Kamala Harris acknowledged that she and the Democrats are “underdogs in this race,” at her first fundraiser since becoming the Democrat’s presumptive nominee.
The vice president was greeted with a standing ovation at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, where she was introduced by musician James Taylor, before repeating her line that she “knows Donald Trump’s type” from her career prosecuting “predators... fraudsters... and cheaters.”
“We are the underdogs in this race. Level set, ok. We are the underdogs in this race, but this is a people powered campign,” she said.
She later laid into Donald Trump, saying: “You may have noticed, Donald Trump has been resorting to some wild lies about my record. And some of what he and his running mate are saying, well, it’s just plain wierd. I mean that’s the box you put that in.
The Harris campaign estimated that the event would bring in over $1.4 million in donations. With rougly 800 attendees, it was the largest held in the Berkshires since former First Lady Michelle Obama visited in 2012
Meanwhile, a New York Times/Siena College poll has found Harris just one percentage point behind Trump, narrowing the six-point gap between Joe Biden and his predecessor.
Key Points
- Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris: ‘She’ll make a fantastic President of the United States’
- Harris narrows gap on Trump in new poll
- Democrat now a threat to Trump in several major swing states, survey suggests
- Harris trolls rival as he backs out of debate: ‘What happened to any time, any place?’
- VP launches first presidential campaign ad: ‘We choose freedom’
Musician James Taylor introduces Kamala Harris at campaign event
23:30
Mike Bedigan
Musician James Taylor introduced VP Harris at her Saturday event in Massachussets.
He described walking onto the stage the day before with Yo Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax and seeing the sign at the back of the stage that reads "Harris for President.”
Pointing at the sign he said: "We saw this for the first time and were absolutely struck by the moment, what it meant that this is here, it is with us, this is happening."
He continued: "We lucky few at the Colonial Theatre this afternoon are among the first to officially support this historic candidacy and let us honor the woman and the moment and may our ardent support be the wind in her sails.
“Our hopes go with her and she stands for us all. It is my privilege, honor and great pleasure to introduce the next President of the United States."
‘If my cat could vote she would vote for you: Harris greeted by supporters in Massachussets
22:00
Mike Bedigan
Kamala Harris was greeted by excited supporters as she arrived in Massachussets ahead of a campaign event on Saturday.
When the vice president’s motorcade arrived Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, a crowd of supporters cheered and waved signs, which bore phrases including "Save our country", "Trump is weird," and "If my cat could vote she would vote for you."
Another woman held a hand made cardboard sign that read, "Madam President" with three hearts drawn on the bottom
Torianna Parrish, 34, from Springfield, Massachussets said said she was “excited” that Joe Biden had dropped out of the race and was now officially endorsing Harris’ candidacy.
"I wanted to show there's power in numbers. I wanted to show my support,” she told reporters. "We're rooting for her and we want to see her make this country what it needs to be."
Asked about her feelings about Biden ending his reelection campaign she added: "To be very transparent, I was excited.
“I was excited, especially with him endorsing our vice president. I'm full in support of it. I love it. I'm excited. I think this is going to do the country well."
Kamala Harris rides Biden wave to pick up union support (with a few exceptions)
21:00
Mike Bedigan
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 (AFT) on Thursday, where she thanked the teachers’ union for its longstanding support of her political career.
John Bowden reports.
Watch: Kamala Harris’s uncle sends warning to Donald Trump
20:30
Mike Bedigan
In pictures: Harris meets supporters in Massachussets ahead of fundraiser
20:00
Mike Bedigan
Harris to give virtual address to young voters
19:30
Mike Bedigan
Kamala Harris will deliver a virtual address to close out the Voters of Tomorrow Summit later today.
The event — hosted by Voters of Tomorrow, a Gen Z-led organization that engages young Americans in politics and government — convenes hundreds of young organizers and activists from across the country at Atlanta’s Loudermilk Conference Center.
Harris’ address will take place at around 4.45pm eastern.
“Vice President Harris is leading the fight to protect Gen Z’s freedoms,” said Santiago Mayer, executive director of Voters of Tomorrow.
“Her campaign is empowering young people as a key part of the coalition to elect our first woman president and defeat Donald Trump, as shown by her virtual appearance at our summit.
