Kamala Harris smiled and laughed as she addressed racist remarks made by Donald Trump to Black journalists on Wednesday, describing the comments as “the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect.”
Trump had appeared at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago, where he wildly, and falsely, claimed that the vice president only recently “became a Black woman.” Harris’s father is from Jamaica and her mother is Indian.
Democrats and members of the public have reacted with shock to the remarks, which many have dubbed “Birtherism 2.0” – a reference to Trump’s previous attempts to spread false conspiracy theories about Barack Obama being born in Africa.
When journalists told White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Trump’s remarks, she responded: “Wow.” She called the comments “repulsive” and “insulting”.
At a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority gathering in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday evening, Harris told crowds: “The American people deserve better.”
Elsewhere, it was announced that Harris will make her first appearance with her choice of running mate in Philadelphia next Tuesday — though her campaign has stressed that she has not yet made a decision who that will be.
Key Points
- Harris calls Trumps remarks to Black journalists on her heritage ‘the same old show’
- Trump race remarks dubbed ‘Birtherism 2.0'
- Harris fundraiser in Houston rakes in $2.5m, more than doubling target
- Harris and her VP pick will tour battleground states next week - sources
Harris slashes Trump's poll lead in half
07:24
Namita Singh
Vice president Kamala Harris has halved former president Donald Trump’s 2024 lead in a newly relaunched national polling average, reported The Hill.
Cook Political Report’s newest average shows the Republican presidential nominee leading against Ms Harris by 1.3 points.
Trump was shown on 47.5 per cent, while the Democratic presidential hopeful is on 46.2 per cent. That represents a significant jump from President Joe Biden’s 44.7 per cent in a 21 July polling average.
Member of 'Tennessee Three' hopes to survive state Democratic primary for Senate seat
07:00
Namita Singh
Tennessee’s primary election Thursday will decide whether state Representative Gloria Johnson, who shot to national fame after surviving a Republican-led expulsion effort for her participation in a gun control protest, will become the Democratic nominee in a fall matchup for the seat held by Republican US senator Marsha Blackburn, who must first clear her own primary contest.
The primary will also determine whether Republican representative Andy Ogles will be able to defeat a well-funded opponent, Nashville council member Courtney Johnston, as he pursues a second term in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
In the Senate race, Ms Johnson faces Marquita Bradshaw, a Memphis community activist and organizer who notably won the Democratic Senate nomination in 2020 then lost to Republican Bill Hagerty by a wide margin. Other Democrats running are Civil Miller-Watkins and Lola Denise Brown.
Last year, days after a school shooting that killed three children and three adults, Johnson joined fellow Democratic representatives Justin Pearson and Justin Jones as they walked to the front of the state House floor with a bullhorn. The trio joined the chants and cries for gun control legislation by protesters in the public galleries and outside of the chamber.
Kamala Harris blasts Trump’s ‘crappy Jew’ interview antisemitism
06:45
Oliver O'Connell
Kamala Harris’s campaign has ripped into Donald Trump’s latest antisemitic statements after he agreed with a right-wing radio host that the vice president’s Jewish husband Doug Emhoff is a “crappy” and “horrible Jew.”
Trump has tried to leverage division among Democrats over Israel’s war in Gaza by painting his political rivals as antisemitic, despite his own lengthy history of attacking Jewish Americans and conflating criticism of Israel’s attacks with anti-Jewish prejudice.
During an appearance on New York’s WABC radio on Tuesday, Trump said Jewish voters who support Democratic candidates are “fools” who “should have their head examined.”
Alex Woodward reports.
Trump’s 'Birtherism 2.0' remarks on Harris's race dubbed 'embarrassing', 'delusional'
05:23
Namita Singh
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump again waded into discussing a rival’s ethnic background on Wednesday, falsely claiming that Kamala Harris has only recently started highlighting her Black heritage.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” he said while appearing before the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. “So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
The extraordinary remarks have been likened to Trump’s enthusiastic contributions in the past to the false conspiracy theory that president Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii, had forged his birth certificate and was born in Kenya, dubbed “birtherism”.
