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Election 2024 updates: Harris in 1st campaign ad targets Trump legal woes

"What kind of country do we want to live in?" Harris says in the video.

Last Updated: July 25, 2024, 7:43 AM EDT

President Joe Biden gave an Oval Office address to the nation Wednesday night to explain why he dropped out of the presidential race and to outline what he hopes to do in his remaining six months in office.

Vice President Kamala Harris is pushing ahead with campaigning for president days after Biden's decision.

With enough delegates secured to become the presumptive Democratic nominee if they keep to their pledges, Harris has held her first campaign rallies. Donald Trump attacked Harris in North Carolina at his first rally since Biden decided against running for reelection.

10 hours and 57 minutes ago

Harris releases 1st campaign video, targeting Trump legal woes

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday released her first official campaign video since jumping into the race for president, in which she zeroes in on her message of "freedom" while taking direct jabs at former President Donald Trump's legal woes by using his mug shot.

"In this election, we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in?" Harris says in the video titled "We Choose Freedom."

"There are some people who think we should be a country of chaos. Of fear. Of hate," she says, as images of Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, flash on screen. "But us. We choose something different; we choose freedom."

The video features Beyonce's "Freedom," a song that the vice president plays as she takes the stage at rallies. It includes shots from Harris' rally just outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which, according to the campaign, was their largest ever this cycle, including all of President Joe Biden's rallies since he got into the race in April 2023.

The new campaign add features Harris saying "no one is above the law" over footage of the the former president's mug shot and newspaper headlines after he was convicted in a New York court.

On the campaign trail, Harris has sought to frame the race as being between a former prosecutor and a convicted felon.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris walks to board Air Force Two at Indianapolis International Airport in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., July 24, 2024.
Jon Cherry/Reuters

Harris said she has a vision of the future "where no child lives in poverty, where we all can afford health care, where no one is above the law," and Americans have "the freedom not just to get by but get ahead. The freedom to be safe from gun violence. The freedom to make decisions about your own body."

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie

6:25 AM EDT

Obama thanks Biden for 'lifetime of service'

Former President Barack Obama praised President Joe Biden's prime time Oval Office address, saying his former vice president continued his patriotic record.

President Joe Biden and former US President Barack Obama attend a campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 15, 2024.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Obama quoted Biden, who said during his speech to the nation that the "sacred cause of this country is larger than any one of us."

"Joe Biden has stayed true to these words again and again over a lifetime of service to the American people," Obama said. "Thank you, @POTUS."

-ABC News' Oren Oppenheim

9:45 PM EDT

Pelosi says Biden is on 'the right side of the future'

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement after the speech saying the president "is not only on the right side of history, but on the right side of the future."

"With love and gratitude, I salute President Biden for always believing in the possibilities of America and giving people the opportunity to reach their fulfillment," she said.

-ABC News' Lauren Peller

9:00 PM EDT

'You have always put this country ahead of yourself!': DNC chair

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison thanked Biden for his service in a statement posted on X.

You have always put this country ahead of yourself! We owe you an enormous debt of gratitude!" he said.