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The field of potential vice presidential running mates to join presumptive nominee Kamala Harris on the 2024 Democratic Party ticket got narrower on Monday.
First, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ruled herself out.
In an appearance on Morning Joe, Whitmer said she “had made a commitment to serve out her term as governor” and can be “an excellent ally to a President Harris” in that role and as co-chair of the campaign.
Then came reports that North Carolina governor Roy Cooper has also reportedly taken himself out of consideration.
That leaves three serious contenders in the eyes of the Harris campaign: Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, according to Bloomberg.
The Harris presidential campaign has raked in more than $200m in donations in the week since Joe Biden exited the race and the vice president stepped up to replace him on the ticket.
Meanwhile, Democrats are focusing attacks on Trump’s running mate JD Vance, as emails shared with The New York Times by a former friend of Vance show him criticizing Trump for “racism” and as a “morally reprehensible human being”, underlining the political pivot he made in recent years.
Donald Trump mocks ‘bum’ Kamala Harris’ name during speech
Donald Trump continued to mock Kamala Harris’ name as he spoke at a Turning Point conference this weekend (27 July), insisting he’d “heard it said about seven different ways”. Branding her a “bum” and a “failed vice president”, Trump insisted he didn’t “mispronounce it on purpose”, but allegedly doesn’t know how to say her name. However, just days ago a video surfaced from Harris, where she confirms that her name is pronounced ‘Comma-La’. He also falsely told attendees that should they go out and vote for him now they “won’t have to vote again in four years”.
Harris and Democrats keep calling Trump and Vance ‘weird’
Vice president Kamala Harris and her Democratic allies are emphasising a new line of criticism against Republicans — branding Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio senator JD Vance, as “weird”.
Democrats are applying the label with gusto in interviews and online, notably to Mr Vance’s comments on abortion and his previous suggestion that political leaders who didn’t have biological children “don’t really have a direct stake” in the country.
The “weird” message appears to have given Democrats a narrative advantage that it rarely had when president Joe Biden was still running for reelection. Trump’s campaign, which so often shapes political discussions with the former president’s pronouncements, has spent days trying to flip the script by highlighting things about Democrats it says are weird.
“I don’t know who came up with the message, but I salute them,” said David Karpf, a strategic communication professor at George Washington University.
Mr Karpf said labeling Republican comments as “weird” is the sort of concise take that resonates quickly with Harris supporters. Plus, Karpf noted, “it frustrates opponents, leading them to further amplify it through off-balance responses.”
“So far, at least, Trump-Vance has been incapable of finding an effective response,” Mr Karpf said.
Associated Press
Elon Musk shares manipulated video of Kamala Harris
The world’s richest man reposted a video that seems to have been deceptively edited to make it appear as if a real campaign ad, where Harris says that she’s the “ultimate diversity hire,” President Joe Biden is senile and that she doesn’t “know the first thing about running the country.”
Gustaf Kilander has the story.
Mark Ruffalo, Mark Hamill, Josh Gad and Jeff Bridges show up at White Dudes for Harris Zoom
The Zoom call featured stars such as Mark Ruffalo, Josh Gad, Sean Astin, Mark Hamill, and Josh Groban.
There were also appearances by elected officials such as North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, former House majority leader Steny Hoyer and senator Gary Peters of Michigan. Potential Harris VP Pete Buttigieg was also on the call.
Democrats are hard selling Kamala Harris’ message that Trump and Vance are ‘weird’
The Democratic Party’s sudden unification was on full display across the broadcast and cable news networks on Sunday as the party’s biggest stars lined up to deliver talking points on three issues: the strength of Harris’s resume, the perceived weirdness of Trump and his vice presidential candidate JD Vance, and Joe Biden’s lame-duck agenda item, Supreme Court reform. Today marked the first round of Sunday news talk shows (minus Meet the Press, pre-empted by the Olympics) since Biden’s decision to drop out of the race was announced last Sunday afternoon.
John Bowden reports.
Harris received $20,000 per minute during fundraising effort, campaigners say
“We’re raising $20,000 per minute — the system wasn’t built for this. If you can’t make your donation, keep trying,” Shannon Watts, founder of the anti-gun violence group Mom Demands Action, wrote on X on Thursday morning.
Watts added that there were more than 100,000 participants and that at least $2m was raised during the fundraising effort.
Read on…
Harris gaining on Trump among Hispanic voters, new poll shows
Gustaf Kilander looks at the numbers.
North Carolina governor Roy Cooper takes himself out of the running for Kamala Harris’ VP
A widely popular governor of a swing state, some saw him as having the potential to flip a state Democrats have not won in 16 years. A staple in North Carolina politics, Cooper had served as attorney general for sixteen years before he beat an incumbent Republican governor in 2016 despite the fact that Donald Trump carried the Tar Heel state.
Eric Garcia has the story.
In support of Kamala Harris, Joan Baez changes lyrics to ‘America the Beautiful’
The folk musician and activist, 83, shared a video of herself singing “America the Beautiful” on Sunday (28 July), as she played an acoustic guitar.
Roisin O’Connor has the story.
North Carolina governor Roy Cooper reportedly out of Kamala Harris veepstakes
North Carolina governor Roy Cooper has reportedly taken himself out of consideration to serve as presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’s running mate in the 2024 election.
Cooper, 67, reportedly made the call based on concerns about his age and that North Carolina’s lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, would take over for him if he left for national office, according to anonymous sources who spoke with CNN.
Source: independent.co.uk
