Harris gets backing from majority of pledged delegates; Vance holds rallies in Ohio and Virginia

Less than 24 hours after Harris announced she would run for president following Biden’s exit from the race, queer people flooded the internet with cheeky videos and memes about her candidacy.

A supercut of Harris laughing, set to a Charli XCX song from the album “Brat,” quickly went viral, with more than 1.3 million views. Within hours of the announcement, photos and videos circulated of a group of men on Fire Island Pines, a queer-friendly beach on New York’s Long Island, wearing cropped T-shirts in “brat” lime green — the color of Charli XCX’s album — with “Kamala” emblazoned on the front in the same typeface used on the album.

“BRAT Kamala shirts already on Fire Island. The gays move SO FAST,” a user wrote.

Read the full story here.

Democrats may soon nominate a presidential candidate capable of rivaling Trump in memeability.

After Biden announced his decision to forfeit re-election, a tidal wave of memes about Harris — whom Biden backed as the Democratic presidential candidate — flooded the internet.

On platforms like TikTok and X, the mood felt celebratory as many left-leaning accounts posted upbeat fan edits of Harris and made memes out of her more memorable lines from speeches. On Sunday, British pop artist Charli XCX appeared to back Harris, calling her a “brat,” a reference to her new album, which has become the Gen Z theme of the summer.

Read the full story here.

Harris’ campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination has been bolstered by an unexpected group of supporters: Charli XCX fans.

Excitement around the Harris campaign grew on social media after people began editing viral videos and memes fusing songs from British pop star Charli XCX’s album “Brat” with clips of Harris throughout her career.

After Charli XCX appeared to endorse Harris yesterday, writing “Kamala IS Brat,” Harris’ campaign embraced the moment, reposting the show of support, using the album’s signature green color and typeface in one of its social media profiles and posting “Brat”-themed memes.

Read the full story here.

Over a thousand pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention — 1,120 — have endorsed Harris since Biden announced yesterday that he would not seek re-election, according to an NBC News review of public statements by state parties and individual delegates.

Officials at the Democratic National Committee said today they still plan to go ahead with a virtual nominating contest to formally select a Democratic nominee before Aug. 7. Democrats have almost 4,000 pledged delegates to their convention.

Harris is the only major candidate seeking the Democratic nomination, and there does not appear to be a significant number of delegates organizing in support of an opponent.

Vance was not happy when Biden ended his re-election campaign, throwing the Democratic Party’s ticket into turmoil and robbing Vance of a moment he was looking forward to: debating Harris.

“I was told I was going to debate Kamala Harris,” Vance said today in Middletown, Ohio, at his first solo event as Trump’s running mate. “And now President Trump is going to get to debate her? I’m kind of pissed off about that, if I’m being honest with you.”

The event, held at the high school Vance graduated from in 2003, came a day after Biden dropped out of the presidential race. Biden, who was under pressure to step aside amid questions about his fitness for office and ability to run a winning campaign, endorsed Harris to replace him as the Democratic nominee. Much of the party’s establishment has followed suit — a development that Vance cast in his remarks as an affront to democracy.

Read the full story here.

Biden is scheduled to return to the White House tomorrow, almost a week after he tested positive for Covid, the White House said tonight.

Biden tested positive Wednesday and has been self-isolating in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Democrats are moving forward with plans to select their next presidential nominee virtually, despite Biden’s dropping his re-election bid, the party announced tonight.

During a call with reporters outlining the rules, party officials were clear: The plan remains to formally nominate the presidential candidate before Aug. 7, which officials say is a critical deadline because of a potential legal issue in Ohio that they worry could force them off the ballot.

The party vowed in a memo that the online process will “mirror the candidate nomination rules used for in-person conventions to the greatest extent possible” but said the process will move incredibly quickly, with candidates given just days to declare their intentions to run and make their cases to voters.

Read the full story here.

A Harris presidency could have far-reaching consequences for the U.S. health care system, from abortion rights to insurance coverage to drug pricing, according to policy experts and former advisers to the vice president.

For starters, Harris is expected to focus heavily on protecting abortion access, an issue she has been fluent in using against Trump and the Republican Party.

“She will attack them repeatedly and mercilessly on reproductive rights,” said Drew Altman, the president and CEO of KFF, a nonpartisan research group. “I think it’s been a winning card for her so far, and I would expect to see her dial that up tremendously.”

Read the full story here.