These are not the only examples of Trump questioning the credentials and qualifications of Black and other minority politicians – he also commented extensively on the ethnic background of Republican primary rival Nikki Haley.
Democrats have reacted quickly to the latest remarks about Harris, and social media users also lashed out at Trump calling him racist.“Wow. This is really embarrassing,” wrote a user. “There are going down the Birtherism Road with [Kamala Harris’s] Blackness? This is some delusional racism.”
Wow.
— Gordon Stock (@GordonStock3) August 1, 2024
This is really embarrassing.
They really are going down the Birtherism Road with @KamalaHarris’s Blackness?
This is some delusional racism.@realDonaldTrump is going to be destroyed in November. https://t.co/8EL3wbgPdF
“Donald Trump is going to be destroyed in November”.
This is birtherism 2.0? pic.twitter.com/VBRsw7kFfk
— El Jaifi (@EgoComLib) August 1, 2024
“This is birtherism 2.0?” asked another user.
“Trump rolled out Birtherism 2.0 today and it did not go well,” wrote journalist Aaron Rupar.
Trump rolled out Birtherism 2.0 today and it did not go well pic.twitter.com/iQhFJ6vPem
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 31, 2024
Trump's appearance before Black journalists leads to memorable confrontation with ABC's Rachel Scott
04:50
Namita Singh
Primarily due to sharp questioning by ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott, former president Donald Trump’s appearance before a gathering of Black journalists turned remarkably contentious on Wednesday.
Scott pressed Trump on past statements about Black leaders, his support for 6 January 2021 rioters and diversity hiring — leading the former president to repeatedly complain about how he was treated.
“She was very rude,” the former president said, pointing at Scott.
Scott, ABC News’ senior congressional reporter and a campaign correspondent, has worked at ABC News since 2016, her visibility increasing lately when she anchored the network’s live coverage of president Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race.
In her first question, Scott referred to the controversy over Trump’s appearance, and specifically cited several Trump statements about Black leaders in the past, including his false accusations about former president Barack Obama’s birthplace, and rude remarks to members of Congress, district attorneys and journalists.
“Now that you are asking Black voters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you’ve used language like that?” Scott asked.Trump immediately went after the questioner.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner, a first question,” he replied. “You don’t even say ‘hello, how are you.’ Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network.”
When Trump began talking Wednesday about what his administration did for Black Americans, Scott attempted to cut him off, saying, “Mr President, I would love for you to answer the question on your rhetoric and why you believe Black voters can trust you for another term.”
Trump said he was doing so, and made a claim he’s made before, that he was the best president for Black people since Abraham Lincoln.“Better than President Johnson, who signed the Civil Rights Act”? Scott asked.
Scott then asked whether Trump backed supporters who suggested that his Democratic opponent, vice president Kamala Harris, was a DEI hire, leading to a back-and-forth between them over what the phrase — for diversity, equity and inclusion — meant.
“Do you think vice president Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she’s a Black person? Scott asked, leading to Trump’s most newsworthy statements of the session, questioning Harris’ racial background.
In latest misogynist rant, Trump says world leaders will walk all over Harris because of ‘how she looks’
04:45
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has claimed that Kamala Harris would be treated as a “play toy” by world leaders because of “how she looks” in the latest misogynistic comments to emerge from his camp.
The former president told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in an interview, part of which aired on Tuesday night, that the vice president’s appearance means other leaders will “walk all over her”.
Rachel Sharp reports.
Trump’s repeat racist attacks on opponents and critics
04:36
Namita Singh
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded with disbelief when she was asked about Donald Trump’s latest remarks about vice president Kamala Harris, falsely accusing her of misleading voters about her race.
“Wow”, said Ms Jean-Pierre, before calling his comments “repulsive”.
“It’s insulting and no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify.”
Trump has repeatedly attacked his opponents and critics on the basis of race. He rose to prominence in Republican politics by propagating false theories that president Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, was not born in the United States.
