This combination of pictures shows, L-R, U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will clash in their first and possibly last televised debate on Tuesday (September 10, 2024), in a potentially game-changing moment for the blockbuster 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The stakes could hardly be higher for the Democratic vice president and Republican former president as tens of millions of American voters tune in to see them finally face off.

A single zinger or gaffe could tip the balance of one of the most dramatic White House races in U.S. political history, with the two rivals neck-and-neck in the polls with less than two months until election day.

For Vice President Harris, 59, it will be a critical chance to win over voters who still know little about her, as her honeymoon starts to fade after suddenly replacing President Joe Biden in July.

Mr. Trump, 78, will meanwhile try to box in Ms. Harris on issues like the economy and immigration, but may also unleash more of the racist and sexist insults that he’s directed her way during the campaign.

The two candidates will also be meeting in person for the first time at the ABC News debate in Pennsylvania, adding to the potential for a bruising confrontation.

“This debate may go down in the history books. Break out the popcorn,” said Andrew Koneschusky, a former press secretary for U.S. Senate leader Chuck Schumer

Also read | Trump continues personal attacks against Harris, claims he’s ‘better looking’ than her

‘No floor’

Ms. Harris, America’s first female, Black and South Asian vice president, arrived in Philadelphia on the eve of the ABC News debate after five days holed up in a hotel doing intense practise sessions.

One of her aides even reportedly dressed up in a Trump-style boxy suit and long tie so she could get used to unloading her best lines on her opponent.

Trump’s team said he has taken a more relaxed approach ahead of his seventh presidential debate, choosing to arrive in Philadelphia just hours before and keeping his preparations limited.

The debate may lack the full-scale shouting matches of previous years, as the two candidates’ microphones will be muted when they are not speaking, at the Trump team’s request.

But it will still be a potential turning point – as well as a contrast in styles.

In one corner is a former prosecutor who has in the past delivered ice-cold put-downs to debate rivals including Biden himself and Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence in the past.

“There’s no floor for him in terms of how low he will go,” Harris said in a radio interview broadcast Monday. “He is probably going to speak a lot of untruths.”

‘Like a boxer’

In the other corner is Donald Trump, the most brutal knife-fighter in U.S. politics, who has been convicted of falsifying business records to cover up a porn star scandal and is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

“You can’t prepare for President Trump,” his spokesman Jason Miller said. “Imagine like a boxer trying to prepare for Floyd Mayweather, or Muhammad Ali.”

Ms. Harris in many ways has the most to prove at the debate.

Her campaign suffered a setback at the weekend when a major New York Times/Siena poll showed Trump ahead by 48 to 47%, with the two candidates effectively tied in the half a dozen major battleground states.

She will be under pressure to spell out her so-far vague policy manifesto to voters, who according to the NYT poll said they need to know more about her.

Former reality TV star Trump is by far the more experienced presidential debater, with six under his belt, but swing voters may be put off if he insults the candidate aiming to become America’s first woman president.

Trump is still reveling in the fact that his last debate opponent, the 81-year-old Biden, performed so catastrophically that he was forced to withdraw from the race.

Republican candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris are all set to participate in the highly-anticipated first Presidential debate next week. Ahead of the September 10 face-off, Ms Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, spoke about their debates as a married couple in a new interview with ‘Pod Save America’. The US Vice President and her husband were both accomplished lawyers before entering politics, Mr Emhoff shared in the interview. So, when ‘Pod Save America’ cohost Tommy Vietor asked the second gentleman about the upcoming presidential debate between Ms Harris and former US President Donald Trump, Mr Emhoff revealed that he has never won a debate against his wife. 

“I assume no one has debated with her more often than you have,” Mr Vietor said. “What should we expect? What should we look for?” he asked, as per Business Insider.

“I haven’t won one,” Mr Emhoff said of debating Ms Harris. He then went on to call Ms Harris a “great debater” and “first-class trial lawyer”. 

“It’s not like we’re in a debate, but I realize if we’re talking about something, any really good lawyer will lay little traps for you along the way, and as I’m going through this discussion about some husband-wife thing, I say ‘Oh, that’s what you’re doing!'” he said, adding, “I was a pretty good trial lawyer too.”

Notably, before entering politics, Ms Harris served as district attorney of San Francisco and attorney general of California. Mr Emhoff, on the other hand, was a partner at DLA Piper in Los Angeles specialising in intellectual property and entertainment and media law. The couple celebrated their 10-year anniversary in August. 

“Kamala Harris was exactly the right person for me at an important time in my life. At this moment in this nation’s history she is exactly the right president,” the 59-year-old said last month at the Democratic National Convention. 

