Key endorsements pour in for Kamala Harris as VP selection nears

Vice President Kamala Harris will face increased scrutiny in the months ahead after becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee on Sunday -- with conservative critics already zeroing in on past comments she has made about immigration and the border crisis.

Harris’s most high-profile role on immigration came when she was tasked by President Biden in 2021 with leading the diplomatic outreach to tackle the "root causes" of migration in the Northern Triangle countries. It led to her being dubbed the "border czar" by Republicans, although the White House has rejected that description.

Harris would visit Mexico and Guatemala in 2021 as part of that assignment, and she also paid a visit to the southern border in El Paso, Texas. A project to rally private-sector investment in the region via a call to action has seen more than $5.2 billion committed since May 2021 from over 50 companies and organizations. The number of encounters from those three countries has since fallen from over 700,000 in FY 21 to over 330,000 this fiscal year so far, although it is not clear to what extent it is connected to her efforts.

However, with the crisis at the border still an ongoing issue, Republicans and conservatives have already resurfaced Harris’ broader stances on immigration outside of her role as vice president. The Republican National Committee, within an hour of Biden stepping aside, posted a clip of Harris talking in 2018 about considering abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

"I think there’s no question that we’ve got to critically re-examine ICE and its role and the way that it is being administered and the work it is doing," she told MSNBC. "And we need to probably think about starting from scratch."

Operatives at the very highest levels of the Democratic Party threatened Joe Biden with forcibly removing him from office unless he stepped down, sources told The Post.

The well-orchestrated "palace coup" to stop the faltering president seeking re-election has been in place for weeks, but stubborn Biden fought against it every step of the way, a source close to the Biden family told The Post Monday.

The insider also made clear the anger, paranoia and frustration Biden displayed as the party elite circled around him and piled on the pressure.

Part of the "elaborate" strategy to remove Biden from the race – as he announced in a shock letter posted on X Sunday – was allowing him to debate Republican candidate Donald Trump last month on live TV in Atlanta.

During the car crash 90-minute debate, Biden appeared confused, slack-jawed and at one point he froze up, with his shocking performance turning the tide against him.

"That debate was a set-up to convince Democrats that he couldn’t run for president," the source said Monday.

As calls for him to bow out mounted, Biden insisted he would continue, but party bigwigs threatened to invoke the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution.

The amendment allows for the vice president and members of the cabinet to declare he is unfit to serve and force him to step down, the source added.

This is an excerpt from an article by the New York Post

Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off her presidential campaign on Monday with what some members of the media hailed as a speech that left them with "chills," "blown away" and arguing over who jumped out of their seat higher.

Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate on Sunday after President Biden announced via X that he would be dropping out of the race and endorsing her. On Monday, she gave her first campaign speech at what will now be her election headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware.

Harris spoke about her relationship with Biden, who called into the headquarters and publicly spoke, and focused on attacking former President Trump.

"In those [past] roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say: I know Donald Trump's type," she said.

The speech, after weeks of internal fighting dividing the Democratic Party, was hailed by left-leaning media pundits as the perfect reintroduction of Harris to the country.

"There was a twinkle in her eye. There was a kick in her step that, you know, when you’re vice president…you’re not loose. There’s somebody above you, somebody you don’t want to overshadow them. And this was quite the coming out. I got chills when she said, ‘Donald Trump: I know your type.’ That was like, ‘Wow, she’s going to prosecute this case,’" MSNBC pundit Donny Deutsch said.

He continued, "And I was blown away. I was, like, I kind of fell in love with her. I thought she was smart, engaging. She’s funny, feisty, twinkle in your eye, punch you in the gut. I mean, everything you kind of want. And I just thought it was a great, great opening act."

"Bear with me, I’m jumping out of my seat over here watching this. People have been thirsting for this," "The Bulwark" podcast host Tim Miller exclaimed.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Lindsay Kornick

Vice President Harris will not say whether she is confident President Biden is currently capable of serving as commander in chief amid calls by lawmakers to invoke the 25th Amendment.

Biden withdrew  from the presidential race on Sunday after his performance at the first presidential debate sparked concerns over his fitness and mental competency. After the sudden announcement, several lawmakers began to question the president's ability to serve the remainder of his term if he is not able to seek re-election. 

After the announcement, Harris was quickly positioned as the Democrat replacement for Biden on the 2024 ticket, but some lawmakers – including Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. – don't want to wait until January for Biden to leave office.

Fox News Digital asked Harris whether she believes Biden is able to serve as president but did not receive a response despite several attempts to reach her office.

Biden has not made any public appearances since testing positive for COVID-19 last week and suddenly ending his re-election campaign just days later via a written statement. Fox News Digital also asked if the vice president knew where Biden has been the past several days and if they were in contact but did not receive a response by press time.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., sent a letter to Harris on Monday stating that Biden is unfit to serve and demanding she invoke the 25th Amendment.

"Joe Biden has decided he isn’t capable of being a candidate; in so doing his admission also means he cannot serve as President," Schmitt wrote. "Therefore, it is in the best immediate interest of the safety of the United States for Joe Biden to resign from office or face removal under the 25th Amendment." 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Aubry Spadie

Vice President Kamala Harris will not preside over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress this week, a major snub to the U.S. ally.

