President Joe Biden told NBC News in an interview on July 15 that it was a “mistake” to say he wanted to put a “bull’s-eye” on Republican nominee Donald Trump, but argued that the rhetoric from his opponent was more incendiary while warning that Mr. Trump remained a threat to democratic institutions.

Those remarks from Mr. Biden came during a private call with donors last week as the Democrat had been scrambling to shore up his imperilled candidacy with key party constituencies. During that conversation, Mr. Biden declared that he was “done” talking about his poor debate performance and that it was “time to put Mr. Trump in the bull’s-eye,” saying Mr. Trump has gotten far too little scrutiny on his stances, rhetoric and lack of campaigning.

The NBC interview came as Mr. Biden and his reelection team prepared to resume full-throttle campaigning after a brief pause following the weekend assassination attempt on Mr. Trump. The President and his campaign let loose a flurry of criticism after the GOP nominee announced freshman Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate.

“He’s a clone of Mr. Trump on the issues,” Mr. Biden told reporters as he headed to Nevada for a series of speeches and campaign events. “I don’t see any difference.”

Once Mr. Vance was tapped as Mr. Trump’s vice-presidential pick, the Biden campaign hit send on a fundraising solicitation signed by the President, and his team issued a blistering statement, saying he picked the freshman senator because he would “bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda.” For her part, Vice President Kamala Harris phoned Mr. Vance to congratulate him and left him a voicemail message, according to a person familiar with the matter.

And to NBC anchor Lester Holt, Mr. Biden made it clear that he would keep up his focus on Trump. While he acknowledged his “mistake,” Biden nonetheless said he is “not the guy who said I wanted to be a dictator on day one” and that he wanted the focus to be on what Mr. Trump was saying. It’s Mr. Trump, not Mr. Biden, who engages in that kind of rhetoric, Mr. Biden said, referring to Trump’s past comments about a “bloodbath” if the Republican loses to Mr. Biden in November.

“Look, how do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a President says things like he says?” Mr. Biden said. “Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?”

The NBC interview, scheduled before the attempt on Mr. Trump’s life at a rally in Pennsylvania, had been part of Mr. Biden’s broader strategy to prove his fitness for office after angst grew among Democrats because of his disastrous June 27 debate performance.

The Biden campaign recalibrated some of its political plans in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on July 13, pulling advertising off the air and hitting pause on messaging. The White House also scrapped Mr. Biden’s planned July 15 visit to the Lyndon B. Johnson library, where he had been slated to deliver remarks on civil rights.

Mr. Biden also spoke privately to Mr. Trump after the assassination attempt, a call that the President described in the NBC interview as “very cordial.”

“I told him how concerned I was and wanted to make sure I knew how he was actually doing,” Mr. Biden said. “He sounded good. He said he was fine and he thanked me for calling. I told him it was literally in the prayers of Jill and me, and I hoped his whole family was weathering this.”

It’s still not finalized when Mr. Biden’s campaign ads will resume airing. But Mr. Biden is pressing on with the Nevada portion of his previously scheduled western swing, which will include remarks to the NAACP and UnidosUS, a Latino civil rights and advocacy group. He’ll also headline what’s been billed as a “campaign community event” on July 17 in Las Vegas.

Mr. Biden has acknowledged that his candidacy and agenda will be under attack at the Republican National Convention this week, and aides had felt no need to halt their campaign completely, particularly while Mr. Biden comes under scrutiny in Milwaukee.

Asked whether Mr. Biden would adjust his messaging this week in light of the assassination attempt, O’Malley Dillon pointed to his Oval Office address as a “roadmap for the whole country,” which she said was no different than Mr. Biden’s broader message from the start of his candidacy.

“You’re going to hear the President continue to make his affirmative agenda clear,” she said. “Not just in abstract terms, but very specifically on how it continues to help the American people versus this very negative point of view and extreme agenda that the American people have already said that they don’t want.”