Also Read | Harris Or Trump? ‘Nostradamus’ Of US Presidential Elections Makes Final Prediction For 2024

Kamala Harris will face-off Donald Trump on September 10, Tuesday in a debate hosted by ABC News. The campaigns have traded barbs while negotiating the host network and rules of the debate, such as whether their microphones will stay unmuted. 

Regarding this, Mr Emhoff said, “It’s Donald Trump, so who the hell knows what you’re going to get, but I know from her she’s going to be talking about us, she’s going to be talking about the American people.” 

ABC News is hosting the second presidential debate on Tuesday, September 10, at 9 pm ET. It will be the first time Ms Harris and Mr Trump debate each other. The debate will be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Kamala Harris has used her presidential acceptance speech to present herself as a leader who could unite all Americans to chart a “new way forward” and warned them of “extremely serious” consequences of putting her Republican rival Donald Trump back in the White House.

Vice President Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, on Thursday night accepted her party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, becoming the second woman to do so for the Democratic Party after former first lady Hillary Clinton.

The 59-year-old leader walked on stage to thunderous applause and a standing ovation from the audience. Chants of “Yes You Can!” erupted before her remarks.

Taking the stage at the United Center in Chicago to accept her nomination, Ms. Harris, who was a tough prosecutor in California before becoming U.S. Vice President, said she is no stranger to unlikely journeys.

“On behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey on behalf of Americans, like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams and look out for one another, on behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination the United States,” she said.

She fondly remembered her mother Shyamala Gopalan and said that she misses her every day, especially when she is on the verge of breaking the highest glass ceiling of the United States.

She said the November 5 election is the most important in America’s history.

“Our nation with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a new way forward. Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans,” she said in her 40-minute speech.

Vice President Harris outlined her plans for a “new way forward” if she’s elected to be the 47th president of the United States.

“I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations. A president who leads – and listens. Who is realistic, Practical and has common sense. And always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work,” Ms. Harris said.

She laid out the consequences of electing former president Trump, 78, to a second term.

“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious,” she warned.

She spoke about the “chaos and calamity” of his years in the Oval Office and also pointed to him questioning election results in 2020 when he lost his reelection bid to Biden.

“Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol where they assaulted law enforcement officers. When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite. He fanned the flames,” she said.

Ms. Harris also highlighted that Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts in a hush-money case and that a federal jury in his civil defamation trial found that the former president had sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll.

“He was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans, and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse,” she said.

In describing her “unexpected” ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden decided to leave the race in July, Ms. Harris said that she is “no stranger to unlikely journeys.”

“America, the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected. But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys,” Ms. Harris said.

Ms. Harris said she remembers her mother every day and the values that she instilled in her and said that she misses her every day, especially when she is on the verge of breaking the highest glass ceiling in the United States.

Her mother, she said, taught her to “never do anything half-assed.”

If elected, Ms. Harris would break one of the highest glass ceilings left for women in the United States – that of occupying the country’s top office.

She also wished her husband, Doug Emhoff, a happy anniversary at the top of her remarks.

Thursday was the couple’s 10th wedding anniversary.

She said she would ensure America strengthens and not abdicate its global leadership.

“I will make sure that we lead the world into the future on space and Artificial Intelligence, and that America-not China-wins the competition for the 21st century. And that we strengthen not abdicate our global leadership,” Ms. Harris, 59, said in her address at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Ms. Harris, who will take on former president Trump in the November 5 election, said her Republican rival doesn’t fight for the middle class.

“Instead, he fights for himself and his billionaire friends. He will give them another round of tax breaks that will add five trillion dollars to the national debt,” she said.

Ms. Harris also called for reforming the broken immigration system.

“We can create an earned pathway to citizenship- And secure our border. America, we must also be steadfast in advancing our security and our values abroad,” she said.

Ms. Harris has said that, if elected the commander-in-chief of the US, she will ensure that the country always has the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world, Israel can defend itself and Ukraine and NATO allies are not abandoned.

“And I will not cosy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim-Jong-Un, who are rooting for Trump. Because they know he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favours. They know Trump won’t hold autocrats accountable—because he wants to be an autocrat,’” she said.

“As President, I will never waver in defence of America’s security and ideals. Because, in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand—and where the United States of America belongs,’ she said.

Ms. Harris said as Vice President, she has confronted threats to security, negotiated with foreign leaders, strengthened alliances, and engaged with brave troops overseas.

“As commander-in-chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world. I will fulfil our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families,” she said.