At his second campaign event of the day, Vance laid into Harris, calling her "worse" than Biden.

"History will remember Joe Biden as not just a quitter, which he is, but one of the worst presidents in the United States of America," Vance told supporters in Radford, Virginia. "But, my friends, Kamala Harris is a million times worse."

Vance described Harris as supporting "every single one of Joe Biden's failures" and accused her of lying about Biden's "mental capacity to serve as president."

"Harris is actually even more extreme than Biden," he added.

The union federation AFL-CIO today endorsed Harris for president, calling her “a true partner in leading the most pro-labor administration in history.”

The AFL-CIO said in a statement that as vice president Harris has “played a critical role in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, investing in good-paying union jobs, bringing manufacturing back to America, lowering prescription drug costs and raising wages.”

“At every step in her distinguished career in public office, she’s proven herself a principled and tenacious fighter for working people and a visionary leader we can count on,” AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler said in the statement.

NBC News NOW anchor Zinhle Essamuah joins "Meet the Press NOW" after holding a panel discussion with Pennsylvania voters. They reacted to Harris' entering the presidential race and their thoughts about Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as a potential running mate.

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has been tapped to lead the vetting process for Harris’ potential running mates, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Holder and the law firm he works for, Covington & Burling, will oversee the operation, which is taking place on a more compressed timeline compared to other election cycles given Biden’s late decision to exit the race.

Harris addressed campaign leaders and staffers at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, where she thanked them for their work.

Harris emphasized her thanks for Jen O'Malley Dillon, former chair of the Biden campaign, whom she said she tapped "to run my campaign."

"She has accepted," Harris told staffers before she spent a few minutes praising Biden, telling campaign workers that his "legacy of accomplishment ... is unmatched in modern history."

Biden today called into his former Delaware campaign headquarters in Wilmington shortly before Harris spoke.

“I want people to remember that what we have done is incredible, and we’ve got so much more we’re going to get done,” he said.

He also said hello to Harris, adding, “I want to say to the team: Embrace her, she’s the best,” prompting cheers in the room.

Republican Ohio state Sen. George Lang said this afternoon that he regrets saying at a Vance rally today in Middletown, Ohio, that “it’s going to take a civil war to save the country” if Trump loses in November.

“Remarks I made earlier today at a rally at a rally in Middletown do not accurately reflect my views,” Lang said on X. “I regret the divisive remarks I made in the excitement of the moment on stage.”

He said that after the assassination attempt against Trump, he should have been more mindful of his language.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is urging every Cabinet secretary to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Biden from office. In letters to Harris and all 15 Cabinet secretaries, Schmitt argued that Biden isn't capable of fulfilling his duties as president since he's no longer seeking re-election.

"For the sake of our nation, we cannot wait until January 20, 2025 for a mentally capable President," Schmitt wrote in his letter to Harris. "If he is medically unable to be a candidate for Presidency (after he won the primary), then he is unable to unable to discharge the powers and duties of the Presidency today."

The 25th Amendment, enacted in 1967, governs presidential succession if a president can't fulfill the duties of the office and allows the vice president and the Cabinet to sign a declaration to Congress that the president is incapable of holding office.

The Harris campaign this afternoon called on Trump and his running mate to denounce Ohio state legislator George Lang's remarks at a Vance rally today, when he said there would be a "civil war" if Trump loses the election.

“Donald Trump and JD Vance should denounce George Lang’s calls for violence and apologize for platforming this kind of violence,” campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement.

Lang told attendees at the campaign rally that "it's going to take a civil war to save this country" if Trump loses in November.

The vice president landed in Wilmington this afternoon ahead of her planned meeting with campaign staff members.

Those who greeted her on the tarmac included Delaware Gov. John Carney; Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons; Carper's wife, Martha Carper; Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester; state Attorney General Kathy Jennings; Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock; Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki; and Delaware National Guard Maj. Gen. Michael R. Berry.

Harris’ campaign says that in the one day since Biden dropped out of the race, she raised $81 million — that's more than double the $39.6 million she raised during the entirety of her 2020 presidential bid, which fizzled out months before the Democratic primaries actually began.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., blasted Kamala Harris on a social media post today calling her a “DEI vice president,” using the initialism for “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs.

“The media propped up this president, lied to the American people for three years, and then dumped him for our DEI vice president,” Burchett said on X.

He also referred to Harris as “a DEI hire” in a brief interview today on CNN.