“Vice President Harris’ remarks will build on the energy that young people are feeling and strengthen our resolve to restore reproductive rights, deliver climate action, and end the gun violence epidemic — issues that Vice President Harris has fiercely championed.”
Kamala Harris is using Beyoncé's 'Freedom' as her campaign song: What to know about the anthem
19:00
Mike Bedigan
In pictures: Harris travels to Massachussets for fundraiser
18:30
Mike Bedigan
Harris fundraiser in Massachusetts expected to bring in $1.4 million
18:00
Mike Bedigan
Kamala Harris’ Saturday fundraiser in Massachusetts, is expected to bring in over $1.4 million, more than double it’s original goal, a campaign official has said.
With rougly 800 attendees, the event in Pittsfield will be the largest held in the Berkshires since former First Lady Michelle Obama visited in 2012. It is Harris’ first since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Speakers are set to include Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Ed Markey, former Governor Deval Patrick, Richie Neal, and historian Heather Cox Richardson.
Musician James Taylor is also listed as introducing the vice president at the event.
Watch: Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris
16:30
Mike Bedigan
How Doug Emhoff learned Biden dropped out — and what Kamala told him...
15:45
Oliver O'Connell
Doug Emhoff nearly missed one of the biggest moments of his wife’s life when Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidental race.
The second gentleman — during a fundraising and organizing call with Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris on Thursday night — said he was out with gay friends in West Hollywood on Sunday morning. They were getting coffee after finishing a SoulCycle class, and he didn’t have his phone with him, Emhoff said, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Continue reading...
Trump to hold another rally at site of assassination attempt
14:45
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump said he plans to hold another rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after a gunman fired an AR-15-style rifle at the former president moments after he stepped on stage in the town on July 13.
In an all-caps message on his Truth Social on Friday, Trump said he will be “going back” for “a big and beautiful rally” to honor a rally attendee who was fatally shot and two others who were critically injured during the assassination attempt.
Alex Woodward has the details.
Former DOJ officials back Harris, branding Trump ‘grave risk’ to country
12:45
Oliver O'Connell
More than 40 former Justice Department 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, according to NBC News, which first reported the endorsement.
Graig Graziosi has the story.
Harris trolls Trump as he backs out of debate
10:45
Oliver O'Connell
Kamala Harris has trolled Donald Trump by using his words against him after the Republican presidential nominee backed out of a proposed television debate.
“What happened to ‘any time, any place’?” the vice president posted on X late on Thursday night.
Joe Sommerlad reports.
Haley says Harris is Democrats’ ‘weakest candidate’ – but DEI attacks ‘aren’t helpful’
08:45
Oliver O'Connell
Former GOP presidential candidate and one-time UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said Republicans trying to paint Vice President Kamala Harris as a “DEI” candidate are not helping Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Haley made the comments on Thursday during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
She suggested that Republicans focus on Harris’s policies and her past as a politician in their criticisms, not her skin color or her gender. “It’s not helpful,” Haley said.
Graig Graziosi reports.
Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris for president
06:45
Oliver O'Connell
Barack and Michelle Obama have endorsed Kamala Harris for president, saying that there is “no doubt in our mind” that she has what it takes to beat Donald Trump in the 2024 election and “deliver for the American people”.
Following days of speculation, the former first couple announced their endorsement on Friday morning, with both parties sharing a video on social media of a phone call in which the Obamas pledged their whole-hearted support for Harris’s campaign.
Rachel Sharp has the story.
New polling finds Harris now threat to Trump in several major swing states
04:45
Oliver O'Connell
Vice President Kamala Harris has pulled her party back into contention in several key battleground states after taking the reins of the presidential ticket and becoming the presumptive nominee for the Democrats.
A new Emerson poll released on Thursday shows Harris putting an end to the bleeding her predecessor was suffering for weeks across five key states: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. She still trails Donald 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.
JD Vance’s ‘cat lady’ attacks are just the beginning of Republicans’ childbirth obsession
02:45
Oliver O'Connell
Alex Woodward writes:
Before he became Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance called for higher taxes for childless adults and insisted their votes should count less. He said abortion should be “illegal” nationally, and that the “cat ladies” and the “Kamala Harrises” of the world want to “brainwash” other people’s kids.