“And I will always honour, and never disparage, their service and their sacrifice,” she said.

Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO. He encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade America’s allies, she said.

Trump said Russia could “do whatever the hell they want”, she alleged.

Ms. Harris said five days before Russia attacked Ukraine, she met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to warn him about Russia’s plan to invade.

“I helped mobilise a global response— over 50 countries—to defend against Putin’s aggression. And as President, I will stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies,’ she said.

On the disastrous Gaza war, she said: “President Biden and I are working around the clock. Because now is the time to get a hostage deal and ceasefire done. Let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.”

Trump reacted to Harris’ speech in real-time on Truth Social.

“IS SHE TALKING ABOUT ME?” Trump posted.

The former president posted in rapid succession, criticizing Ms. Harris’ speech, saying “A lot of talk about childhood,” and “Too many ‘Thank yous,’ too rapidly said.” Trump repeatedly questioned why Ms. Harris hadn’t already accomplished the policy proposals she had put forward as part of her reelection campaign while serving as vice president.

“She said, ‘Chart a new way forward,’ but she’s had three and a half years, and has done nothing but HARM!” Trump wrote.

Her speech, at only 38 minutes, was the 12th-shortest in modern history, while her opponent Trump holds the record for the three longest acceptance speeches in American political history.

Vice President Kamala Harris vowed Saturday (August 10, 2024) that, if elected, she’d eliminate federal taxes on tips paid to restaurant workers and scores of other service employees, echoing a pledge that her opponent in November, Donald Trump, has made in a rare moment of political overlap from both sides.

Ms. Harris made the announcement at a rally on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where the economy relies heavily on the hotel, restaurant and entertainment industries. Trump made a similar promise at his own rally in the city in June — though neither he nor Harris are likely to be able to fully do that without actions from Congress.

Also read | In Tim Walz, Kamala Harris gets a trump card to trump Trump

“It is my promise to everyone here, when I am president, we will continue our fight for working families,” Ms. Harris said, pledging to raise the minimum wage and “eliminate tips for service and hospitality workers.”

The Democratic presidential nominee and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, came to Nevada as the final stop of a battleground blitz in which their party has shown new energy after President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Harris. On Sunday, the vice president is holding a San Francisco fundraiser that has already raised more than $12 million, her campaign said, with House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi among those set to speak.

There were 12,000-plus people inside the campus basketball arena and, before the event started, law enforcement opted to close the doors to the event due to people becoming ill while waiting outside to go through security in the 109-degree heat. Approximately 4,000 people were in line when the entrances were shut down.

Mr. Walz referenced that during his speech, but turned it into an applause line by adding of Nevada, “don’t worry, we’re going to be back a lot.”

As part of the trip, Harris is hoping to build greater support among Latino voters. In 2020, Mr. Biden narrowly beat Republican Trump by 2.4 percentage points in Nevada. Trump, the former president, tried to create more support in a state that relies on the service industry with his own, previous pledge to make workers’ tips tax-free.

But the union representing 60,000 workers in that industry, the Culinary Workers Union, announced Friday night its endorsement of Harris. About 54% of the union’s members are Latino, 55% women and 60% immigrants.

“The path to victory runs through Nevada,” the union said in a statement, “and the Culinary Union will deliver Nevada for President Kamala Harris and Vice President Tim Walz.”

Also, Adelante PAC, the political arm of the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights group, League of United Latin American Citizens, endorsed Harris. That was a first for the 95-year-old LULAC, which has in the past steered away from formally throwing its support behind political candidates.

AP VoteCast found in 2020 that 14% of Nevada voters were Hispanic, with Mr. Biden winning 54% of their votes. His margin with Hispanic voters was slightly better nationwide, a sign that Democrats cannot take this bloc of voters for granted.

“There’s an incredible energy here among the college students and community members who are coming together to support and listen to our next president, Kamala Harris,” said Imer Cespedes-Alvarado, 21. Studying political science at UNLV, Cespedes-Alvarado is a first generation American citizen who spent his childhood in Costa Rica before making the difficult decision at 16 to return alone to the U.S. for better opportunities.

Ms. Harris is hoping to drive a wedge with Republicans by focusing on issues such as access to abortion and repairs to the U.S. immigration system. Her message is that Trump killed a bipartisan deal this year to improve security on the southern border and address immigration issues, with Democrats saying he did so in hopes of improving his own political odds.

Because Ms. Harris’ portfolio in the Biden administration included the root causes of migration and due to some of her comments before the 2020 election, Republicans have sought to portray her as weak on the southern border and enabling illegal immigration.