Read the full story here.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro today did not deny that he has spoken with Harris about being her running mate if she secures the Democratic nomination for president.

He also did not say he would turn down the role if she offered it to him.

Read the full story here.

The Harris campaign said today it had raised $81 million in its first 24 hours — which it said was the largest one-day haul in U.S. history.

That amount included contributions from more than 880,000 grassroots donors — 60% of whom the campaign said made their first contributions of the 2024 cycle.

"The historic outpouring of support for Vice President Harris represents exactly the kind of grassroots energy and enthusiasm that wins elections," Harris for President spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement. "Already, we are seeing a broad and diverse coalition come together to support our critical work of talking to the voters that will decide this election."

Harris' campaign assembled a Zoom call this morning for roughly 300 of her "core supporters," according to a source who has been a donor to the vice president dating back to her 2020 presidential primary.

During the call, Harris' campaign chief of staff, Sheila Nix, told the group they have raised $56 million since Biden’s announcement yesterday and that they expect to break the 24-hour fundraising record.

A campaign official expects the final 24-hour number to grow even further.

The source described the call on the condition of anonymity to avoid running afoul of the campaign.

Vance at his rally accused Barack Obama, George Soros and other "elite" Democrats of conspiring to throw Joe Biden overboard.

"The idea of selecting the Democrat Party’s nominee because George Soros and Barack Obama and a couple of elite Democrats got in a smoke-filled room and decided to throw Joe Biden overboard," Vance said in Middletown, Ohio, at his first solo event as Trump's running mate.

"That is not how it works," he continued. "That is the threat to democracy."

NBC News previously reported that Obama had "concerns" about Biden's ability to beat Trump in November. And several top Democrats, led in part by Nancy Pelosi, expressed similar concerns to Biden directly, eventually leading to his decision to exit the race.

As Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance begins campaigning across the country today, the Democratic National Committee is working to ensure voters know where he stands on critical issues.

On topics including abortion, democracy, Social Security and tax cuts, the Democratic Party apparatus is deploying mobile and traditional billboards and paid media along with Vance’s own words to get its point across over the next several months, according to two sources familiar with the committee’s plans.

According to two Pennsylvania delegates, the Pennsylvania delegation unanimously endorsed Harris for president.

Future Forward, the main Democratic super PAC supporting the Biden campaign, says it has secured a staggering $150 million in new commitments from donors in just the past 24 hours since Biden announced he was withdrawing from the race and endorsing Harris.

The pledges came from donors who were previously stalled, uncertain or uncommitted, according to a senior aide to Future Forward.

Future Forward spent more than $150 million in 2020 supporting Biden and has already made $250 million in advertising reservations for the remainder of 2024.

Politico first reported the news of the new commitments.

Dr. Kevin O'Connor said in an update released by the White House that Biden's Covid "symptoms have resolved almost completely."

His doctor said that Biden completed his 10th dose of Paxlovid and all of his vital signs remain normal.

"His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air," he said. "His lungs remain clear."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., praised Harris while speaking to a group of reporters at the Capitol, but stopped short of endorsing her.

Jeffries said he and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who also hasn't endorsed her yet, will be meeting with Harris soon.

"Let me say this," Jeffries said."Vice President Kamala Harris has excited the community, she’s excited the House Democratic Caucus and she’s exciting the country. And so I’m looking forward to sitting down with her in person in short order, with Leader Schumer, and we’ll have more to say about the path forward."

The majority of Florida's convention delegates have pledged their support for Harris in a new letter.

"As Florida convention delegates, we stand united in our support for Kamala Harris as our Democratic nominee for President. We urge our fellow Democrats to join us in endorsing Vice President Harris and to work tirelessly to ensure her victory in the upcoming election," the group said in a letter, which was signed by 236 people.

Not every delegate from Florida signed the letter: the convention delegation has 254 members, plus 19 alternates. Their endorsement comes after several other state delegations, including Maryland and North Carolina, pledged their support for Harris.

Kimberly Bone, a 55-year-old Phoenix resident, told NBC News she's leaning toward voting for Trump but is "persuadable” and open to potentially voting for Harris — the biggest obstacle to that being Bone's lack of knowledge of who Harris is and what she stands for. 

“I don’t know much about her,” said Bone, a behavioral health technician. “She’s not like how they're all on the news and posted everywhere,” said Bone, comparing Harris to Trump and Biden. “They are big, known people because they’re always on TV, like, I don’t never see her,” she said of Harris. 

