LAST UPDATE | 23 Jul 2024

US VICE PRESIDENT Kamala Harris has said she is “proud” to have earned enough support from Democratic delegates to become the party’s presidential nominee.

Harris hits the US campaign trail today after effectively clinching the Democratic presidential nomination, heading to the battleground state of Wisconsin to renew her attacks on Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The vice president took just 36 hours to secure enough delegates to be nominated, moving with lightning speed after President Joe Biden’s exit from the race triggered one of the largest election upheavals in modern US history.

Top Democratic congressional chiefs — Senator Chuck Schumer and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries — threw their weight behind her in a press conference.

“Now that the process has played out from the grassroots, bottom up, we are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint press conference with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Hollywood star George Clooney — who made waves earlier this month as one of the first high-profile Democratic activists to urge Biden to drop his reelection bid — also said he is now behind 59-year-old Harris’s campaign to face Trump in November.

Several state delegations met late on Monday to confirm their support for Harris, including Texas and her home state of California.

By Monday night, Harris had the support of at least 2,579 delegates, according to an Associated Press (AP) tally of delegates, more than the 1,976 delegates she will need to win on a first ballot. No other candidate was named by a delegate contacted by the AP.

In a statement last night, Harris said: “When I announced my campaign for President, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination.

Tonight, I am proud to have earned the support needed to become our party’s nominee.

Over the next few months, I'll be traveling across the country talking to Americans about everything on the line. I fully intend to unite our party and our nation, and defeat Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/Bsq3N6pMAi

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 23, 2024

“Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee, and as a daughter of California, I am proud that my home state’s delegation helped put our campaign over the top. I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”

California state Democratic chairman Rusty Hicks said 75% to 80% of the state’s delegation were on a call on Tuesday and they unanimously supported Harris.

“I’ve not heard anyone mentioning or calling for any other candidate,” Hicks said. “Tonight’s vote was a momentous one.”

Still, the AP is not calling Ms Harris the new presumptive nominee. That is because the convention delegates are still free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention in August or if Democrats go through with a virtual roll call ahead of that gathering in Chicago.

Speaking to campaign staff at an event in Wilmington, Delaware, Harris acknowledged the “rollercoaster” of the last several weeks, but expressed confidence in her new campaign team.

“It is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win,” she said. She promised to “unite our Democratic Party, to unite our nation, and to win this election”.

She quickly leaned into the themes that will be prominent in her campaign against Donald Trump over the coming 100 days, contrasting her time as a prosecutor with Trump’s felony convictions – “I know Donald Trump’s type”, she said – and casting herself as a defender of economic opportunity and abortion access.

“Our fight for the future is also a fight for freedoms,” she said. “The baton is in our hands.”

Biden ‘not going anywhere’

US President Joe Biden endorsed Harris on Sunday when he pulled out of the race to the White House following calls from numerous Democrats to step aside amid concerns about his age and fitness to govern. 

He called into the campaign meeting from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he is recovering from Covid-19, to lend his support to Harris.

Biden’s physician said his Covid symptoms “have almost resolved completely”. He planned to talk about his decision to step aside in an address to the nation later this week.

In his first public remarks since announcing his decision to step aside, the US president sought to pep up the staff, urging them to give “every bit” of their “heart and soul” to Harris. 

Such an amazing moment. President Biden just said to VP Kamala Harris “I’m watching you, kid. I’m watching you. I love you.” Heartwarming stuff. I love President Biden and VP Harris. pic.twitter.com/fOhVTgh0OT

— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) July 22, 2024

“The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all,” Biden said, promising he was “not going anywhere” and plans to campaign on Harris’ behalf.

Biden said of his decision: “It was the right thing to do.”

As he handed off the mantle of leadership to Harris, Biden added: “I’m watching you kid. I love you.”

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Biden promised to remain “fully engaged.”

“I’ve got six months left in my presidency and I’m determined to get as much done as I possibly can, both foreign policy and domestic policy,” he said.

He pledged to keep working at “lowering costs for families, continue to speak out on guns and child care, elder care, prescription drugs and climate.”

Biden also vowed to be “out on the road” campaigning for his vice president.

“If I didn’t have Covid, I’d be standing there with you,” said Biden.

The president was last seen in public late Wednesday after arriving at a US air base in Dover, Delaware, after testing positive for Covid-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas earlier in the day.

He then travelled to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The White House says Biden plans to return to the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon.

Biden’s physician, Dr Kevin O’Connor, said that the president had completed his 10th dose of coronavirus-fighting medication Paxlovid on Monday morning and continued to perform all of his presidential duties.

“His symptoms have almost resolved completely. His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain absolutely normal,” Dr O’Connor wrote.

“His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air. His lungs remain clear.”

With reporting from Jane Moore, Press Association and AFP