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Election 2024 Latest: DNC chair says Harris secured enough delegate votes to become party nominee

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Election 2024 Latest: DNC chair says Harris secured enough delegate votes to become party nominee
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Election 2024 Latest: DNC chair says Harris secured enough delegate votes to become party nominee

2024-08-03 08:00 Last Updated At:08:10

Vice President Kamala Harris had secured enough votes from Democratic delegates to become the party’s nominee for president, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said Friday.

The online voting process doesn’t end until Monday, but Harris' campaign marked the moment when she crossed the threshold to have the majority of delegates’ votes.

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FILE - Supports hold up signs in support of Vice President Kamala Harris at an event, July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf, File)

FILE - Supports hold up signs in support of Vice President Kamala Harris at an event, July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf, File)

President Joe Biden speaks after greeting reporter Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., following their release as part of a 24-person prisoner swap between Russia and the United States, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden speaks after greeting reporter Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., following their release as part of a 24-person prisoner swap between Russia and the United States, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Supporters of Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, pray during a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Supporters of Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, pray during a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Vice President Kamala Harris waves to supporters during her arrival in Houston on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Vice President Kamala Harris waves to supporters during her arrival in Houston on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd after speaking at a campaign rally, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd after speaking at a campaign rally, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

The announcement came after the campaign said earlier that it raised $310 million last month, an eyepopping sum showing that donors who once seemed spooked about the prospects for November’s election with President Joe Biden are now offering mountains of cash to boost his former No. 2.

The haul by Harris, the Democratic National Committee and affiliated entities far outpaced Republican former President Donald Trump, whose campaign and assorted committees said they took in $138.7 million for July.

Follow the AP’s Election-2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here's the Latest:

One of President Joe Biden’s most trusted advisers is coming back to the White House to finish out the term.

Mike Donilon has known the president for decades and is often the last person the president turns to for counsel. He left the White House earlier this year to help with Biden’s reelection campaign.

But now that Biden has stepped away from the race, Donilon will return to government to resume his post and help the president through the end of his term in January, a White House official said. Biden asked Donilon to return.

Biden has said he wants to run through the tape of his final six months.

On Thursday, Biden announced a massive, 24-person multi-national prisoner swap that returned home captive Americans including the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich who was jailed by Russia in 2023.

— This post has been updated to add that President Biden asked Donilon to return.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is jousting verbally with Republican Donald Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

The repartee started speaking Friday at a news conference on higher education policy at Cheyney University near Philadelphia when a reporter said Vance had called Shapiro a “really bad impression of Barack Obama.”

“That what he said?” Shapiro asked. “Barack Obama was probably our most gifted orator of my time. So it’s kind of a weird insult, I guess.”

Shapiro then launched into a criticism of Vance, calling him a “phony-baloney” and saying, “It is real hard being honest with the American people when you’re not honest with yourself.”

“He doesn’t know what he believes and that is why it is impossible for him to articulate a coherent message to the American people. Because he doesn’t believe it,” Shapiro said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, under consideration to become Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the November election, batted away question after question about it.

He wouldn’t answer questions about what qualities he’d bring to the ticket, whether he’d accept an offer or whether he’s planning on meeting with Harris over the weekend.

“Ya’ll think I’m going to tell you what I’m doing? Come on,” he said Friday to laughter from attendees at a news conference on higher education policy at Cheyney University, a historically Black university about 15 miles (24 kilometers) outside Philadelphia.

Shapiro did say that he last spoke to Harris last Sunday and that he hopes to be in attendance at a rally planned for Tuesday in Philadelphia with her and whomever she selects as her vice presidential running mate.

Shapiro canceled a suite of fundraisers he had planned to attend in New York on Saturday, although his press secretary declined to say why.

Friday's announcement that Harris had secured enough votes from Democratic delegates to become the party's nominee came as her campaign reorganized its senior staff — bringing on a new coterie of senior advisers and veterans of the successful campaigns of former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.

The campaign is bringing on David Plouffe, who was campaign manager for Obama’s 2008 presidential bid, as a senior adviser focusing on the pathway for the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win, and former Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, who will advise on messaging and strategy for the Harris campaign.

Plouffe will end his consulting efforts on behalf of TikTok, the controversial social media app, as well as a podcast with 2016 Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway that had drawn scrutiny and criticism, according to a person familiar with his plans who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report from Washington.

Harris says she’s “honored to be the presumptive Democratic nominee,” but she said she’ll formally accept the presidential nomination next week.