Misogynist “cat lady” insults are nothing new, nor is an anti-abortion GOP official advocating nationwide bans on abortion access.
But recently resurfaced remarks from the next potential vice president — and his connections to influential right-wing voices with borderline conspiracy-mongering ideas about childbirth rates — have invited more scrutiny into the natalist movement gripping Republican politics.
Continue reading...
VP candidates Josh Shapiro and Gretchen Whitmer to hit campaign trail for Harris
01:45
Oliver O'Connell
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will campaign together for Kamala Harris next week.
Whitmer and Shapiro both endorsed the vice president as the next Democratic candidate to face Donald Trump after President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid on Sunday.
Katie Hawkinson reports.
Chicago bracing for Texas to bus 25,000 migrants to city before Democrat convention
Saturday 27 July 2024 00:45
Oliver O'Connell
Texas officials are vowing to continue busing and flying migrants to liberal cities like Chicago in protest of Biden border policies, and that has officials in the Windy City preparing for an influx of up to 25,000 migrants during the Democratic National Convention next month.
Josh Marcus reports.
How Doug Emhoff learned Biden dropped out — and what Kamala told him
Friday 26 July 2024 23:45
Oliver O'Connell
Doug Emhoff missed one of the biggest moments of his wife’s life when Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the presidental race - thanks to trying to stay fit.
The second gentleman — during a fundraising and organizing call with Black Gay and Queer Men for Harris on Thursday night — said he was out with gay friends in West Hollywood on Sunday morning. They were getting coffee after finishing a SoulCycle class, and he didn’t have his phone with him, Emhoff said, according to The Los Angeles Times.
Alex Woodward has the story of what happened next.
Watch: Biden shows support for Team USA as he heads to Camp David
Friday 26 July 2024 22:51
Oliver O'Connell
President Biden with his sister Valerie and son Hunter leave the White House for Camp David. The president wearing the USA Olympic team jacket. pic.twitter.com/acog5KwSVG
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) July 26, 2024
Haley says Harris is Democrats’ ‘weakest candidate’ – but DEI attacks ‘aren’t helpful’
Friday 26 July 2024 22:45
Oliver O'Connell
Former GOP presidential candidate and one-time UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said Republicans trying to paint Vice President Kamala Harris as a “DEI” candidate are not helping Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Haley made the comments on Thursday during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper.
She suggested that Republicans focus on Harris’s policies and her past as a politician in their criticisms, not her skin color or her gender. “It’s not helpful,” Haley said.
Graig Graziosi reports.
Trump calls Kamala Harris’ Israel remarks ‘disrespectful’
Friday 26 July 2024 22:15
Oliver O'Connell
Former president Donald Trump hit out at Vice President Kamala Harris for her insistence that Israel should avoid civilian casualties and allow Palestinians access to humanitarian aid as he hosted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his self-styled White House in exile on Friday.
Andrew Feinberg reports.
Shapiro and Whitmer to campaign for Harris next week
Friday 26 July 2024 21:55
Oliver O'Connell
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will campaign together for Kamala Harris next week.
Whitmer and Shapiro both endorsed the vice president as the next Democratic candidate to face Donald Trump after President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid on Sunday.
The duo is set to appear at a campaign event in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania on Monday, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. They are expected to speak out against Project 2025, a blueprint for a second Trump term.
Katie Hawkinson has the details.
Kamala Harris calls Sonya Massey’s family
Friday 26 July 2024 21:43
Oliver O'Connell
Per NBC News:
On Friday, Vice President Kamala Harris called the family of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old Black woman who was shot by a sheriff’s deputy in her Illinois home, according to Massey’s family members who spoke to NBC News.
Massey, 36, was killed July 6 after she called the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office because she was afraid there might be a prowler outside, according to an attorney for her family and Illinois State Police,
“It’s made me feel a lot better today,” said James Wilburn, Massey’s father.
Of Harris, Wilburn said, “She gave us her heartfelt condolences, and she let us know that she is with us, 100% that this senseless killing.”
