U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris
| Photo Credit: AP

Kamala Harris, the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic party, has called herself the underdog in the race to the White House but expressed confidence that she would win in November due to her people-powered campaign.

In her first fundraiser since becoming her party’s candidate for president, Ms. Harris told supporters that this year’s election was a choice between two visions for the country — one looking toward the future and one that wants to undo the country’s progress.

“We are the underdogs in this race. Level set, ok. We are the underdogs in this race, but this is a people-powered campaign,” Vice President Harris said, addressing a group of 800 fundraisers in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

“This is a people-powered campaign and we have momentum,” Ms. Harris, 59 said.

During the fundraiser on July 27, she raised USD 1.4 million as against the original goal of USD 400,000.

Amidst loud applause from the audience, she said that her campaign has “earned the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination.”

“What kind of country do we want to live in? Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law or do we want to live in a country of chaos, fear and hate?” she asked as she continued to attack her Republican rival Donald Trump, 78. She hoped that former president Trump would agree to do a debate with her.

“You may have seen he just pulled out of our debate. I hope he reconsiders because we have a lot to talk about,” Harris, who has Indian roots, said.

In her speech, she described her background as a prosecutor.

“In those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said.

She alleged that Trump was spreading lies against her.

“You may have noticed, Donald Trump has been resorting to some wild lies about my record. And some of what he and his running mate are saying, well, it’s just plain weird. I mean that’s the box you put that in,” she said.

President Joe Biden gestures during his remarks at Renaissance High School in Detroit campaign event, on July 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

In a major jolt to the re-election campaign of President Joe Biden days after his debate debacle, a group of his fundraisers have decided to put on hold some $90 million in contributions pledged earlier if he remains on top of the Democratic presidential ticket.

“The cash freeze deals a blow to Biden’s campaign,” The New York Times reported about the development on Friday and said, the Democratic donors have told this to Future Forward, the largest pro-Biden Super PAC.

Also read | Zero chance Biden will withdraw from U.S. Presidential race: White House

“The frozen contributions include multiple eight-figure commitments, according to two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation,” the daily reported.

“The decision to withhold such enormous sums of money is one of the most concrete examples of the fallout from Mr. Biden’s poor debate performance at the end of June,” it said.

Following his disastrous debate performance against his Republican rival Donald Trump in Atlanta on June 27, Mr. Biden, 81, has been gradually losing his support from some of his key friends and allies. So far, as many as 18 Democratic lawmakers have asked him to drop from the November 5 presidential race.

The cash freeze is seen as another move by the party leadership to force him to leave the race. Biden has so far said that he is running and is confident of defeating Trump in the November presidential elections.

Future Forward is one of the largest Super PACs to support Biden. It has already announced $250 million in television and digital advertising reservations after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.