Election 2024 live: Kamala Harris endorsed by Barack and Michelle Obama as she gains momentum in polls
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US Vice President Kamala Harris has received the endorsement of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, the former president and first lady declaring in a new video: “She’ll make a fantastic President of the United States.”
Meanwhile, a new poll from The New York Times and Siena College has found Harris just one percentage point behind Donald Trump, a narrowing of the six-point gap between Joe Biden and his White House predecessor.
Another survey indicates she has put her party back into contention in the key battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin since taking the reins.
Elsewhere, Harris has trolled her Republican rival after he backed out of a proposed television debate with her, asking on social media: “What happened to any time, any place?”
Trump had previously used those words to lay down the gauntlet to Biden but now appears to have cold feet about taking on Harris, who accused him on Thursday of “backpedaling” on his commitment to a debate provisionally scheduled for September 10 to be broadcast on ABC.
Trump’s campaign team subsequently confirmed that he would not face her – at least not yet – blaming Democratic instability for the U-turn.
Voices: Will America ever overcome its prejudices and elect a woman as president?
What began as the “age” election is now the “gender” election, writes Mary Dejevsky – but will being a woman tip the balance in Harris’s favor?
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 14:45
Post-Covid video of Joe Biden sparks bizarre height conspiracy theories
The President’s address to the nation on Wednesday night to explain his decision not to seek re-election has, inevitably, inspired a slew of internet nonsense about him being replaced by a body double.
Here’s Jake Brigstock of Indy100 to examine the evidence.
Post-Covid video of Joe Biden sparks bizarre conspiracy theories
Some people absolutely love a conspiracy theory and there’s one in particular that’s doing the rounds on social media about US President Joe Biden’s first public address since recovering from Covid.Amid growing calls for him to step down ahead of the upcoming US election, Biden announced he had Covi…
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 14:15
Buttigieg coy on Harris running mate rumours
US Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been doing some fine work stumping for Kamala in recent days but was suddenly much more evasive when asked straight out on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today whether he could be her running mate.
Here he is sticking it to Trump on Harris’s behalf for dropping out of the September 10 TV debate, incidently.
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 13:45
Former DOJ officials back Harris and brand Trump a ‘grave risk’
More than 40 former Department of Justice (DOJ) officials who served under both Republican and Democratic presidents have signed a letter endorsing 2024 presidential candidate Kamala Harris, according to a new report.
The letter – which includes the signatures of former attorney general Loretta Lynch, former deputy attorneys general Sally Yates, David Ogden and Jamie Gorelick and the top Washington prosecutor during George W Bush’s administration, John McKay – paints Harris as a common sense candidate who will respect the rule of law.
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 13:15
Watch: Harris says two state solution is ‘only path’ for Israel and Palestine
Kamala Harris says two state solution is the ‘only path’ after meeting with Netanyahu
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to reporters following her meeting with Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She emphasized the importance of a two state solution, calling it the “only path” for Israel and Palestine. Harris also mentioned “hopeful movement” in the ceasefire deal. “I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu it’s time to get this deal done,” she said. Harris and President Biden had separate meetings with the prime minister. Earlier this week, Harris gained enough delegate support to secure the Democratic presidential nomination after Biden announced he was ending his bid.
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 12:45
Watch: Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Harris in ‘historic’ phone call
Listen: Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris in ‘historic’ phone call
Barack Obama and his wife Michelle endorsed Kamala Harris’s bid for president on Friday 26 July in a one-minute long video that captured a private phone call between the couple and the current vice president. “We called to say Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Former President Obama told Ms Harris. “I am proud of you. This is going to be historic,” the former first lady added. Talking into a phone and cracking a few smiles, Ms Harris expressed her gratitude for the endorsement and their long friendship.
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 12:15
Harris rides Biden wave to pick up union support (with a few exceptions)
Kamala Harris is on track to wrap up support from America’s biggest labor unions, even as Republicans led by JD Vance and Donald Trump try to make a play for union voters.
The Vice President spoke at an event held by the American Federation of Teachers on Thursday, where she thanked the teachers’ union for its longstanding support of her political career.
John Bowden and Eric Garcia report.
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 11:45
Harris now a threat to Trump in several major swing states, new poll suggests
In further polling news, Harris appears to have pulled her party back into contention in several key battleground states after taking the reins of the presidential ticket and becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee this week.
A new Emerson poll released on Thursday shows Harris stopping the bleeding her predecessor was suffering for weeks across five key states: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
She still trails Trump in each state, but she’s now within just a few percentage points — ground she has a chance of making up over the next 100-plus days until the general election.
John Bowden looks at the numbers.
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 11:15
Harris narrows gap on Trump in new poll
The latest New York Times/Siena College poll has Trump at 48 per cent and Harris at 47 per cent among likely voters in a head-to-head match-up, in the first survey since Harris took over as the presumptive Democratic Party nominee after President Biden stepped aside.
This shows a marked improvement for Democrats. The last poll conducted by the group in early July showed Biden down six per cent to Trump.
Among registered voters, Trump leads Harris by two per cent (48:46) but he led Biden by nine per cent in the earlier poll.
“The poll showed Ms Harris garnering about 60 percent support from voters under 30 and Hispanic voters, groups Mr Biden had consistently struggled with. Among voters under 45, Ms Harris was ahead by 10 percentage points, less than three weeks after Mr. Trump had held a narrow edge with that group over Mr Biden.
“Because the survey was of voters nationwide, the impact of Ms Harris’s candidacy in particular battleground states was not immediately clear. But a Democratic candidate with greater appeal to younger and more diverse voters could put renewed focus on the Sun Belt states of Nevada, Arizona and Georgia, which had been threatening to slip off the swing-state map for Mr Biden.
“The nationwide poll surveyed 1,142 registered voters between July 22-24 by phone in both English and Spanish. The poll’s margin of sampling error among registered voters is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.”
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 10:45
Obamas endorse Kamala: ‘She’ll make a fantastic President of the United States’
Barack and Michelle Obama have just put out this video endorsing Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s 2024 presidential nominee in place of Joe Biden, putting to bed any conservative speculation that they had doubts about her candidacy once and for all.
Judging from Kamala’s outfit, the call must have come in on Wednesday.
Here’s the very latest from Rachel Sharp.
Joe Sommerlad26 July 2024 10:10