Here’s our most recent coverage of the killing of Sonya Massey:
Friday 26 July 2024 21:15
Oliver O'Connell
Harris trolls Trump as he backs out of debate
Friday 26 July 2024 20:57
Oliver O'Connell
Kamala Harris has trolled Donald Trump by using his words against him after the Republican presidential nominee backed out of a proposed television debate.
“What happened to ‘any time, any place’?” the vice president posted on X late on Thursday night.
Joe Sommerlad reports.
Second gentleman shares story of how he heard Biden had dropped out
Friday 26 July 2024 20:39
Oliver O'Connell
The Los Angeles Times reports that Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff shocked a couple of thousand gay and queer Black men backing Vice President Kamala Harris in her run for president when he made a surprise appearance on an organizing call on Thursday evening.
After telling the assembled supporters that Harris would “be there” for the LGBTQ+ community moving forward, as she has been in the past, Emhoff told the story of how he found out that President Joe Biden had stepped aside from the 2024 race.
Per The LA Times:
Emhoff also told a story of being caught by surprise by President Biden’s announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race on Sunday, when he said he happened to be in Los Angeles with a gay couple — friends of his — after taking a one-hour SoulCycle class with them in West Hollywood.
“We’re out there having coffee, messing around and talking, and ... people are coming up to me, so it’s now, like, after the announcement has gone out, and my friend’s partner said, ‘Um, you need to look at this,’ and I said, ‘What?’” Emhoff said.
What the friend was holding up was Biden’s letter to the country announcing he was dropping out.
“Of course I didn’t have my phone, so I ran and ran and got into our car, and of course my phone is just on fire, and it’s basically, ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ ‘Call Kamala,’ from everyone,” Emhoff said. “And of course, the first thing she said was, ‘Where the ... were you? I need you.’”
Since then, Emhoff said, it’s been a “whirlwind.”
Analysis: JD Vance’s ‘cat lady’ attacks are just the beginning of Republicans’ childbirth obsession
Friday 26 July 2024 20:30
Oliver O'Connell
Alex Woodward writes:
Before he became Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance called for higher taxes for childless adults and insisted their votes should count less. He said abortion should be “illegal” nationally, and that the “cat ladies” and the “Kamala Harrises” of the world want to “brainwash” other people’s kids.
Misogynist “cat lady” insults are nothing new, nor is an anti-abortion GOP official advocating nationwide bans on abortion access.
But recently resurfaced remarks from the next potential vice president — and his connections to influential right-wing voices with borderline conspiracy-mongering ideas about childbirth rates — have invited more scrutiny into the natalist movement gripping Republican politics.
Continue reading...
Polling shows Harris now a threat to Trump in key swing states
Friday 26 July 2024 20:15
Oliver O'Connell
Vice President Kamala Harris has pulled her party back into contention in several key battleground states after taking the reins of the presidential ticket and becoming the presumptive nominee for the Democrats.
A new Emerson poll released on Thursday shows Harris putting an end to the bleeding her predecessor was suffering for weeks across five key states: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. She still trails Donald 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.
Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris for president
Friday 26 July 2024 19:45
Oliver O'Connell
Barack and Michelle Obama have endorsed Kamala Harris for president, saying that there is “no doubt in our mind” that she has what it takes to beat Donald Trump in the 2024 election and “deliver for the American people”.
Following days of speculation, the former first couple announced their endorsement on Friday morning, with both parties sharing a video on social media of a phone call in which the Obamas pledged their whole-hearted support for Harris’s campaign.
Rachel Sharp has the story.
Might this be the lowest point of the campaign so far?
Friday 26 July 2024 19:15
Oliver O'Connell
A regular guest on the Fox Business network referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “the original ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl,” sparking online backlash about the sexist remark.
Alec Lace appeared on the network on July 5 to discuss the future of the Democratic party after President Joe Biden’s debate stumble — commentary that devolved into racist and sexist remarks about the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Lace suggested that Harris ascended to power by sleeping her way to the top.
Kelly Rissman reports.
Friday 26 July 2024 18:45
Oliver O'Connell
Harris rides Biden wave to pick up union support (with a few exceptions)
Friday 26 July 2024 18:15
Oliver O'Connell
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.