Mr. Biden’s renewed campaigning this week comes as Democrats have been at an impasse over whether the incumbent president should continue in the race even as he was defiant that he would stay in. Mr. Biden has made it clear in no uncertain terms that he remains in the race, and aides have been operating as such.

It was unclear if the attempt on Mr. Trump’s life would blunt Democratic efforts to urge Biden to step aside, but it appears to have stalled some of the momentum, for now. No Democrats have called for him to exit the race since the shooting Saturday night.

In the hours before the shooting, Mr. Biden was still being confronted by frustration and scepticism from Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Jared Huffman of California said he asked the president during his meeting with the Congressional Progressive Caucus about objectively assessing the trajectory of the race, and if the Lord almighty doesn’t intervene would Mr. Biden consider “the best earthly alternative”: meeting with former Presidents Obama and Clinton, Democratic leadership including Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and Sen. Chuck Schumer, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi “to seek their advice.”

Mr. Huffman said on a social media post that Mr. Biden “disagreed with the notion that we are on a losing trajectory.”

And while Mr. Biden expressed a “willingness to listen” to other voices, Huffman said he doubted any would be persuasive. “I continue to believe a major course correction is needed, and that the President and his team have yet to fully acknowledge the problem, much less correct it,” he said.

But now, several Democrats who requested anonymity were sceptical that there would be enough drive among lawmakers to successfully try to pressure Mr. Biden not to run, especially because they are scattered and away from Washington until next week and because Mr. Biden has said he won’t step aside and seized the opportunity to quickly respond to the shooting over the weekend. The people requested anonymity to characterize private conversations.

Asked by Mr. Holt if he has weathered the worst of it from his own party, Mr. Biden responded that 14 million Democratic voters selected him through the primaries and added, “I listen to them.” His mental acuity is “pretty damn good,” Mr. Biden added, but he said the question of his age was “legitimate” to ask.

Many in the Democratic Party had been looking to congressional leaders Jeffries and Schumer to voice concerns directly to the president. Mr. Jeffries met with Mr. Biden at the White House on July 11 night, while Mr. Schumer went to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on July 13 for his visit with Mr. Biden, which occurred just before the assassination attempt on Trump.

There were still deep concerns that Biden is not up to the job and a sense that pressure to try and find another candidate could ramp up again when lawmakers returned to Washington. Congressional Democrats were watching the Republican National Convention and Mr. Biden’s appearances this week with awareness that the dynamics could change — again.

Washington:

Donald Trump, the former US president and presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party, has attacked Vice President Kamala Harris, raising questions on her competence and describing her as an “insurance policy” for incumbent President Joe Biden.

His attack against Kamala Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, came amid chatter in the Democratic Party about whether President Biden should remain the nominee in the November 5 presidential election.

Joe Biden, 81, has faced calls from some Democrats to step aside as the nominee following his disastrous performance during a June 27 debate with Trump in which he struggled to complete sentences or land any significant blows against his opponent.

“Whatever else can be said about crooked Joe Biden, you have to give him credit for one brilliant decision, probably the smartest decision he ever made. He picked Kamala Harris as his vice president. No, it was brilliant. Because it was an insurance policy. Maybe the best insurance policy I’ve ever seen,” Donald Trump, 78, told his supporters in Florida.

“If Joe had picked someone even halfway competent, they would have bounced him from office years ago, but they can’t because she’s gotta be their second choice,” he said as he repeatedly mispronounced her name.

Trump said as vice president, Harris was given two very important tasks – border security and to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine.

“First, she was put in charge of the U.S. border security. She never showed up. She’s never gone. She never went there once. And the border is the worst border in the history of the world,” he alleged.

“We have the best border in history because she has the worst border in the history of the world. Then, she was sent to Europe to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine. How did that work out? Not too good. Both times, the result was a deadly failure. Since Kamala was made border czar, the Biden-Harris administration has lost track of an estimated 150,000 children, many of whom have undoubtedly been raped, trafficked, killed, or horribly abused,” Trump said.