“Birtherism,” as it became known, was just the start of Trump’s history of questioning the credentials and qualifications of Black politicians.
He has denied allegations of racism. And after Mr Biden picked Ms Harris as his running mate four years ago, a Trump campaign spokesperson then pointed to a previous Trump political donation to Ms Harris as proof that he wasn’t racist.
“The president, as a private businessman, donated to candidates across all aisles,” the spokesperson, Katrina Pierson, told reporters. “And I’ll note that Kamala Harris is a Black woman and he donated to her campaign, so I hope we can squash this racism argument now,” she said.
During this year’s Republican primary, he once referred to former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, as “Nimbra”.
Unhinged: Trump claims Kamala Harris only recently ‘became a Black woman’
03:45
Oliver O'Connell
Moments into a heated question-and-answer session with Black journalists in Chicago, Donald Trump falsely claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black” only recently.
“I didn’t know she was Black,” he said on Wednesday. “She happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black? ... I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.”
Alex Woodward reports.
Maya Rudolph will reprise her fan-favorite SNL Kamala Harris impression
02:45
Oliver O'Connell
Maya Rudolph will reportedly bring back her popular impression of Vice President Kamala Harris to the new season of Saturday Night Live.
Rudolph, 51, who was a regular cast member on the NBC sketch series from 2000 to 2007, made one of several returns to the show in 2019 where she debuted her portrayal of the VP.
Inga Parkel has the story.
Harris welcomes Howard men’s basketball team to the White House
02:15
Gustaf Kilander
As a proud graduate of Howard University, I know that when we invest in our HBCUs, we invest in the strength of our nation for years to come.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) July 31, 2024
I was honored to welcome the @HUMensBB championship team to the White House to celebrate athletes who are leading on and off the court. pic.twitter.com/4q748ncOg3
Harris says she’s ‘honored to receive the endorsement of the United Auto Workers'
01:45
Gustaf Kilander
I am honored to receive the endorsement of the United Auto Workers. From walking picket lines to taking on big banks, I have spent my entire career fighting for unions and working families—and, as President, I will continue to deliver for organized labor. https://t.co/CQc4K0YOBW
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 31, 2024
Harris calls Trumps remarks at NABJ ‘the same old show'
01:33
Mike Bedigan
At a rally in Texas Kamala Harris smiled and laughed as she addressed racist remarks made by Donald Trump at an event in Chicago.
Referring to Trump’s presidency, she said: “We all remember what those four years were like, and today, we were given another reminder.
“This afternoon Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, and it was the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect.
“And let me just say the American people deserve better… The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth who does not respond with hostility when confronted with the truth…that understands that our differences do not divide us.”
Second Gentleman slams Trump at Maine fundraiser
01:15
Gustaf Kilander
The Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, slammed Trump during a fundraiser in Maine for the former president’s comments about his wife’s racial identity.
“A worse version of an already horrible person,” he said regarding Trump, according to The Washington Post.
“The insults, the BS, shows a lack of character—but it’s a distraction,” he added.
After Trump team touts ‘demise’ of Project 2025, Harris campaign calls BS
Thursday 1 August 2024 00:45
Oliver O'Connell
Kamala Harris’s campaign warned Democrats not to be fooled by statements from the Trump campaign after the director of the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” policy effort announced that he would step down.
While two top advisers to the former president claimed victory in a statement that blustered about the fates of any Republican who falsely claimed to speak for Donald Trump, the Harris campaign and even the Heritage Foundation said that the bulk of Project 2025’s work would continue.
Continue reading...
Thursday 1 August 2024 00:15
Oliver O'Connell
Data Analysis: Kamala Harris turns polls around in swing states — except these two
Wednesday 31 July 2024 23:45
Oliver O'Connell
Six out of seven battleground states have seen Harris improving on Biden’s numbers, according to a set of polls by Morning Consult for Bloomberg.
The polls were carried out in seven states from July 24 to 28, with sample sizes ranging from 454 registered voters to 804 in each state.
In particular, Harris appears to have made huge jumps in Michigan and Arizona, gaining by +5 points and +4 points respectively over Biden’s last polling in early July.