 “She should get out more and mingle with the community and the people and let people get to know her,” Bone added. 

 Asked what Harris needs to prove to tear her away from Trump, Bone said, “Show me that you you down to earth. It ain’t all about what you can win and what you can get for yourself,” she said. 

Ohio State Sen. George Lang, a Republican who was one of the speakers at Vance’s event in Middletown, Ohio, suggested the U.S. might need to have a civil war if Trump and Vance lose this fall.

“Donald Trump and Butler County’s JD Vance are the last chance to save our country, politically,” Lang told the crowd at Middletown High School. “I’m afraid if we lose this one, it’s going to take a civil war to save this country, and it will be saved. It’s the greatest experiment in the history of mankind.”

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Harris would be "worse" handling the border than Biden.

"Joe Biden will go down as the Worst President in the history of the United States. KAMALA, OUR HORRIBLE & INCOMPETENT BORDER CZAR, WILL BE WORSE!" Trump said.

Biden had tasked Harris in 2021 with stemming the migration on the U.S.-Mexico border. While there have been several surges, border crossings fell to their lowest number of the Biden presidency in June, with apprehension dropping 30% from May, or to just more than 84,000 migrants.

The situation that Democrats find themselves in is unprecedented in modern presidential history: a major party presumptive deciding to leave the race in the summer before the election before the official nomination.

But the good news for Democrats is — as in most cases, there’s already a rule for that.

As unprecedented as Biden’s decision to exit the race is, there are already established procedures in Democratic Party rules, campaign finance laws and state code to govern most of the key questions facing Democrats, and the country, right now.

Some of it is untested and could be the subject of lawsuits down the road. But here’s a look at a few of those pressing questions, and what we know about the answers.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who played a key role in nudging Biden to drop out of the 2024 race, endorsed Harris for president.

“Today, it is with immense pride and limitless optimism for our country’s future that I endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States. My enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris for President is official, personal and political," she said in a statement.

While Pelosi never publicly called for Biden to step aside, sources told NBC News she kept the pressure up behind the scenes for Biden to drop out, worried about potential losses in the House and Senate. She spoke to lawmakers, donors and Biden himself about her concerns ahead of the president’s announcement.

Harris praised Biden's "leadership" and "wisdom" as president, saying that "as one of our country's most consequential presidents," Biden "has been not only on the right side of history, but on the right side of the future."

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont joined a growing list of Democratic governors today who said they support Harris' nomination.

“I think she’s going to be a great nominee," Lamont told NBC's New York station. "I think she’s going to win, and I look forward to working with her as long as I’m governor.”

Asked if that was a full-throated endorsement, Lamont said, “I think it is."

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle took responsibility for security failures that led to the assassination attempt on Trump, but sidestepped several major questions in testimony today before a visibly frustrated House Oversight Committee.

In her opening remarks, Cheatle called the shooting the “most significant operational failure of the Secret Service in decades.” She said she was determined to learn what went wrong at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, when a gunman opened fire from the roof of a nearby building, striking Trump in the ear, killing one rallygoer and wounding another.

“I accept responsibility for this tragedy,” Cheatle said. “We are going to look into how this happened, and we are going to take corrective action to ensure it never happens again.” 

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who announced her endorsement of Harris today, told a local CBS affiliate that she is “not leaving Michigan” amid speculation that she is a potential contender to be Harris’ running mate.

Asked if she’s prepared to take the vice presidency if she were offered the position, Whitmer said she is “not planning to go anywhere.”

“I am not leaving Michigan,” she said. “I’m proud to be the governor of Michigan. I’ve been consistent. I know everyone is always suspicious and asking this question over and again.”

Asked why she didn’t announce her endorsement of Harris sooner, Whitmer, a co-chair of Harris’ campaign, said she was caught by surprise when Biden announced his withdrawal from the race yesterday.

Trump's running mate, Sen. JD Vance, is set to hold his first campaign event in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, this afternoon.

The line to get into the event, which is taking place at a local high school, is enormous. It is unlikely that everyone in line will be allowed into the small performing arts auditorium in which the event is being held.

Ohio Senate Republican nominee Bernie Moreno and a handful of local elected officials from the area have been spotted in the crowd so far.

Aides to Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have discussed a possible meeting between the two men this week while the Israeli leader is in the U.S., according to six people familiar with the discussions.

Netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday — the initial reason for his visit to Washington — and was expected to meet with Biden today, but the president has been in isolation in Delaware after being diagnosed with Covid. Netanyahu is also expected to meet with Harris.

One person familiar with Trump’s schedule said tomorrow would be the only day that an in-person meeting would work logistically for the former president.

Harris celebrated Biden and his accomplishments in the White House Monday in her first public remarks since he endorsed her for president.

Harris said Biden’s “legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern history.”

“In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who served two terms in office,” Harris said on the White House South Lawn at an event celebrating NCAA athletes who won championships for the 2023 to 2024 season.

She did not address her candidacy, as was expected since it was an official White House event.

Arizona voter Albert Duncan has voted Democratic in the past but is considering switching to the Republican Party in November. He said Harris' fresh bid for the presidency isn't changing his mind on that.

“It’s not based upon the candidates,” Duncan, 39, said on his potential switching of parties. “It’s just my life is kind of in a position where I’m just reconsidering everything,” he added.

Duncan, who voted for Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020, cited the economy as one of his most important issues. He said he is leaning toward voting Trump because of his concerns about the Democratic Party.

In a post on X, Harris wrote that she is paying a visit to her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, today.

"It’s the first full day of our campaign, so I’m heading up to Wilmington, DE later to say 'hello' to our staff in HQ," Harris wrote. "One day down. 105 to go. Together, we’re going to win this."

The campaign’s rapid response account, @KamalaHQ, which is largely run by staff based in Wilmington, replied to Harris in a separate post quoting hers: "See you soon, Madam VP."

An aide to Harris familiar with her remarks that she is about to give on the White House South Lawn says she will start by “uplifting” and talking about Biden’s “transformational leadership.” The person said she won’t talk about her candidacy because it would be inappropriate to do so at the White House given the official split needed between her campaign and official duties as VP.

Later on, Harris is expected to talk about her candidacy, the way forward, and her plan for beating Trump. She also plans to meet directly with campaign staff.

Harris had “multiple phone conversations with the president prior to his announcement” yesterday morning that he would drop out of the race and endorse her, according to a source familiar with her day.

The vice president was surrounded by family and staff at her residence and “spent more than 10 hours Sunday placing calls to over 100 party leaders, members of Congress, governors, labor leaders, and leaders of advocacy and civil rights organizations,” the source said. She told them she was grateful for Biden’s endorsement but planned “to work hard to earn the Democratic nomination in her own right.”

Harris also called her pastor, Amos Brown III, who prayed for her along with his wife, the source said.

Through the day, Harris “wore a hooded Howard University sweatshirt, workout sweats and sneakers,” the source said, adding that she arranged meals for aides with a menu of sandwiches and salad for lunch, and pizza and salad for dinner. “The Vice President’s pizza came with anchovies, her go-to topping,” the source said.

Chief of Staff Jeff Zients is holding two calls today, one with all staff at the White House and another with appointees across the Biden-Harris administration, according to a senior White House official.

Zients relayed two key messages, first thanking the president and the team for their work over the last few years and secondly reminding them of the work the administration has left to do before the end of the term.

Zients told staff that he could not speak about the 2024 election from his official perch. He said that the White House counsel said he could not talk about who the next president would be, whomever she is. But he said the president has been clear on the matter.

“In less than 24 hours, MoveOn has raised over $550k and counting, our strongest fundraising day in over two years since Roe was overturned," Britt Jacovich, spokesperson for the progressive online grassroots group MoveOn.org, told NBC news. "We're seeing strong grassroots energy with an average donation of about $30.”

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped down from her powerful perch leading House Democrats nearly a year and a half ago. But behind the scenes, sources say, Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, played a critical role in delicately nudging Biden to the exits.

Although Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Pelosi’s protégé, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, also told Biden about Democrats’ concerns about him continuing his campaign, three sources told NBC News that any time the issue of his dropping out began to die down and lose momentum, they viewed Pelosi as the one fanning the flames.

Unlike Schumer and Jeffries, Pelosi is no longer on the Democratic leadership team and could afford to be more front and center in the effort to push Biden out after his disastrous debate performance last month.

Harris has been quickly consolidating support around her presidential candidacy, with seemingly all her major potential rivals for the nomination rallying around her less than 24 hours after Biden announced he will bow out.

It’s now unclear if anyone will even challenge Harris for the Democratic nomination ahead of next month’s convention in Chicago, let alone pose a real threat to her.

