Record-breaking Zoom supporting Harris mobilizes white female voters

Over 160,000 attendees in a key demographic ‘answered the call’ on Thursday, with nearly $8.5m raised for Harris

Following the success of a virtual call to mobilize Black women voters for Kamala Harris, a similar event with more than 160,000 attendees was held on Thursday aimed at white women, and appeared to break records.

White women will be a key demographic for the Democrats to win over this election.

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Harris ‘erases’ Trump’s lead in new poll; Trump says VP’s comments about Israel-Gaza war ‘weren’t very nice’ – as it happened

This blog is now closed. You can read our full report on Kamala Harris closing the gap in polling here

Don Davis, a North Carolina Democratic representative, has issued a statement endorsing Kamala Harris, just a day after he broke party rank and joined House Republicans in condemning Harris’s border policies.

In a statement, Davis said:

Today, I announce my endorsement and support of Vice-President Kamala Harris for president. I also believe governor Roy Cooper, an eastern NC native, would be an excellent choice for vice-president. The stakes of this presidential election are incredibly high, with far reaching implications.

At the same time, the administration and Congress must address the concerns of the southern border. These issues cannot be overlooked …

Yesterday, the department of justice arrested Ismael Zambada Garcia (AKA ‘El Mayo’) and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, two of the most notorious leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the deadliest enterprises in the world.

They are being charged for leading the Cartel’s deadly drug manufacturing and trafficking networks. I commend the work of our law enforcement officials who made this arrest for their ongoing work to bring Sinaloa cartel leaders to justice.

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Israeli right wing hits out at Kamala Harris as Netanyahu visit polarises opinion

Amid anger at US vice-president’s call to end Gaza war, many families of hostages held by Hamas agree with her

Members of Israel’s rightwing government have hit back at Kamala Harris over her demands for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after she met Benjamin Netanyahu during his US visit.

After a brief meeting with the Israeli prime minister, which Harris described as “frank and constructive”, the US vice-president and presidential candidate said it was “time for this war to end, and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released, the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self-determination”.

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Israel and Hamas closer than ever to ceasefire deal, White House says

Netanyahu meets Biden to discuss end to nine-month war in Gaza and has separate meeting with Kamala Harris

White House officials said Israel and Hamas were “closer now than we’ve been before” to reaching a ceasefire deal as Benjamin Netanyahu met Joe Biden on Thursday to discuss an end to the nine-month conflict in Gaza.

The talks at the White House came amid unprecedented political turmoil in the US and domestic pressure on the Israeli prime minster to rescue the dozens of hostages still being held captive after Hamas’s 7 October attack. Netanyahu also met the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, who is likely to replace Biden as the Democratic candidate for November’s election.

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Bill Barr complicit in misleading voter fraud statement’s release – watchdog

Trump attorney general’s unusual actions ‘certainly not consistent’ with justice department policy, report finds

The former attorney general Bill Barr was personally involved in a decision to release an unusual and misleading justice department statement on the eve of the 2020 election suggesting there may have been voter fraud in Pennsylvania, according to a new inspector general’s report that was released on Thursday.

The 76-page report from the justice department’s Office of the Inspector General focused on the department’s handling of an investigation into nine military ballots that were found discarded in the trash in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. Barr briefed Trump on the ballot issue before it was public and the president subsequently disclosed it in a radio interview. David Freed, the US attorney overseeing the matter, also released a statement and letter detailing the investigation.

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Manhattan prosecutors dispute Trump claim that criminal conviction should be overturned – as it happened

This blog has now closed. You can read our full report on Kamala Harris’ meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu here

The Harris for President campaign has launched its first official video, less than a week after US President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the race.

The ad caps a week during which Harris also broke funding records and quickly clinched enough delegate support to become the presumptive nominee in an election that is now just over 100 days away.

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Biden’s address was a moving piece of political theatre and a rebuke of Trump

Biden called for generational change and buried his resentments, but not without a pointed comment about his qualifications

There was 6 January 2021, and a violent coup attempt by a president desperately trying to cling to power. Then there was 24 July 2024, and a president explaining why he was giving up the most powerful job in the world.