Trump accused Harris, 59, of being a socialist.

“I don’t think Kamala Harris’ California socialism is going to go down well with the people of Doral, the people of Miami, or the people of Florida. Because in Florida, we don’t like socialism. We want our freedom, right? We want our freedom,” he said.

“Joe, Kamala and the entire Democrat establishment have been caught red-handed in the thick of the biggest scandal and the biggest coverup…it’s a cover-up. It’s the biggest cover-up in political history. As you know, they are all co-conspirators in the sinister plot to defraud the American public about the cognitive abilities of the man in the Oval Office,” alleged Trump.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Trump National Doral Miami, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Doral, Florida.
| Photo Credit: AP

Donald Trump, the former U.S. president and presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party, has attacked Vice President Kamala Harris, raising questions on her competence and describing her as an “insurance policy” for incumbent President Joe Biden.

His attack against Ms. Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, came amid chatter in the Democratic Party about whether President Biden should remain the nominee in the November 5 presidential election.

Mr. Biden, 81, has faced calls from some Democrats to step aside as the nominee following his disastrous performance during a June 27 debate with Mr. Trump in which he struggled to complete sentences or land any significant blows against his opponent.

“Whatever else can be said about crooked Joe Biden, you have to give him credit for one brilliant decision, probably the smartest decision he ever made. He picked Kamala Harris as his vice president. No, it was brilliant. Because it was an insurance policy. Maybe the best insurance policy I’ve ever seen,” Mr. Trump, 78, told his supporters in Florida.

“If Joe had picked someone even halfway competent, they would have bounced him from office years ago, but they can’t because she’s gotta be their second choice,” he said as he repeatedly mispronounced her name.

Mr. Trump said as Vice President, Ms. Harris was given two very important tasks – border security and to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine.

“First, she was put in charge of the U.S. border security. She never showed up. She’s never gone. She never went there once. And the border is the worst border in the history of the world,” he alleged.

“We have the best border in history because she has the worst border in the history of the world. Then, she was sent to Europe to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine. How did that work out? Not too good. Both times, the result was a deadly failure. Since Kamala was made border czar, the Biden-Harris administration has lost track of an estimated 150,000 children, many of whom have undoubtedly been raped, trafficked, killed, or horribly abused,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump accused Ms. Harris, 59, of being a socialist.

“I don’t think Kamala Harris’ California socialism is going to go down well with the people of Doral, the people of Miami, or the people of Florida. Because in Florida, we don’t like socialism. We want our freedom, right? We want our freedom,” he said.

“Joe, Kamala and the entire Democrat establishment have been caught red-handed in the thick of the biggest scandal and the biggest coverup…it’s a cover-up. It’s the biggest cover-up in political history. As you know, they are all co-conspirators in the sinister plot to defraud the American public about the cognitive abilities of the man in the Oval Office,” alleged Mr. Trump.

Washington:

Indian American Republican leader Nikki Haley on Tuesday released the several dozen delegates she had won during the party’s presidential primaries early this year for the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump.

The move by Haley comes ahead of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin wherein Trump would formally be nominated as the party’s presidential candidate for the November 5 general election.

“The nominating convention is a time for Republican unity. Joe Biden is not competent to serve a second term and Kamala Harris would be a disaster for America. We need a president who will hold our enemies to account, secure our border, cut our debt and get our economy back on track. I encourage my delegates to support Donald Trump next week in Milwaukee,” Haley said in a statement.

The nominating convention is a time for Republican unity. Joe Biden is not competent to serve a second term and Kamala Harris would be a disaster for America. We need a president who will hold our enemies to account, secure our border, cut our debt, and get our economy back on…

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) July 9, 2024

Haley had won 97 delegates, as against Biden’s 2,265. A candidate needs 1,215 delegates to win the GOP’s presidential nomination. She had suspended her campaign in March.