Read the full story here.

The National Task Force on Election Crises, a bipartisan group that advocates for free and fair elections, issued a statement today seeking to allay any concerns or criticism that Biden's exist from the race — and the possible nomination of Harris as the Democratic nominee — violates any long-standing election laws or rules.

“While a major party’s presumptive nominee withdrawing his presidential candidacy is an extraordinary occurrence, rules and procedures are in place to respond to this development," the group said in a statement. "Americans can be confident that this situation falls well within existing rules and that their election system continues to allow for a free and fair election."

Last Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., traveled to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to meet with Biden. No one else was in the room.

Schumer had kept quiet about the details of the meeting, only calling it “good” in public. But a source who was briefed on the meeting gave NBC News some inside details. Schumer told Biden he was there “out of love and affection" and "as a friend and colleague" before laying out the case to him in stark terms. The president needed to consider three important points: his legacy, the future of the country and the impact on Congress, Schumer said. He also urged Biden to think about the Supreme Court.

According to the source, Schumer finished the meeting by saying, “I do not expect you to walk out of this room making a decision, but I hope you will think about what I said.”

To which Biden responded, “I need another week,” and then the two leaders hugged.

The meeting in Delaware was the capstone to a hectic few weeks following Biden’s disastrous debate performance. Schumer had not rushed to judgment, the source said, waiting to see how things developed and what the polls showed over the weeks following the debate. He then went to work on an internal strategy, choosing not to air his concerns publicly and encouraging donors and other elected leaders to do the same.

Biden and his close aides have already begun working on the speech he alluded to in his letter yesterday that will spell out “in more detail” why he decided to bow out of the 2024 race, two people familiar with the matter said.

They will continue drafting the address today while Biden is in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where the president has been isolating after being diagnosed with Covid. The expectation is that the speech would be his first major event after he returns to Washington this week. 

Biden wants his first act once back in D.C. to be speaking directly to the American people, the sources said. The format and setting were still a matter of discussion late yesterday but the indication is that it would take place at the White House. 

A senior Trump campaign official said there was "no chance" the former president would make any public appearances between now and Wednesday when he is scheduled to hold a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Trump last held a rally Saturday, his first since the assassination attempt July 13.

Harris hasn't even been in the race for 24 hours and there's already campaign merch in the wild.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said in a post on X that Biden "made the right decision for our country" by dropping out of the presidential race.

"I thank him for putting the interests of our Nation ahead of his own," Pence wrote. "After the assassination attempt on President Trump and President Biden’s decision to end his campaign, now is a time for leaders in both parties to project calm and send a message of strength and resolve to America’s friends and enemies alike that, whatever the state of our politics, the American people are strong and our American military stands ready to defend our freedom and our vital national interests anywhere in the world."

While Pence didn't say that he supports Harris for president or whoever might become the Democratic nominee, he previously made clear that he won't be endorsing Trump for re-election.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who served as a national co-chair of Biden’s re-election campaign, said she is “fired up” to endorse Harris, who she says has her “full support.”

“In Vice President Harris, Michigan voters have a presidential candidate they can count on to focus on lowering their costs, restoring their freedoms, bringing jobs and supply chains back home from overseas, and building an economy that works for working people,” Whitmer said in a statement. “She’s a former prosecutor, a champion for reproductive freedom, and I know that she’s got Michigan’s back.”

“That’s in stark contrast to Donald Trump, a convicted felon who stokes violence, overturned Roe, attacked our auto industry which hardworking families depend on, left office after losing 100,000 manufacturing jobs, and drove our economy into the ground last time he was in the White House.”

Whitmer, a vocal critic of Trump, is among a list of Democratic governors seen as a potential vice presidential pick for Harris.

The Coalition to March on the DNC, the largest and most vocal group that has already made plans to march and protest at the Democrats' nominating convention in Chicago next month, says its plans to do so remain unchanged after Biden withdrew from the race.

"His decision doesn’t change the policies of Democratic Party leadership, specifically their support of the genocide in Palestine, so our movement must continue to apply pressure. On August 19th we will march on the DNC for Gaza regardless of who gets nominated for the presidency," Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesman for the group, said in a statement.

Abudayyeh told NBC News last week that the group is expecting "tens of thousands" of participants.

The vice president is scheduled to deliver remarks at 11:30 a.m. ET on the White House South Lawn at an event celebrating the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship teams from the 2023 to 2024 season. 