Harris joined a campaign livestream on Friday after Democratic National Convention chairman Jaime Harrison said she’d reached enough delegate votes to become the nominee. Voting continues until Monday.

The vice president said that she’s excited about the future but “we know we have a lot of work to do.”

“The power is with the people,” Harris added. “We are going to win this election and it is going to take all of us.”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign declared Friday that she had secured enough votes from party delegates to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

The online voting process doesn’t end until Monday. But the campaign marked the moment with a livestream when Harris crossed the threshold of 2,350 delegate votes. Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison made the announcement during the livestream.

He says Harris “will be the nominee of the Democratic party following the close of voting.”

Harris is poised to be the first woman of color at the top of a major party’s ticket.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign said Friday it was preparing to mark a “special historic moment” as Democratic delegates cast online ballots to formally make her their party’s nominee.

The campaign announced that it would hold a call with supporters on Friday afternoon.

The Democratic National Committee has been pushing ahead with a virtual vote to nominate Harris, nearing the culmination of a turbulent process that was upended by President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection.

Delegates to the Democratic National Convention began voting via secure email on Thursday, and the voting will remain open until Monday evening. Harris has not yet chosen her running mate, and she’s expected to interview candidates over the weekend.

The formal nomination is expected to be finalized by Aug. 7 even though the party’s convention in Chicago isn’t scheduled to begin for more than two more weeks. Democratic officials have said the accelerated timeline was necessary because of an Aug. 7 deadline to ensure candidates appear on the Ohio ballot.

Kamala Harris has range. She can grill nominees for the Supreme Court or meet with foreign dignitaries, then pivot to hosting a Diwali celebration or dancing enthusiastically alongside an HBCU-styled marching band.

It is a dexterity that Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, developed as a person of color to navigate the corridors of power or Main Street in a nation where race and identity influence how one is received or embraced.

Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, is an adroit code-switcher, a term that can include deliberately adjusting one’s speech style and expression to optimize relatability and ensure she gets a message across.

Former President Donald Trump, during a contentious interview session at a meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, showed no familiarity with the concept. He implied that Harris is inauthentic for embracing all aspects of her heritage. His failure to recognize code-switching also speaks to a prevailing belief that whiteness, often correlated with speaking in plainly enunciated English, is the default in our politics and democracy.

▶ Read more about the role code-switching plays in politics

President Joe Biden says he’s spoken to Vice President Kamala Harris about her search for a vice presidential candidate for 2024.

But when it comes to weighing in on the qualities she should look for in a candidate, “I’ll let her work that out,” he said on Friday.

Biden was speaking on the South Lawn before he left for Wilmington, Delaware, this weekend.

Harris is the likely Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out of the race. She has said she will announce her choice soon; she’s supposed to go out campaigning with her running mate next week.

Kyle Rittenhouse, who was embraced by Trump after shooting three men during a 2020 protest against police brutality in Wisconsin, won’t be returning the favor with his vote this fall.

The 21-year-old, who was acquitted of all charges in the Kenosha shootings, said he plans to write in a libertarian candidate instead — former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.

“Unfortunately Donald Trump had bad advisers making him bad on the Second Amendment, and that is my issue,” Rittenhouse said in a video posted on the social platform X. “If you cannot be completely uncompromisable on the Second Amendment, I will not vote for you and I will write somebody else in.”

Some pro-Trump influencers online shared their disgust at Rittenhouse, saying he owed Trump more for defending him after the shootings.

Rittenhouse killed two men and wounded a third in the protest. In court, he argued he opened fire in self-defense after the men attacked him. The case became a flashpoint in the debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice in the U.S.

Trump defended Rittenhouse at the time of the shootings and congratulated him after the verdict, saying, “If that’s not self defense, nothing is.”

Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles has appeared to enter the 2024 U.S. political fray, with a post that appears to clap back at Donald Trump’s comment about “Black jobs.”

“I love my black job,” Biles posted on the social platform X on Friday, in response to a post from singer Ricky Davila, who had said: “Iconic photo of the GOAT mastering her black job and collecting Gold Medals.”

The exchange came hours after Biles held off Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade to win the all-around Paris Olympics gymnastics finals, taking home her ninth gold medal.

Trump has been criticized for arguing initially during his debate with President Joe Biden last month that migrants were taking “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs” from Americans, angering critics who called it a racist and insulting attempt to expand his appeal beyond his white conservative base.