Trump has said of Ms. Harris, “As a border czar, she’s been the worst border czar in history, in the world history.”

He’s proposed mass deportations if he returns to the White House, but AP VoteCast found in 2020 that nearly 7 in 10 Nevada voters said that immigrants living in the United States illegally should be offered the chance to apply for legal status.

Krista Hall, 60, and her husband Thaddeus Hager, 58, attended Harris’ Las Vegas rally and said that they haven’t been more excited about an election since President Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008.

“This is as electric, if not more than,” Hall said, noting that they attended several Obama rallies at the time. Hager said he’s confident that Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz will “win in a landslide.”

The Democratic ticket over the past week has also visited the crucial midwestern “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. Along with Nevada and Arizona. Those five states represent 61 electoral votes that could be essential for reaching the 270 threshold required to win November’s election.

Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz had also planned to visit North Carolina and Georgia this past week — between them another 32 electoral votes — but those stops were postponed due to Tropical Storm Debby.

In Nevada’s rural Douglas County near the California border, Gail Scott, 71, serves on the central committee of the local Democratic Party and said she didn’t initially agree with calls for Biden to leave the race. Trump won the county in 2016 and 2020, but trimming his margins there could lower his ability to compete in Nevada.

Scott said it’s impossible to miss the energy that Harris has created among younger voters who could help statewide.

“Young people are embracing Kamala Harris and the enthusiasm and the joy that she’s brought to the campaign,” she said.

Brian Shaw, a Republican from northern Nevada, said Harris’ arrival on the top of the ticket could make it harder for Trump to win because Biden was a “pitiful candidate” and there’s little time to expose the vice president’s “incompetence.” He said he attended Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance’s rally in Reno on July 30 and found him to be “likable, capable, polished as a politician, but not veneered.”

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump, according to an Associated Press survey, as top Democrats rallied to her in the aftermath of U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to drop his bid for re-election.

The quick coalescing behind Ms. Harris marked an attempt by the party to put weeks of drama over Mr. Biden’s political future behind them and to unify behind the task of defeating Mr. Trump with just over 100 days until Election Day.

Delegations pledge support for Kamala Harris

Prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organisations quickly lined up behind Ms. Harris and her campaign set a new 24-hour record for presidential donations on Monday.

Several State delegations met on July 22 to confirm their support for Ms. Harris, including Texas and her home State of California. By Monday night, she had the support of at least 2,471 delegates, according to the AP tally of delegates, more than the 1,976 delegates she’ll need to win on a first ballot. No other candidate was named by a delegate contacted by the AP.

California state Democratic Chairman Rusty Hicks said 75% to 80% of the state’s delegation were on a call Tuesday and they unanimously supported Ms. Harris. “I’ve not heard anyone mentioning or calling for any other candidate,” Hicks said. “Tonight’s vote was a momentous one.”

Ms. Harris has also secured endorsements from several leaders, including from Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, on June 22, thus shrinking the list of potential rivals. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who had been one of the notable holdouts, said she was lending her “enthusiastic support” to Ms. Harris’ effort to lead the party.

Still, 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 go through with a virtual roll call ahead of that gathering in Chicago.

The AP tally is based on interviews with individual delegates, public statements from state parties, many of which have announced that their delegations are supporting Ms. Harris en masse, and public statements and endorsements from individual delegates.

‘Fight for the future’

Worries over Mr. Biden’s fitness for office were replaced by fresh signs of unity after a seismic shift to the presidential contest that upended both major political parties’ carefully honed plans for the 2024 race.

Speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, Ms. 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.”

Ms. Harris quickly leaned into the themes that will be prominent in her campaign against Mr. Trump over the coming 100 days, contrasting her time as a prosecutor with Mr. 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.”

Mr. Biden called into the meeting from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he is recovering from Covid-19, to lend his support to Ms. Harris. He planned to talk about his decision to step aside in an address to the nation later this week.

“The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all,” Mr. Biden said in his first public remarks since announcing his decision to step aside, promising he was “not going anywhere” and plans to campaign on Ms. Harris’ behalf. “It was the right thing to do,” he added.

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

Ms. Harris was headed to the battleground state of Wisconsin on July 23 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.

Locking up the nomination is only the first item on Ms. Harris’ to-do list — she must also pick a running mate and pivot a massive political operation that had been built to re-elect Mr. Biden to boost her candidacy instead.

Inheriting Biden’s legacy

Mr. Biden’s campaign formally changed its name to ‘Harris for President’ on June 21, reflecting that Ms. Harris is inheriting his political operation of more than 1,000 staffers and war chest that stood at nearly $96 million at the end of June. She added $81 million to that total in the first 24 hours after Biden’s endorsement, her campaign said — a presidential fundraising record — with contributions from more than 888,000 donors.