It's the first time she'll be delivering public remarks since Biden dropped out of the race and she jumped in, but sources around the VP say she is not expected to talk about her candidacy since it's an official White House event. However, Harris is expected talk about Biden. 

She is also expected to address her own new role as an endorsed candidate seeking the nomination at a different moment, according to aides.

Another prominent Democrat is falling in line behind Harris, this time Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, the billionaire who's seen as a potential VP or future presidential candidate.

Pritzker endorsed Harris today in a statement that excoriated Trump as "a man wholly unfit for the office of the presidency both in character and temperament" before pivoting to praise for Harris.

"Vice President Harris has proven, at every point in her career, that she possesses the skills, strength, and character to lead this country and the vision to better the lives of all Americans," he says.

"She represents our Party’s best chance to defeat Donald Trump in November, and I will work my heart out to help her do that."

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has endorsed Harris for president.

In a statement, Moore said he had lengthy conversations with both Biden and Harris yesterday and offered his "full support" for Harris' candidacy.

"Vice President Harris has the experience, record, vision, and wisdom to unify the country," he said. "She will have the unique ability to energize the Democratic Party base and mobilize a unique coalition, and we must rally around her and elect her to serve a the next President of the United States."

Moore, whose national profile got a boost following the Baltimore bridge collapse, has been viewed as a possible vice presidential contender for Harris.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., announced his endorsement of Harris, a "former Senate colleague and good friend."

“I’m proud to endorse my former Senate colleague and good friend, Vice President Kamala Harris," Durbin said in a statement. "Our nation needs to continue moving forward with unity and not MAGA chaos."

"Vice President Harris was a critical partner in building the Biden record over the past four years," he added. "Count me in with Kamala Harris for president.”

Actress Jenn Colella, who plays American women’s suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt in the Broadway musical “Suffs,” posted a video on Instagram yesterday of the audience chanting “Kamala” at the top of the show’s 3 p.m. matinee.

Hillary Clinton is a co-producer of “Suffs,” a stage musical based on the women’s suffrage movement in the U.S., alongside Nobel Prize-winning activist Malala Yousafzai, Jill Furman and Rachel Sussman.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is planning to testify today that her agency "failed" in its mission during the assassination attempt against Trump on July 13.

"As the Director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse," she will say, according to excerpts of her opening statement.

Cheatle will say that the Secret Service is cooperating with the FBI's investigation, oversight from Congress and other external reviews.  

“We must learn what happened, and I will move heaven and earth to ensure an incident like July 13th does not happen again," she plans to say. "Thinking about what we should have done differently is never far from my thoughts.”

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., is expected to call on the Secret Service director to resign during today's hearing investigating the assassination attempt on Trump on July 13.

“It is my firm belief, Director Cheatle, that you should resign," Comer plans to say, according to excerpts of his remarks released ahead of the hearing.

Comer's planned remarks note that Cheatle has maintained she won't resign despite calls by a number of lawmakers to step down.

"The Secret Service has a zero fail mission, but it failed on July 13 and in the days leading up to the rally," Comer is expected to say. "The Secret Service has thousands of employees and a significant budget, but it has now become the face of incompetence."

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, posted an old photo on social media this morning of herself with Harris and asked her followers to donate to the campaign.

"I’ve known Kamala Harris a long time," she wrote. "This brilliant prosecutor will make the case against convicted felon Donald Trump and the Project 2025 agenda to take away our freedoms."

She and former President Bill Clinton endorsed Harris in a joint statement yesterday.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he spoke to Harris yesterday, and it "went great" and they discussed "winning this race."

Asked if he would accept an invitation to be her running mate, Cooper said, “I appreciate people talking about me, but I think the focus right now needs to be on her this week, and she needs to concentrate on making sure that she secures his nomination and gets the campaign ready to go.”

Pressed again about the possibility, he again said, “I think it’s really important that we do keep the focus on her this week. The vice presidential conversation needs to occur later. I want to make sure that Kamala Harris wins. I’m going to work for her all over this country and do what I can to make sure we stop Donald Trump. And that’s what I’m concentrating on right now.”

Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., said he does not intend to run for any political office during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe," backtracking from what two sources who had spoken to him told NBC News yesterday.

“I’m not intending to run for any political office, and I made that very clear,” he said. “I’m retiring, but I’m going to be involved, and I like to have a voice, and I think I speak for the majority of Americans who are in the middle like me.”