Harris' actions in Washington have taken on new importance since President Biden withdrew from the race and endorsed her on Sunday. While she is expected to meet with Netanyahu separately during his visit, she will not assume the traditional role of overseeing a joint session of Congress, according to NBC News.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., will instead preside over the event, the outlet reported.

Harris' staff has affirmed her support for Israel, but she may be more willing to criticize the longtime U.S. ally than Biden has.

Biden vowed on Monday that he would bring an end to the Gaza war and bring home American hostages being held by Hamas by the end of his term

Kamala Harris' policies as San Francisco District Attorney and California Attorney General could come back to haunt her as the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for president, experts say.

"She’s one of these people who’ve talked out of both sides of her mouth, and she's going to have trouble with both the left and the right with the stances she’s taken over the years," Los Angeles-based criminal defense lawyer Nicole Castronovo told Fox News Digital.

Critics of potential presidential nominee Harris are calling attention to her backing of a controversial 2014 California law that some blame for unleashing rampant crime across the state.

As California's then attorney general, Harris and her office were responsible for writing up a summary of Proposition 47 to inform voters of its contents and intent.

Dubbed the "Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act," the legislation lessened penalties for a variety of crimes – including making the theft of items with a total value of less than $950 a misdemeanor.

That provision, critics assert, handed thieves a de facto carte blanche to plunder beleaguered retail outlets with near impunity.

"They changed sentencing to free criminals who should have been incarcerated and titled it with a misleading name," Castronovo noted. "But it actually made communities less safe."

Other crimes that were once felonies – including forgery, fraud, drug use, and the receiving of stolen goods valued under $950 – were also reclassified as misdemeanors.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Rebecca Rosenberg

Vice President Kamala Harris will hold a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, the first rally since launching her bid for the presidency.

Harris announced her presidential campaign Sunday night, shortly after President Biden announced he was suspending his re-election effort. The president subsequently endorsed Harris.

On Monday, Harris secured enough delegates for the Democratic Party's nomination for president, although the Democratic National Convention formally selecting the party's nominee will not be held until next month in Chicago.

The rally in Milwaukee will be Harris' ninth visit to Wisconsin since she was sworn in as vice president in 2021 and her fifth visit to the state so far this year, according to her campaign.

"We're proud to welcome Vice President Harris to Wisconsin, a state she once called home, where she will rally excited supporters after announcing her presidential campaign," the Harris campaign's Wisconsin Communications Director Brianna Johnson said in a press release.

Every major Democratic elected leader in Wisconsin has endorsed Harris' presidential campaign, according to her campaign. This includes Gov. Tony Evers and every Democratic statewide elected official, Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Reps. Gwen Moore and Mark Pocan, both state legislative Democratic leaders, the mayors of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay and other cities across the state, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and more than 90% of Wisconsin delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Democrats established a coordinated campaign in Wisconsin to support Harris' White House bid, according to Johnson. There are 48 coordinated offices across 43 counties throughout the state with about 160 full-time staffers on the ground who have already started knocking on doors, making phone calls and contacting their friends and neighbors urging them to vote for Harris and Democrats in November.

"We'll continue to build on this success with events in every corner of the state this week, harnessing the grassroots energy for Kamala Harris that we'll see on display in Milwaukee tomorrow," Johnson said.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Landon Mion

President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.

Although the White House press office told Fox News Digital on Monday that "health was not a factor" in the president's decision to withdraw, multiple doctors expressed concern about signs of cognitive decline after Biden’s widely criticized performance in the June 27 presidential debate.

Two medical experts told Fox News Digital their belief that Biden’s decision to step down is best for the president’s health.

Biden, however, isn’t the only president whose re-election was potentially thwarted by health issues or concerns. Here are five others.

1. Chester A. Arthur

After he was elected America’s 21st president in 1881, Chester Arthur experienced health complications due to malaria, which remained endemic in Washington, D.C., throughout the 19th century, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In 1882, Arthur continued to suffer from progressive fatigue, extreme weight loss and peripheral edema, the NIH reported.

After a closer health inspection, Arthur was diagnosed with Bright’s Disease, today known as chronic kidney disease.

2. Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt took over as commander-in-chief at nearly 43 years old in 1901 following the assassination of President William McKinley, according to the White House Historical Association. 

Roosevelt was then re-elected in 1904.

After William Howard Taft’s term, which began in 1909, Roosevelt decided to re-join the race in 1912, creating his own "Bull Moose" party.

While campaigning on Oct. 14, 1912, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot during an assassination attempt outside the Gilpatrick Hotel.

The bullet punctured the president's right chest, but did not damage his lungs. It was left lodged inside his ribs — which was deemed safer than operating.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Angelica Stabile

Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign has requested vetting materials from potential running mates for her White House run.

The potential Democrat vice presidential candidates include North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who has been rumored as a potential vice presidential candidate, told CNN he has not yet been asked to submit materials.

On Monday, Harris secured the delegates needed for the Democratic Party's nomination for president.

By Monday night, Harris secured the support of at least 2,579 delegates, according to a survey of delegates by The Associated Press , surpassing the 1,976 delegates she needs to win the nomination on a first ballot.

This comes after President Biden announced Sunday afternoon that he is suspending his re-election campaign.