Joe Biden’s address on Wednesday night was a moving piece of political theatre, the start of a farewell tour by “a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings” who entered politics in 1972 and made it all the way to the Oval Office. For diehard Democrats it was a case of: if you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

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Read a transcript of Biden’s speech on dropping out of the presidential race

‘I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation,’ Biden said in a speech from the Oval Office

Joe Biden has explained his decision to drop out of the presidential race, saying it was the “best way to unite our nation”.

The US president’s remarks were broadcast from the Oval Office, his first televised appearance since announcing he would end his bid for re-election, and conveyed a reflective and hopeful message.

My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office. In this sacred space, I’m surrounded by portraits of extraordinary American presidents.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words that guide this nation. George Washington showed us presidents are not kings. Abraham Lincoln, who implored us to reject malice. Franklin Roosevelt, who inspired us to reject fear.

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House to form taskforce to investigate Trump assassination attempt

Bill passes 416-0 in favor of bipartisan group to look at security failings surrounding Pennsylvania rally shooting

The House voted on Wednesday to form a taskforce to investigate the security failures surrounding the assassination attempt against Donald Trump earlier this month.

The vote underscores the bipartisan outrage over the shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump came within inches of losing his life. One rally-goer was killed and two others severely injured. Lawmakers have responded quickly with hearings and widespread calls for accountability.

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Were Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims accurate in his speech to US Congress?

We factcheck the Israeli prime minister’s statements about letting aid trucks into Gaza, safeguarding civilians and negotiations with Hamas

Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress was filled with combative remarks, as well as claims about the war in Gaza, now almost in its tenth month.

Israel’s assault on the territory was triggered by the 7 October Hamas attacks on southern Israel, and has so far killed more than 39,000 people, with thousands more believed to be buried underneath the rubble.

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Rashida Tlaib holds up ‘war criminal’ sign during Netanyahu address

Sole Palestinian American in Congress protests as other progressives call for Israel arms embargo and Gaza ceasefire

Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit and address to a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday was met with a personal protest in the chamber by the sole Palestinian American member of Congress, while some lawmakers gave the Israeli prime minister a standing ovation, others stayed away, and demonstrations by thousands of protesters took place outside.

The Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib, a leading progressive Democrat and fiercely outspoken opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, held up a sign that said “war criminal” as Netanyahu was speaking. She also wore a Palestinian flag pin and a keffiyeh, the black and white scarf that has been linked with the Palestinian struggle for over half a century.

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Biden says ‘history is in your hands’ – as it happened

This blog is now closed. You can read our full story on Biden’s address at the link below:

Kevin McCarthy, the former Republican House speaker, has described attacks by his former colleagues on Kamala Harris claiming that she was hired as part of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are “stupid and dumb”.

McCarthy, speaking to NBC News’ Meet the Press NOW last night, said:

I disagree with DEI, but she is the vice-president of the United States, she is the former US senator. These congressmen saying it, they are wrong in their own instincts.

If President Biden is committed to passing the torch to his vice president, and wants to be able to seed her campaign with the current Biden for President campaign war chest, he’ll first have to become his party’s legal nominee. After shuffling through the Democratic National Committee’s planned roll call vote he’d be free to drop out. Ms Harris could seamlessly slip into the driver’s seat.

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Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff face online wave of sexist, racist attacks

Growing number of antisemitic, misogynistic posts reveal far right’s anxieties as Harris’s candidacy solidifies

As Donald Trump’s campaign shifts his focus to presumptive Democratic nominee, Vice-President Kamala Harris, the online ecosystem of the far right has responded in lockstep with racist insults, misogynistic tropes, antisemitic conspiracy theories and viral memes against her. Some of those attacks, common throughout her vice-presidency, are directly targeting her Jewish husband and second gentleman, Doug Emhoff.

