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Election 2024 updates: Obama endorses Harris

Last Updated: July 26, 2024, 1:45 PM EDT

Vice President Kamala Harris, who now has an endorsement from former President Barack Obama, is heading into the weekend in what has been a whirlwind week in the presidential race.

On Thursday night, Harris met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and took the lead in addressing the public about their discussions.

Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.

10 hours and 31 minutes ago

Clyburn praises Buttigieg as potential VP pick

South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn praised Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg as a potential vice presidential pick and extolled the importance and enthusiasm of the Obamas endorsing Harris.

During an interview with MSNBC on Friday, Clyburn went through the list of known options, noting his experience working with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. He also mentioned Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro but did not mention Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

Clyburn had the highest praise for Buttigieg, however, stating, “He would make an outstanding VP."

He outlined what he believes Harris’ team is looking for in a vice presidential candidate.

"They will look for what needs to be done in order to balance out the ticket, to energize or keep the energy going, and she will pick one that will help with that," he said.

10 hours and 43 minutes ago

Harris joins TikTok despite Biden signing bill potentially banning it

Harris's campaign officially joined TikTok, and the first post already has more than 2.6 million views.

"Well I've heard that recently I've been on the 'For You Page,' so I thought I'd get on here myself," she said in the post.

Since President Biden's endorsement of Harris' candidacy, the @KamalaHQ account on TikTok has more than tripled (almost quadrupled) its following – growing from 440K followers to over 1.7 million followers.

But the campaign has faced criticism over its presence on TikTok after the Senate passed a bill that Biden signed into law requiring TikTok's Chinese parent company to sell or the app would be banned.

According to the measure, ByteDance must divest TikTok within a nine-month window from when the bill was signed into law in April.

In March, Harris responded to the criticism from TikTok users stating "We need to deal with the owner and we have national security concerns about the owner of TikTok, but we have no intention to ban TikTok."

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

10 hours and 48 minutes ago

Rise in Black support for Harris could make difference in swing states

Several Black groups have responded to grassroots enthusiasm for Harris with new efforts to mobilize voters to the polls.

Quentin James founded Collective PAC, an organization that supports Black candidates at all levels of government around the country. James helped organize the Monday night Win with Black Men Zoom call -- telling ABC News that the call was just the beginning.

"As someone who's done a lot of fundraising, I've never raised $1.3 million over three or four hours from grassroots donors, I've never seen that kind of momentum," James said. "The energy is inspiring. Each one of those people on the call can organize 10 people or 100 people, and we hope to mobilize all of them."

-ABC News' Tommy Barone and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim

1:04 PM EDT

Obama endorses VP Kamala Harris to be 2024 Democratic nominee

Former President Barack Obama officially endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday to be the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee, saying in a statement that she "has the vision, the character, and the strength that this critical moment demands."

"There is no doubt in our mind that Kamala Harris has exactly what it takes to win this election and deliver for the American people. At a time when the stakes have never been higher, she gives us all reason to hope," he added.

Obama was one of the only high-profile Democrats who had yet to endorse Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Barack Obama attend an event to mark the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act in the East Room of the White House, Apr. 5, 2022, in Washington.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler