2024 Election Latest: Harris heads to first Democratic rally as favorite for presidential nomination

Vice President Kamala Harris had a busy 24 hours after being endorsed as the Democratic presidential candidate by President Joe Biden. She has secured enough delegates to earn the party’s nomination and raised more than $81 million, a record sum for the 2024 political cycle.

Meanwhile, the Secret Service director testified before a congressional committee and was called on to resign over security failures at a rally where a 20-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries have issued a joint statement in support of a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

The House could vote as soon as Wednesday to establish the task force, which will be comprised of seven Republicans and six Democrats. Outrage over security failures that occurred to prevent the shooting has come from both sides of the political aisle.

“The task force will be empowered with subpoena authority and will move quickly to find the facts, ensure accountability, and make certain such failures never happen again,” Johnson and Jeffries said.

A week after Elon Musk endorsed Donald Trump for president, President Joe Biden’s team used Musk’s social platform X — in addition to more neutral spaces such as Facebook and Instagram — to announce he is ending his reelection campaign.

It’s a testament to how ingrained the platform has become among the power players of the political and media world, as well as users looking for news and live updates of major events.

While Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, along with TikTok, boast far more users, X users say keeping up with the news is not the reason they use those platforms, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center.

X is the exception: most of the site’s users say following the news is a reason they use it and about half say they regularly get their news from there.

“X is where history happens,” posted X CEO Linda Yaccarino on Sunday with a screenshot of Biden’s announcement. While a comment pointed out that the same message was posted on other social media platforms as well, the narrative remains an important one for X and its long-touted efforts to become a “digital town square.”

▶ Read more about how X has remained a go-to for Democrats

Trump is again complaining about the plans for a debate, suggesting that he may not be as confident in facing Harris as he was Biden.

The former president had said he would debate Biden “anytime, anywhere, any place” but early Tuesday morning Trump complained for the second time since Biden dropped out that ABC News “is not worthy of holding a Debate.”

He has suggested moving the debate to Fox News Channel, which is seen as a friendlier venue for him.

Vice President Kamala Harris is making her first visit to a battleground state Tuesday after locking up enough support from Democratic delegates to win her party’s nomination to challenge Republican former President Donald Trump, two days after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.

As the Democratic Party continues to coalesce around her, Harris is traveling to Milwaukee, where she will hold her first campaign rally since she launched her campaign on Sunday with Biden’s endorsement. Harris has raised more than $100 million since Sunday afternoon and has scored the backing of Democratic officials and political groups.

Tuesday’s visit was scheduled before Biden ended his campaign, but it took on new resonance as Harris prepared to take up the mantle of her party against Trump and looks to project calm and confidence after weeks of Democratic Party confusion over Biden’s political future.

▶ Read more about the visit and how Wisconsin is part of Democrats’ 2024 plans.

Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Republican Donald Trump, according to an  Associated Press survey  taken in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s decision to drop his bid for reelection.

Harris, who was endorsed by Biden minutes after he announced he would not accept the Democratic nomination, worked to quickly lock up the support of her party’s donors, elected officials and other leaders, and has so far received support from at least 2,214.

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

Tatum Watkins, a 19-year-old college student from southwest Iowa and a delegate to the DNC, said she appreciates as a young woman that Harris is speaking out on issues like reproductive rights and is “far closer” in age to a whole new generation of voters.

“She is very much leaning into what’s popular right now,” Watkins said. “I’ve seen already her branding is what I can best describe as brat summer.”

Watkins said that has energized and excited her and other young Iowans, making what will be her first experience voting in a presidential election “even better.”

The mood among many House Democrats lifted quickly as lawmakers returned to Washington with Biden having handed off the election to Harris.

“I’ve never been more optimistic about America because of his leadership, his selflessness, his putting country first,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania.

“And then Kamala — woo! — I am excited,” she said. “I’m hearing from my constituents and folks they are so fired up.”

She said one way Harris could approach campaigning in a swing state like hers would be to pick Pennsylvania’s Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate for the vice presidential spot.

President Biden is set to return to the White House tomorrow after spending six days at his beach home in Delaware convalescing from COVID-19. Biden became ill while campaigning in Las Vegas last week and headed to his vacation home to isolate.

Vice President Harris, meanwhile, will head to the battleground state of Wisconsin as her campaign for the White House kicks into high gear.

The event in Milwaukee will be her first full-fledged campaign event since announcing her candidacy on Sunday.