Alicja Hagopian reports.
Where Kamala Harris’s ‘White-Boy Summer’ goes from here
Wednesday 31 July 2024 23:15
Oliver O'Connell
Eric Garcia writes:
It’s kind of hard to ignore the fact that white guys who support Vice President Kamala Harris are having a moment.
During Harris’ rally in Atlanta, Parker Short, the president of the Georgia Young Democrats, went viral for dancing along to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not like Us”. And the current VP is virtually guaranteed to pick a white male Democrat as her running mate, whether it be Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly or Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
Then there was the surprisingly wholesome White Dudes for Harris Zoom call that raised $4 million thanks to cameos from Mark Ruffalo, Mark Hamill, Pete Buttigieg and “The Dude” himself, Jeff Bridges, — before Elon Musk’s X/Twitter briefly shut down the account for the call. And of course, Harris has benefited from the fact that the White Boy in Chief, Joe Biden, chose to not seek re-election and endorsed her.
But all the jokes about Harris’s White Boy Summer, as The Atlantic called it, underpin a more serious predicament: to win the White House, Harris will genuinely need to shore up a lot more support among white men.
Read on...
Insiders torn on whether ‘nepo baby’ Andy Beshear should be Harris running mate
Wednesday 31 July 2024 22:45
Oliver O'Connell
Andrew Feinberg writes:
There’s a tradition of people with famous names getting into national politics by way of what John Adams called “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived,” also known as the vice presidency of the United States.
Both George HW Bush and Al Gore each served in the second-highest office in America after coming into politics as the son of a famous father, using their family reputation as a stepping-stone.
So if Kamala Harris chooses Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to be her running-mate — and if she defeats Donald Trump to become the 47th President of the United States — Beshear would find himself in good company.
Read on...
Over 100 Silicon Valley tycoons back Harris’ bid for president
Wednesday 31 July 2024 22:15
Oliver O'Connell
More than 100 venture capitalists pledged to support Vice President Kamala Harris — the Democrats’ answer to the steady stream of Silicon Valley bigwigs who have vowed to back Donald Trump.
“VCs for Kamala” includes LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban and billionaire Chris Sacca.
“We the undersigned are Venture Capital investors, founders and tech leaders who pledge to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election,” a statement on the website says.
Kelly Rissman has the story.
Harris blasts Trump’s ‘crappy Jew’ interview as ex-president repeats antisemitic attacks
Wednesday 31 July 2024 21:53
Oliver O'Connell
Kamala Harris’s campaign has ripped into Donald Trump’s latest antisemitic statements after he agreed with a right-wing radio host that the vice president’s Jewish husband Doug Emhoff is a “crappy” and “horrible Jew.”
Trump has tried to leverage division among Democrats over Israel’s war in Gaza by painting his political rivals as antisemitic, despite his own lengthy history of attacking Jewish Americans and conflating criticism of Israel’s attacks with anti-Jewish prejudice.
During an appearance on New York’s WABC radio on Tuesday, Trump said Jewish voters who support Democratic candidates are “fools” who “should have their head examined.”
Alex Woodward reports.
UAW endorses Harris for president ahead Detroit rally
Wednesday 31 July 2024 21:33
Oliver O'Connell
The UAW International Executive Board has voted to endorse Kamala Harris for President of the United States.
A statement from the UAW says that Harris’s historic candidacy builds on the Biden-Harris administration’s proven track record of standing with the UAW and delivering major gains for the working class.
“Years before the Stand Up Strike, Kamala Harris walked the picket line with striking autoworkers in 2019, has taken on corporate price-gouging and profiteering, and has spoken out and voted against unfair trade deals that hurt the American worker like NAFTA and NAFTA 2.0, the USMCA,” it further says.
The announcement comes before a planned rally in Detroit on August 7 at which Harris will be present with her choice for running mate.
Vice President Harris will also meet directly with UAW members and leaders to hear about the issues that matter to Michigan workers.
“Our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class,” said UAW President Shawn Fain. “We stand at a crossroads in this country. We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed. This campaign is bringing together people from all walks of life, building a movement that can defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. For our one million active and retired members, the choice is clear: We will elect Kamala Harris to be our next President this November.”
Reacting to the news, Harris campaign manager Julia Chavez Rodriguez, said: “Vice President Harris is honored to receive the endorsement of the United Auto Workers, and knows it comes with the responsibility to fight for unions and working families as she’s done her whole career.
“Vice President Harris is no stranger to fighting for unions. From walking a picket line with striking UAW workers to casting the deciding vote for the Butch Lewis Act and taking on big banks to protect over $300m in union retirement funds as California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris has a long, proven record of delivering for unions and organized labor. As President, Kamala Harris will continue to fight like hell for union workers and their families.
“Workers across the country have so much at stake in this election. Donald Trump will gut workers’ rights, ship jobs overseas, and give tax breaks to billionaires at the expense of working people. With the immense organizing power of the UAW at her side, this campaign will reach out to auto workers across the country and send Kamala Harris to the Oval Office.”
Wednesday 31 July 2024 21:15
Oliver O'Connell
Full story: Trump claims Kamala Harris only recently ‘became a Black woman’ in unhinged remarks to Black journalists
Wednesday 31 July 2024 21:00
Oliver O'Connell
Moments into a heated question-and-answer session with Black journalists in Chicago, Donald Trump claimed that vice president Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black” only recently.
“I didn’t know she was Black,” he said on Wednesday. “She happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black? ... I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.”
Trump — responding to questions about whether he agrees with Republican allies who claimed that she was selected to run for office only because of her race — frequently interrupted and sparred with three Black women media workers at the National Association of Black Journalists conference.
Read Alex Woodward’s report:
In latest misogynist rant, Trump says world leaders will walk all over Harris because of ‘how she looks’
Wednesday 31 July 2024 20:45
Oliver O'Connell
Donald Trump has claimed that Kamala Harris would be treated as a “play toy” by world leaders because of “how she looks” in the latest misogynistic comments to emerge from his camp.
The former president told Fox News Laura Ingraham in an interview, part of which aired on Tuesday night, that the vice president’s appearance means other leaders will “walk all over her”.
“She’ll be like a play toy,” he said. “They look at her and they say, ‘We can’t believe we got so lucky.’ They’re going to walk all over her.”
Rachel Sharp reports.
‘Weird’ Vance attacks start to stick as Harris reverses Democrat poll bleeding
Wednesday 31 July 2024 20:15
Oliver O'Connell
The efforts to paint JD Vance and former President Donald Trump as “weird” appear to be paying off.
Kamala Harris entered her second week as a presidential candidate on Monday, and a slew of new polling indicates that her “honeymoon” period is not coming to an end just yet.
With the formerly-Biden, now-Harris campaign pushing out a new memo to reporters detailing the strength of the vice president’s candidacy as the week began, all the signs indicate that momentum is clearly shifting in the US presidential race. The campaign woke up on Monday morning to a pair of new polls from ABC News and the Wall Street Journal indicating what many had suspected for days: Kamala Harris has now completed a virtual reset of the presidential race’s dynamic, erasing months of bleeding suffered by the campaign when Joe Biden was at the top.
John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.
After Trump team touts ‘demise’ of Project 2025, Harris campaign calls BS
Wednesday 31 July 2024 19:45
Oliver O'Connell
Kamala Harris’s campaign warned Democrats not to be fooled by statements from the Trump campaign on Tuesday after the director of the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” policy effort announced that he would step down.
While two top advisers to the former president claimed victory in a statement which blustered about the fates of any Republican who falsely claimed to speak for Donald Trump, the Harris campaign and even the Heritage Foundation said that the bulk of Project 2025’s work would continue.
John Bowden and Andrew Feinberg report from Washington, DC.