After Joe Biden’s stunning decision to step down as the Democratic candidate in this year’s presidential election to then endorse Harris, Republicans as high ranking as Trump were quick to decry the switch as tantamount to a “coup” attempt – a dangerous allegation with no factual basis.

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‘Inexcusable’: should climate hypocrites get the petrostates label?

Suggestions definition of petrostate is too narrow as many rich countries that could phase out fossil fuels double down

“Drill, baby, drill!” Donald Trump’s ominous avowal to pump up the oil and gas production of the US has horrified many people around the world about the intentions of the Republican candidate, who has also declared he wants to be “dictator for a day”. Rather than the prospective leader of the free world, the election frontrunner sounds more like the tyrant of a petrostate.

That should not be entirely surprising given the country’s recent record: it has ramped up fossil fuel production to become the world’s biggest producer. As a Guardian investigation reveals, the total number of projected licences by the US for 2024 could lead to an estimated 397m tonnes of planet-heating emissions.

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Bernie Sanders condemns speech to Congress by ‘war criminal’ Netanyahu

Independent senator says in floor speech invitation to Israeli PM, due to give address on Wednesday, is ‘disgrace’

The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has condemned Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming address to the US Congress, calling him a “war criminal” presiding over a “rightwing extremist government”.

Sanders delivered his remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday as Congress expects Netanyahu to give a speech to Congress on Wednesday afternoon. The speech comes after an underwhelming arrival to the US, just after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from November’s elections.

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Secret Service urging Trump to stop outdoor rallies after shooting – report

Move comes as director Kimberly Cheatle resigns after congressional grilling over assassination attempt

Secret Service officials are reported to be encouraging Donald Trump’s campaign to stop holding outdoor rallies in the wake of the 13 July assassination attempt on the former president at a fairground in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The move, reported by the Washington Post, comes as Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on Tuesday following a combative grilling before a congressional committee by both Democrats and Republicans over apparent security failures before an attempt on Trump’s life by a 20-year-old gunman.

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Trump team makes formal complaint about Biden-Harris campaign funds; Sanders denounces Netanyahu visit – live

Ex-president’s campaign claims money going to Harris is ‘$91.5m heist’; senator makes impassioned speech on eve of Israeli leader’s visit

Harris will not preside over the chamber when when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday.

According to an aide, she will meet with Netanyahu at the White House at some point this week. On Wednesday, Harris is scheduled to be in Indianapolis to moderate a conversation with the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, Inc, one of the nation’s oldest Black sororities.

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Kamala Harris earns enough delegate support to become Democratic nominee

Support of California delegation puts vice-president over threshold needed when party meets at Chicago convention

More Democrats come out for Harris – live

Kamala Harris has said she is looking forward to “formally accepting the [presidential] nomination” of the Democratic party after she earned enough support from delegates including hundreds from her native California.

“When I announced my campaign for President, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination,” she said in a statement late Monday.

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‘The baton is in our hands’: Harris closes in on nomination as Biden voices support

Vice-president receives backing from top figures and rakes in $81m in 24 hours, before giving rousing speech to staff

Kamala Harris was closing in on the Democratic party’s presidential nomination on Monday after the former House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, joined a slew of Democratic heavyweights endorsing her run for the White House – and the vice-president gave a rousing evening speech to campaign staff, with Joe Biden calling in by phone to support her.

Speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, Harris acknowledged the “rollercoaster” of the last several weeks, but expressed confidence in her new campaign team.

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‘A wise investment’: Trump’s $6,000 gift to Kamala Harris comes back to bite him

Records show Donald and Ivanka Trump made donations to vice-president’s California attorney general re-election bid

Donald Trump has moved swiftly to turn his attack machine on to the vice-president in the wake of Joe Biden dropping out of the presidential race, dusting off his derisive nickname for her: “Laffin’ Kamala Harris”.

But as the Republican nominee refocuses his campaign to target Harris, there is one awkward truth that Trump will have to face. What about that check for $5,000 dated 26 September 2011, bearing Trump’s distinctive signature, and made payable to one “Attorney General Kamala D Harris”?

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