The campaign also saw a surge of interest after Ms. Harris took over, with more than 28,000 new volunteers registered since the announcement — a rate more than 100 times an average day from the previous Biden re-election campaign.

Ms. Harris, if elected, would be the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to be president.

The Democratic National Convention is scheduled to be held Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, but the party had announced it would hold a virtual roll call to formally nominate Biden before in-person proceedings begin. The convention’s rules committee is scheduled to meet this week to finalize its nomination process with a virtual vote as soon as Aug. 1, the party announced on Monday, with the process completed by Aug. 7.

“We can and will be both fast and fair as we execute this nomination,” Jaime Harrison, the Democratic National Committee’s chair, said on a conference call with reporters.

The party said the virtual roll call would feature multiple rounds of voting on nominees if multiple candidates meet the qualification threshold. To qualify, candidates must have the electronic signatures of 300 convention delegates.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsed by Joe Biden to be a new Democratic presidential nominee, has said that she intends to “earn and win” the nomination of the party and “do everything in my power” to unite the nation to defeat her Republican rival Donald Trump in November.

Ms. Harris, who received Mr. Biden’s support to become the next Democratic presidential nominee after he quit the race for the White House, is poised to become the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead the ticket of a major American political party.

Ms. Harris, 59, said she was “honoured” to receive Mr. Biden’s endorsement and intends to “earn and win” the nomination of the Democratic Party.

“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she said in a statement.

The historic endorsement came after Mr. Biden, 81, announced Sunday that he is dropping out of the race following weeks of disarray within the Democratic Party. Mr. Biden’s disastrous first presidential debate with his Republican rival and former president Trump called into question his ability to win a second term and govern for another four years.

Despite Mr. Biden’s backing, it remains unclear whether Ms. Harris will become the nominee, or what process the Democratic Party would take to select an alternative.

Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement that in the coming days the party will “undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November.”

Though Mr. Biden’s endorsement almost seals her position as the presidential nominee of her party, Ms. Harris still needs to get elected by the party’s delegates during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.

Mr. Biden has won 3,896 delegates as against 1,976 required to win the party’s presidential nomination.

In a move that would give her access to the campaign funds, the Biden-Harris campaign amended filings with the Federal Election Commission to rename its principal committee and declareMs. Harris a candidate for president.

“I am honoured to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” said Ms. Harris, who has been serving as US’ first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president since 2021.

Clintons endorse Kamala Harris

Harris Ms. Harris immediately secured the endorsement of former president Bill Clinton, thus making it a bit easier for her to win the delegate battle during the Democratic National Convention beginning on August 19.

“On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country,” she said.

Ms. Harris said over the past year, she has travelled across the country, talking to Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election.

“And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation– to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda… We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win,” she said.

Meanwhile, the “overwhelming majority” of state Democratic Party chairs have announced their support for Vice President Ms. Harris as their nominee for president, the Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC) said in a statement on Sunday.

“I am proud that state party chairs, vice-chairs, and executive directors across the country are overwhelmingly uniting behind Vice President Kamala Harris,” ASDC President Ken Martin said in a statement.

Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton quickly endorsed Ms. Harris to be the nominee. “We’ve lived through many ups and downs, but nothing has made us more worried for our country than the threat posed by a second Trump term,” they said in a joint statement.

“He has promised to be a dictator on day one, and the recent ruling by his servile Supreme Court will only embolden him to further shred the Constitution. Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we’ve got to elect her,” the Clintons said.

However, former president Barack Obama and ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have not yet endorsed Ms. Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for the November 5 general elections.

“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” Obama said in a statement.

In her statement, Ms. Harris thanked Mr. Biden on behalf of the country’s people for his extraordinary leadership and said, “His remarkable legacy of accomplishment is unmatched in modern American history, surpassing the legacy of many Presidents who have served two terms in office.”

“It is a profound honour to serve as his vice president, and I am deeply grateful to the President, Dr Biden, and the entire Biden family. I first came to know President Biden through his son Beau. We were friends from our days working together as Attorneys General of our home states,” she said.

With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and the country above everything else, she added.

Earlier, Mr. Biden announced that he has decided not to contest the presidential election.

“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made,” Mr. Biden said.

Such a decision from Mr. Biden comes amid a visible deterioration in his health. The president is currently in self-isolation at his Delaware residence after he tested positive with COVID-19.

Mr. Biden said he will speak to the nation later this week in more detail about his decision.