The former US ambassador to the United Nations and South Carolina governor is not attending the RNC.

“She was not invited and she is fine with that. Trump deserves the convention he wants. She has made it clear she is voting for him and wishes him the best,” Haley’s spokesperson Chaney Denton said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff recently tested positive for Covid-19, the latter’s office has announced.

In a statement on Sunday, Emhoff’s Communications Director Liza Acevedo said the Second Gentleman on Saturday tested positive for Covid-19 after experiencing mild symptoms.

“He is fully vaccinated and three times boosted,” she said, adding that the Second Gentleman is “currently asymptomatic, continuing to work remotely, and remaining away from others at home”.

“Out of an abundance of caution, yesterday (on Saturday), the Vice President was tested for Covid-19. She tested negative and remains asymptomatic,” Acevedo said.

Emhoff was photographed at the White House standing near Harris, President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden during the Independence Day celebration on Thursday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

U.S. President Joe Biden claps next to U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is engaged in a delicate balancing act, playing cheerleader for President Joe Biden while standing by as a leading contender to replace him if he ends his reelection bid.

Biden’s dismal performance in last week’s debate with Donald Trump has triggered panic in much of the Democratic Party as people question whether Biden is physically and mentally able to beat Trump and serve another four years.

Former congressman Tim Ryan, while professing his admiration for Biden, wrote in a piece for Newsweek that “the Democratic nominee in 2024 should be Kamala Harris.”

Harris herself has not said anything in public, except to express loyalty to her boss.

“Look, Joe Biden is our nominee,” she said in an interview with CBS News. “We beat Trump once, and we’re going to beat him again, period.”

She said she was proud to be on the current ticket with the president.

Minutes after the debate, Harris had rushed onto TV to defend Biden, saying he had started off slowly in the clash with Trump but finished strong.

The official schedule for Biden on Wednesday says he had lunch with Harris, which is not a regular event, though it was a weekly fixture for Biden when he was vice president under Barack Obama.

– One heartbeat –

Harris, 59, is the first woman, the first Black person and the first person of Asian origin — her mother was from India — to hold the job that puts her a heartbeat from the presidency, as Americans like to say.

Harris would become president if Biden died in office or became incapacitated.

But she would not necessarily replace Biden if he were to end his candidacy, and Biden has insisted he has no plans to do so.

“For three and half years there has always been this drumbeat that someone other than the VP should be the Democratic candidate,” said Ange-Marie Hancock, professor of political science at The Ohio State University.

Hancock said it was possible an “undercurrent of racism and sexism” was at work against Harris.

For years Harris has been less popular among Americans than other Democrats seen as possible candidates, such as California Governor Gavin Newsom or his Michigan counterpart Gretchen Whitmer.

US media have reported extensively on mistakes she made early in this administration, mainly on the diplomatic front, and on tension among her staffers.

But Hancock said things could turn in Harris’s favor, because she has spent time out visiting battleground states, in particular to promote abortion rights as it came under repeated fire from conservatives judges and governors.

Harris is sometimes criticized as disappointing as an orator. But she got a warm welcome recently when she made a tour of universities that was focused on schools with high numbers of minority students.

Polling

A CNN poll released Tuesday had Harris doing better than Biden against Trump, although not beating him.

This poll gave Harris 45 percent of voter intentions against 47 percent for Trump, while Biden scored 43 percent to 49 percent for the Republican former president in a race between the two men.

In the event Biden were to drop out, Harris, thanks to her name recognition, her ties to powerful people in the government and the prospect for brisk fundraising, would go into the Democratic convention next month in a position of strength.

But the Republicans are ready and waiting.

“Kamala Harris is very much on the GOP’s radar,” Hancock said, referring to Trump’s party.

The Trump campaign on Wednesday broadcast a video montage of Biden suffering falls and other embarrassing moments, and questioned whether he can serve another term.

It concludes with the question, “And you know who is waiting behind him, right?” and footage of Harris laughing.