When pushed by moderators on what constituted a “Black job,” Trump told attendees at this week’s National Association of Black Journalists conference that “a Black job is anybody that has a job,” drawing groans from the room.

Trump’s campaign did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the message from Biles, whose representatives also did not immediately return messages seeking further comment on her post or her thoughts generally about the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Abraham Hamadeh has defeated Blake Masters in the Republican primary for a U.S. House seat that saw a rare dual endorsement from former President Donald Trump. Hamadeh has a good chance of winning the seat in November because the northwest Phoenix district leans conservative.

Elsewhere, a critic of Arizona’s voting operations in 2020 and 2022 has unseated an incumbent election official in Maricopa County in a GOP primary. And a Republican candidate vulnerable because of abortion politics has clenched her party’s bid in a state legislative race. In the U.S. Senate race, Kari Lake has secured the GOP nomination for an open seat. Primaries in two congressional races are still too early to call.

Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson has won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and will face off against Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn in November, pitting a survivor of a Republican-led expulsion effort over a gun control protest against a close ally of former President Donald Trump.

Johnson defeated three primary opponents, including Marquita Bradshaw, a Memphis community activist and organizer who notably won the Democratic Senate nomination in 2020 and then lost to Republican Bill Hagerty by a wide margin. Tennessee’s primary will also determine whether Republican Rep. Andy Ogles will be able to defeat a well-funded opponent, Nashville council member Courtney Johnston, as he pursues a second term in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.

FILE - Supports hold up signs in support of Vice President Kamala Harris at an event, July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf, File)

FILE - Supports hold up signs in support of Vice President Kamala Harris at an event, July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf, File)

President Joe Biden speaks after greeting reporter Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., following their release as part of a 24-person prisoner swap between Russia and the United States, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden speaks after greeting reporter Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva and Paul Whelan at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., following their release as part of a 24-person prisoner swap between Russia and the United States, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Supporters of Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, pray during a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Supporters of Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, pray during a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Vice President Kamala Harris waves to supporters during her arrival in Houston on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Vice President Kamala Harris waves to supporters during her arrival in Houston on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures during a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd after speaking at a campaign rally, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd after speaking at a campaign rally, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Donald Trump began his first day as the 47th president of the United States with a dizzying display of force, signing a blizzard of executive orders that signaled his desire to remake American institutions while also pardoning nearly all of his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Here's the latest:

Speaking to Fox News, press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to detail the announcement before Trump spoke at 4 p.m. Tuesday but said it would also send a signal to the world.

“You won’t want to miss it,” she said. Trump is also scheduled to attend a national prayer service Tuesday morning at Washington National Cathedral.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are heading to the White House to meet with Trump on Tuesday.

It’s the first formal sit down for the GOP leadership teams including Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Senate GOP Whip John Barrasso and the new president as they chart priorities with the sweep of Republican power in Washington.

Despite an ambitious 100-days agenda, the Republican-led Congress isn’t on the same page on some of the basics of their ideas and strategies as they rush to deliver tax cuts for the wealthy, mass deportations and other priorities for Trump.

He pledged to remove more than 1,000 presidential appointees “who are not aligned with our vision.”

In a post on his TruthSocial platform, Trump dismissed chef and humanitarian Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Ret. Gen. Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, former State Dept. official Brian Hook from the board of the Wilson Center, and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council.

“YOUR’E FIRED!” he wrote in a post just after midnight Tuesday.

Milley, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff under Trump, received a pardon from former President Joe Biden on Monday over concerns he could be criminally targeted by the new administration. His portrait in the Pentagon was also removed. Hook, who was Trump’s Iran envoy during his first term, had been involved in the Trump administration transition. No reasoning was given for his firing.

Former President Joe Biden also removed many Trump appointees in his first days in office, including former press secretary Sean Spicer from the board overseeing the U.S. Naval Acadamy.

Rep. Elise Stefanik is likely to face questions at her confirmation hearing Tuesday to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations about her lack of foreign policy experience, her strong support for Israel and her views on funding the U.N. and its many agencies.

Harvard-educated and the fourth-ranking member of the U.S. House, she was elected to Congress in 2015 as a moderate Republican and is leaving a decade later as one of President Trump’s most ardent allies.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “looks forward to working again with President Trump on his second term,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday.

When she appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Stefanik is likely to be grilled about her views on the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and elsewhere as well as the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs — all issues on the U.N. agenda.