Manchin said he was hoping that there would be a primary where “we could find out who is the cream of the crop of the new generation” following Biden's withdrawal from the race.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a 46-year-old Democrat who has led his state since 2019, endorsed Harris for president in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," saying that he believes she will win the general election.

"I’m excited to fully endorse Vice President Harris as the — for the next president of the United States," he said.

"The vice president is smart and strong, which will make her a good president," he said. "But she's also kind and has empathy, which can make her a great president. And the contrast between her and those running on the other side couldn't be clearer."

Asked if anyone has reached out to him about the possibility of becoming her vice presidential pick, Beshear, who is considered a contender for the spot, didn't provide a clear answer.

House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., and Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., announced their endorsements of Harris for president.

After commending Biden for making the “patriotic decision” to withdraw from the race, Aguilar said the election “will be the fight of our lives,” citing abortion bans in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 and the need to lower costs for average Americans, adding that Trump poses a threat to reproductive rights and clean energy jobs.

“Moving forward, I will do everything I can to elect Kamala Harris the 47th President of the United States, defeat Donald Trump and take back the House from Extreme MAGA Republicans,” he said in a statement. “I know Kamala to be a fierce advocate for working families and a tough-minded prosecutor who knows right from wrong. I ask every American who believes in the rule of law, supports our Democracy and wants to keep America a beacon of hope for future generations to join me in this fight.”

Trump’s political team has been preparing to run against Harris for weeks, something it got one step closer to yesterday after Biden said he is dropping out of the race.

“We are pretty excited about the fact that he endorsed Kamala,” said Richard Grenell, a former U.S. ambassador to Germany and Trump’s acting director of national intelligence. “As we know in California, she has never been vetted. … Kamala Harris is a product of this whole system. She’s very far left, unvetted and untested.”

Read the full story here.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., anticipates that Harris is coming into the race “bringing the receipts” against Trump, noting her experience as a former prosecutor during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“She’s been on the world stage, and she will have a unique ability, as a former prosecutor and a fierce competitor, to prosecute his past, his selfishness about his role in all of this,” she said. “And it’s going to be, I think, something like you’ve never seen before.”

Klobuchar, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, recalled Harris’ cross examination of conservative Supreme Court nominees who ultimately overturned the landmark ruling of Roe v. Wade.

“We believe women should be able to make their own decisions about their health care, not politicians,” she said. “Kamala Harris is going to be looking at Donald Trump, the guy that did the video this year that said he was proudly the person who overturned Roe v. Wade. She is the prosecutor, is going to be able to talk about what he’s done all of his felony indictments in a way that you’ve never seen before, and then she’s going to be able to talk about the economic record.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., denied in a "TODAY" interview this morning that there was a coordinated behind-the-scenes campaign by Democrats to pressure Biden to exit the race.

Schiff, who called on Biden to step aside, said he himself “certainly wasn’t part of any coordinated campaign.”

“And I don’t think there was," he said. "I think you had individual leaders in the party looking at the polls, listening to people from battleground states and from battleground House districts, and increasingly concerned about the trajectory that we’re on.”

“It was hard for all of us, frankly, because we admire Joe Biden, we respect Joe Biden, and more than that, we just have tremendous affection for Joe Biden,” he added. “He’s a wonderful and decent human being. So this, I think, was hard for all of us in the party. But I can’t say that I was part of any coordinated effort.”

Harris campaign spokesperson Brian Fallon said this morning that she raised $49.6 million from grassroots donors in the hours following Biden's exit from the 2024 campaign and his endorsement of her.

It's among the biggest fundraising sprees ever for a presidential campaign. Earlier this year, Trump's political operation raised more than $63 million online across two days following his criminal conviction in New York.

Read more here on the crush of Democratic donor money flooding back into the presidential race after Biden's exit.

With Biden exiting the presidential race, Harris becomes the overwhelming front-runner to be the Democratic presidential nominee.

Harris’ biggest challenge lies further ahead, though: She has been polling the same as Biden — or just slightly better — against Trump, according to multiple surveys taken before Biden withdrew from the contest.

Read the full story here.

One thing hasn’t changed now that Biden is no longer seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination: Democratic convention delegates remain free to vote for whomever they want to be their party’s nominee, regardless of the results of the primary.

The only command to delegates under current convention rules is to “in all good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them.” After a primary process in which Biden won virtually every contest and faced no true opposition, those “sentiments” were easy to predict.

Read the full story here.