Washington:

Two years after the US Supreme Court stripped constitutional protections for abortion, the explosive issue will feature prominently in Thursday’s debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump — with the Republican under pressure not to alienate voters.

On June 24, 2022, the high court — with a super-conservative majority built under Trump’s presidency — overturned the historic ruling in Roe v. Wade that had protected abortion rights, placing the issue in the hands of the states.

That same day, a handful of US states banned abortions, forcing clinics to close in haste or move to more welcoming places.

The nation, already politically polarized, is now split between the states that have banned or significantly restricted access to the procedure — and the states that have adopted new protections for a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.

The Supreme Court’s decision sent political shockwaves across the country, and had repercussions — since the ruling, conservatives have lost nearly every referendum or vote revolving around abortion access.

And some of those losses came in states that have recently shifted solidly to the right, such as Ohio, Alabama and Kansas.

Kamala Harris takes the baton 

Since Roe was overturned, “the abortion rights movement discovered that Americans care more about abortion rights than may have been anticipated,” said Mary Ziegler, a professor at the University of California, Davis law school.

“And so they are trying to capitalize on that in ballot initiative fights that have gone mostly the way of the abortion rights movement,” she told AFP.

Democrats are making the most of the moment, hoping to win some crucial support from women and young voters.

Biden, a practicing Catholic who was long vexed by the issue, has become a champion of abortion rights and made it a defining part of his re-election bid, winning the backing of several family planning organizations.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman in the job, has crisscrossed the country for months to mobilize her party faithful.

The 59-year-old Harris in March became the first vice president to visit a clinic performing abortions, in Minnesota.

On Monday, she will hold an event in Arizona — a state seen as a crucial battleground in the November presidential election, and one where the supreme court said a Civil War-era rule banning abortion was valid.

Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs later signed a repeal of the 1864 law.

Across the country, Democrats have also encouraged the organization of mini-referendums on abortion in key states, so that they will coincide with the presidential vote — and hopefully motivate unenthused voters to cast ballots.

Trump deliberately vague 

Democrats are right to be confident in their reasoning, if an avalanche of opinion polls are correct.

According to a Fox News poll published Wednesday, 47 percent of voters consider abortion to be “extremely important” in how they decide between Biden and Trump.

The presumptive Republican candidate, who often mentions that he nominated three Supreme Court justices who helped to overturn Roe v. Wade, has lately been decidedly vague on the issue of abortion.

“You must follow your heart on this issue but remember, you must also win elections,” Trump said in a video message in early April.

He has not campaigned on any promise to make abortion illegal with federal legislation, as the religious right has lobbied him to do.

“The best you can do if your position is unpopular is to not clarify your position,” Ziegler says.

Biden, whose approval rating is less than stellar, will almost certainly attack Trump on the issue when the two take the stage Thursday for their first debate in 2024.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

US Vice President Kamala Harris pledged America’s unwavering support for Ukraine and announced more than $1.5 billion in aid for the country’s energy sector and its humanitarian situation as a result of Russia’s 27-month invasion.

Kamala Harris made the announcement at the Ukraine peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. She is expected to address the summit’s plenary session at 5.30 pm CEST/11.30 am EST.

“This war remains an utter failure for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Kamala Harris said during a bilateral meeting with Zelenskiy. “It is in our interest to uphold international norms,” she added, pledging U.S. support for the country.

The $1.5 billion includes $500 million in new funding for energy assistance and the redirecting of $324 million in previously announced funds toward emergency energy infrastructure repair and other needs in Ukraine, the vice president’s office said.

“These efforts will help Ukraine respond to Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine energy infrastructure by supporting repair and recovery, improving Ukraine’s resilience to energy supply disruptions, and laying the groundwork to repair and expand Ukraine’s energy system,” Kamala Harris’ office said.

She also announced more than $379 million in humanitarian assistance from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to help refugees and other people impacted by the war.