Ella Emhoff whisked away from NYC restaurant by Secret Service after irate man confronted an agent outside
Wednesday 31 July 2024 19:15
Oliver O'Connell
Ella Emhoff, the 25-year-old stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris, was rushed out of a New York City restaurant after a man “caused damage” to Secret Service vehicles parked outside after confronting an agent.
The incident occurred around 12.40 pm Tuesday along Hudson Street and North Moore Street in the Tribeca neighborhood, an NYPD spokesperson told The Independent.
Kelly Rissman has the full story.
Watch: Doug Emhoff and friends get in on the TikTok ‘pass the phone’ trend
Wednesday 31 July 2024 18:45
Oliver O'Connell
The second gentleman Doug Emhoff is joined by David Lettermen and Jack Schlossberg to get in on the latest TikTok trend in support of Kamala Harris.
Passing the phone—gentlemen’s edition.@Letterman @JBKSchlossberg pic.twitter.com/UQye7SuCW2
— Doug Emhoff (@DouglasEmhoff) July 31, 2024
Maya Rudolph will reprise her SNL fan-favorite Kamala Harris impression
Wednesday 31 July 2024 18:15
Oliver O'Connell
Today, in great news...
Maya Rudolph will reportedly bring back her popular impression of Vice President Kamala Harris to the new season of Saturday Night Live.
Rudolph, who was a regular cast member on the NBC sketch series from 2000 to 2007, made one of several returns to the show in 2019 where she debuted her portrayal of the VP.
Inga Parkel reports.
X reinstates ‘White Dudes for Harris’ account
Wednesday 31 July 2024 17:45
Oliver O'Connell
Elon Musk’s social media platform X reinstated the “White Dudes for Harris” account after sparking outrage by briefly suspending it.
“White Dudes for Harris” was reinstated on Tuesday and is back to posting to its nearly 100,000 followers. The group, composed of white men who support the vice president, is not affiliated with Kamala Harris’ campaign.
Kelly Rissman reports.
Boebert mocked after X fight with Harris VP hopeful Buttigieg
Wednesday 31 July 2024 17:15
Oliver O'Connell
Lauren Boebert is being mocked on X after trying to prove Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrong as the two sparred over a possible presidential debate.
Buttigieg, a contender for Kamala Harris’ running mate, posted on X criticizing Donald Trump for pulling out of his commitment to a September debate: “Has a presidential nominee ever agreed to a debate, then pulled out? Remarkable show of weakness here.”
Buttigieg’s comment came in response to a post from a reporter revealing Trump is backing out of the tentative September 10 debate on ABC News, which he originally agreed to.
Katie Hawkinson reports.
Watch: As ‘double-hater’ numbers fall away, might we see record turnout in 2024?
Wednesday 31 July 2024 16:50
Oliver O'Connell
I wouldn't be shocked by record turnout in 2024. In a major turnaround from pre-Biden dropping out, more voters now say they're almost certain to vote than at this point in 2020.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) July 31, 2024
Why? Folks actually like their choices for president. The "double-hater" % has dropped significantly pic.twitter.com/tjLWcJs0JO
Harris to hold Philadelphia rally with vice president pick on Tuesday
Wednesday 31 July 2024 16:30
Oliver O'Connell
Kamala Harris will hold her first rally with her new vice presidential nominee on Tuesday August 6 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the start of a four-day tour of battleground states, the vice president’s campaign has said.
There is great speculation that the location of the first stop suggests Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has moved to the top of a short list of running mates.
It may also indicate that the Harris campaign sees the state as a must-win in order to keep the White House. Democrats won Pennsylvania back from Republicans in 2020, helping put Joe Biden into office.
After Philadelphia, Harris and her vice presidential pick will travel to six other locations
- Western Wisconsin
- Detroit, Michigan
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Savannah, Georgia
- Phoenix, Arizona
- Las Vegas, Nevada
The campaign revealed the itinerary in a statement late on Tuesday night, adding a “strong reminder” that Harris has “made no decision on a running mate”.
Harris is expected to announce the decision as soon as Monday, ahead of Tuesday's event, sources told Reuters.
The shortlist of candidates under consideration includes Shapiro, Kentucky Governor Andy B