-a,” “Kuh-MAHL-a,” or “Kuh-MEL-a” – none of which are correct.

It’s “COM-mah-la,” with emphasis on the first syllable. When pronounced correctly, the vice president’s name sounds like comma-la.

– Rachel Barber

Source Ustoday.com