The money is to cover food assistance, health services, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene services for millions of Ukrainians.

Kamala Harris, who will spend less than 24 hours at the gathering will be standing in for President Joe Biden at the event. The president will be just ending his participation at the G7 summit in Italy and returning to the United States to attend a fundraiser for his reelection campaign in Los Angeles.

Biden met with Zelenskiy both at the G7 summit, where they signed a U.S.-Ukraine bilateral security agreement, and in France for events surrounding the 80th anniversary of the World War Two D-Day invasion.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will represent the United States at the summit on Sunday and help establish working groups on returning Ukrainian children from Russia and on energy security.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

The number of Indian Americans in elected offices is not reflective of their growing population, US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday, urging the members of the minority ethnic community to run for elected offices increasingly.

Harris, who is of both Indian and African heritage, was speaking at “Desis Decide” — the annual summit of Indian American Impact, a democratic party think tank, that supports and funds Indian Americans running for elected offices across the country.

“Over the years, we’ve had so much more participation by Indian Americans in the electoral process running for office. But the numbers are still not reflective of the size of the growing population,” Harris, the first-ever Indian American, African American, and a woman to be elected as the vice president of the US told a packed room of Indian Americans in the national capital.

Currently, there are five elected Indian American members of the Congress — Dr Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal, and Shri Thanedar. Impact believed that in 2024, the Indian American strength in the Congress will increase to 10 members.

In a tightly contested presidential race, Impact said Indian American voters — the second largest immigrant community and fastest growing in many states — could be the decisive margin of victory in key races across the country.

The work being done by Impact, Harris said in her opening remarks, is extraordinary as she applauded the role of the think tank and its members in electing not only members of the community but also in electing Senators in states like Georgia.

“It really is extraordinary. I wanted to stop by to thank of course the organisation for everything and for all that it represents, but also to say especially to those who have run for office or aspire to run for office, that you must run,” Harris said.

“You must know that you are not alone. There is so much that we still have to do as a country and a lot of the work that we each do, which is why we are here together, is born out of a belief in the promise of America. And dare I say that, I am empirical evidence of the promise of America,” said the vice president.

“This election coming up in six months, I think is presenting a question to each of us. Which is, what kind of world do we want to live in and what kind of country do we want to live in? And one of the ways that we answer that question is to seek office and to participate in elections knowing that the outcome of those elections matter in fundamental ways,” Harris said as she asked the members of the audience to raise their hands if they were running for office or planning to do so.

“What will happen, invariably it’s happened to all of us, is you are going to find yourself invariably in rooms where you are the only one who looks like you, the only one who has had your life experience. What I then say to you each, look around this room and hold onto this image. And remember then when you walk into those rooms, when you walk into those situations, you remember, you are not alone. We are all there with you. You must remember that,” she said.

Speaking on the occasion, Impact co-founder and treasurer Deepak Raj said Harris was instrumental in its formation eight years ago.

“She has been an incredible guiding force for this organisation over the duration. She came to the first summit in 2018 and here she is again,” Raj said.

Raj said Harris is not only the first woman but the first South Asian Indian American woman, to be elected as the vice president of the US.

“She has been an incredible role model, I think for all of us. What she has done is she has paved the way for women, for immigrants and minorities and is a true hero and an inspiration for all of us,” he said.

“I think her success, what she has achieved, gives us the hope and the confidence that we have a bright future, all of us together fighting for public office and as a community,” Raj said.

As the vice president took the stage, some briefly chanted “Four more years.” However, one person yelled “Shame on you,” which appeared to be in reference to the war in Gaza, but it was not clear. The protester was soon removed from the room.

Harris also spoke about her mom coming to the US from India when she was 19 years old and marching for Civil Rights in Berkeley.

She said growing up, she would visit India every two years and her grandfather would take her on morning walks. “And I remember as a young girl… hearing them discuss the importance of standing for what is right and fairness,” she said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)