▶ Read more about Elise Stefanik’s confirmation hearing

Scholz said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday that “not every press conference in Washington, not every tweet should send us straight into excited, existential debates. That’s also the case after the change of government that took place in Washington yesterday.”

Scholz said the U.S. is Germany’s closest ally outside Europe and he’ll do everything to keep in that way.

He acknowledged that Trump and his administration “will keep the world on tenterhooks in the coming years” in energy, climate, trade and security policy. But he said “we can and will deal with all this, without unnecessary agitation and outrage, but also without false ingratiation or telling people what they want to hear.”

Scholz said of Trump’s “America First” approach that there’s nothing wrong with looking to the interests of one’s own country – “we all do that. But it is also the case that cooperation and agreement with others are mostly also in one’s interest.”

Speaking in the Oval Office Monday, Trump rejected Biden’s warning that the U.S. is becoming an “ oligarchy ” for tech billionaires, saying the executives supported Democrats until they realized Biden “didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.”

“They did desert him,” Trump added. “They were all with him, every one of them, and now they are all with me.”

Despite taking millions from the executives and their companies for his inaugural committee — and receiving more than $200 million in assistance from Musk in his presidential campaign — Trump claimed he didn’t need their money and they wouldn’t be receiving anything in return.

“They’re not going to get anything from me,” Trump said. “I don’t need money, but I do want the nation to do well, and they’re smart people and they create a lot of jobs.”

Some of the most exclusive seats at Trump’s inauguration on Monday were reserved for powerful tech CEOs who also happen to be among the world’s richest men.

That’s a shift from tradition, especially for a president who has characterized himself as a champion of the working class. Seats so close to the president are usually reserved for the president’s family, past presidents and other honored guests.

The mega-rich have long had a prominent role in national politics, and several billionaires helped bankroll the campaign of Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

But the inaugural display highlights the unusually direct role the world’s wealthiest people will likely have in the new administration. In his outgoing address, Biden warned that the U.S. was becoming an oligarchy of tech billionaires wielding dangerous levels of power and influence on the nation.

▶ Read more about the billionaires at Trump’s inauguration

Outside the National Cathedral, just a few hours before the Interfaith Service of Prayer for the Nation, which both President Trump and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend, the scene before was decidedly quiet.

At the Cathedral only a few dog walkers dotted the sidewalk and the police presence was low.

It was a far cry from yesterday when thousands lined up in downtown D.C. festooned in the red regalia of MAGA nation — or the security and foot traffic from earlier this month for the funeral service of former President Jimmy Carter where Secret Service vehicles could be seen at least a mile from the Cathedral.

The Senate quickly confirmed Marco Rubio as secretary of state Monday, voting unanimously to give Trump the first member of his new Cabinet on Inauguration Day.

Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, is among the least controversial of Trump’s nominees and vote was decisive, 99-0.

It’s often tradition for the Senate to convene immediately after the ceremonial pomp of the inauguration to begin putting the new president’s team in place, particularly the national security officials.

▶ Read more about Marco Rubio’s confirmation

All the living former presidents were there and the outgoing president amicably greeted his successor, who gave a speech about the country’s bright future and who left to the blare of a brass band.

At first glance, President Donald Trump’ssecond inauguration seemed like a continuation of the country’s nearly 250-year-long tradition of peaceful transfers of power, essential to its democracy. And there was much to celebrate: Trump won a free and fair election last fall, and his supporters hope he will be able to fix problems at the border, end the war in Ukraine and get inflation under control.

Still, on Monday, the warning signs were clear.

Due to frigid temperatures, Trump’s swearing-in was held in the Capitol Rotunda, where rioters seeking to keep him in power the last time roamed during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. Trump walked into the space from the hall leading to the building’s west front tunnel, where some of the worst hand-to-hand combat between Trump supporters and police occurred that day.

After giving a speech pledging that “never again” would the government “persecute political opponents,” Trump then gave a second, impromptu address to a crowd of supporters. The president lamented that his inaugural address had been sanitized, said he would shortly pardon the Jan. 6 rioters and fumed at last-minute preemptive pardons issued by outgoing President Joe Biden to the members of the congressional committee that investigated the attack.

▶ Read more about Trump’s Inauguration Day

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, as White House staff secretary Will Scharf watches. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump signs an executive order to create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, as White House staff secretary Will Scharf watches. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks as first lady Melania Trump listens at the Commander in Chief Ball, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks as first lady Melania Trump listens at the Commander in Chief Ball, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on TikTok in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on TikTok in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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