Vice President Kamala Harris flew to her first battleground state Wisconsin after locking up enough support from Democratic delegates to earn the party’s nomination. Democratic leaders Charles Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Harris on Tuesday, capping off their party’s swift embrace of her 2024 candidacy.
Meanwhile, Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service stepped down from her job following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
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Here’s the Latest:
Trump says he still wants to debate Harris but isn’t ‘thrilled at ABC’
Former President Donald Trump said he’d like to debate Vice President Kamala Harris “more than once” but did not commit to appearing at the next scheduled debate in September on ABC.
On a Tuesday afternoon press call about Harris’ immigration record, Trump said he was “not thrilled at ABC” and may want another network to air the debate. He said he’d only agreed to debate President Joe Biden twice — during the June 27 debate that led to Biden bowing out of the race and then in September — not Harris.
But Trump said he still wants to debate Harris.
“I think debating’s important for a presidential race,” he said. “You sort of have an obligation to debate.”
Harris acknowledges generational change her candidacy represents
“We have to remember that the shoulders on which we stand, generations of Americans before us, led the fight for freedom,” she said. “And now, Wisconsin, the baton is in our hands.”
“We believe in the sacred freedom to vote,” she said.
“We believe that every person in our nation should have the freedom to live safe from the terror of gun violence,” she added, “and in reproductive freedom.”
The latter is an especially sharp point for Harris, who had been traveling speaking on behalf of reproductive freedom before Biden announced he would not seek reelection.
She pledged to “stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion position because we trust women to make decisions about their own bodies.”
‘When our middle class is strong, America is strong,’ Harris says
Harris is not just beginning her campaign. She is beginning to form a campaign message, one with a middle-class theme not unlike the Biden administration’s.
“We believe in a future where every person has the opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead, a future where no child has to grow up in poverty, where every worker has the freedom to join a union,” she said Tuesday.
“So, all of this is to say building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency,” she said. “Because here’s one thing. We all here, Wisconsin, know when our middle class is strong, America is strong.”
Harris: ‘The path to the White House goes through Wisconsin’
Vice President Kamala Harris is beginning her campaign for president with a rally in West Allis outside of Milwaukee.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone. Good afternoon Wisconsin. It is good to be back,” Harris said on Tuesday — her first words from the campaign trail, in a state decided by only about 10,000 votes in 2020.
To chants of “Kamala, Kamala, Kamala!” Harris thanked statewide elected Democrats, Gov. Tony Evers and Tammy Baldwin.
“I had the privilege of serving with Tammy when I was in the United States Senate. And I know that the folks that are here are going to make sure you return her to Washington, D.C., in November,” she said.
“The path to the White House goes through Wisconsin,” she said.
Alaska Rep. says she would ‘love it’ if Harris chose a ‘pro-choice Republican’ as her running mate
Alaska U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat who became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress in 2022, said Tuesday that she’s keeping an “open mind” when it comes to the presidential race.
Peltola said while she appreciates Vice President Kamala Harris’ position on issues like reproductive rights, voting rights, and Social Security, her job is to look at the economy and issues affecting Alaska and to see which of the two candidates would be better.
She said another factor will be who Harris’ running mate might be.
“I would love it if she chose a pro-choice Republican so we could get away from some of the inflammatory partisanship that we’ve seen,” she told reporters during a Zoom call.
Pennsylvania governor: Cheatle’s resignation was ‘right thing to do’
Asked about Cheatle’s resignation Tuesday at an unrelated news conference in Pennsylvania, Gov. Josh Shapiro said it was the “right thing to do.”
“What happened in Butler was an absolute failure and there needs to be answers as to what went wrong. And I think her resignation is an important step in that process,” Shapiro said.
Trump says Netanyahu will visit him in Florida
Trump says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit him at his Florida estate on Friday.
Trump made the announcement in a post on his social media network in which he said, “my PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH Agenda will demonstrate to the World that these horrible, deadly Wars, and violent Conflicts must end. Millions are dying, and Kamala Harris is in no way capable of stopping it.”
Trump originally posted that Netanyahu would visit earlier in the week, but posted an update saying that Netanyahu had requested to change the meeting day from Thursday to Friday.
Trump has spoken to other foreign leaders recently, including two visits at his home from Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán over the past few months.
Trump also had a phone call last week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Biden tests negative for COVID-19
President Joe Biden is now free of COVID-19.
The White House released a letter from his personal physician, Kevin O’Connor, on Tuesday noting that Biden was testing negative for the virus and that his symptoms have resolved.
Biden, who has been convalescing at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, is returning to Washington later Tuesday.
Democratic leadership endorse Harris for presidential nomination
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Schumer said in a news conference with Jeffries on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s “selfless decision” not to run “has given the Democratic Party the opportunity to unite behind a new nominee.”
He said the leaders waited to endorse her until she had secured the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Republican Donald Trump.
Biden said Sunday that he would not run.
Schumer said he spoke to Harris on Sunday and she wanted to win the nomination “on her own.” Jeffries added that Harris is “ready, willing, and able to lead us into the future.”
Senators to introduce legislation requiring Senate confirmation of future Secret Service directors
U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., are introducing legislation on Tuesday to require Senate confirmation of future Secret Service directors.
The legislation comes 10 days after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally.
Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said Tuesday she is resigning.
Secret Service directors are currently appointed by the president. The senators said that making it a Senate-confirmed position would ensure that the individual is qualified to serve and force more oversight and transparency of the embattled agency. The senators called for immediate passage of the bill.
“President Trump’s brush with death was a Secret Service failure of epic proportions, and this mission failure must never be repeated,” Grassley said.
Secret Service’s deputy director appointed as acting director, Homeland Security secretary says
Secret Service Deputy Director Ronald Rowe has been appointed acting director of the agency, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
Rowe is a 24-year veteran of the Secret Service and has served as deputy director since April 2023.
“I appreciate his willingness to lead the Secret Service at this incredibly challenging moment, as the agency works to get to the bottom of exactly what happened on July 13 and cooperate with ongoing investigations and Congressional oversight,” Mayorkas said in a statement Tuesday.
Mayorkas said he has the “utmost confidence in Deputy Director Rowe and the men and women of the Secret Service, who put their lives on the line every day and deserve our full support.”
The second gentleman’s visit to an abortion clinic
At a northern Virginia abortion clinic, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, made his first appearance since his wife became heir apparent for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
Emhoff toured the facility, talked with doctors, and then sat down with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to share his thoughts with a gaggle of news reporters.
It was also Emhoff’s first visit to an abortion clinic.
He called the doctor’s challenges to open her clinic “really disturbing,” and shook his head at stories of patients, who have struggled to get abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to one.
“It was important for me to be here today,” Emhoff said, calling the landscape since the Supreme Court ruling “horrific.”
North Carolina governor: Harris’ running mate should have a ‘vision for America’
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters in Winston-Salem that he wants Vice President Kamala Harris to have “the very best person” as her running mate and will “respect her process” in choosing someone for that position. He declined further comment on his own prospects of becoming her running mate, including whether he has submitted vetting materials to the campaign.
“I appreciate people thinking of me that way, but like I say, this is the time for us to be supporting Kamala Harris, putting her in the spotlight,” Cooper said Tuesday.
Whoever becomes Harris’ running mate should have a “vision for America,” he said.
“I think there are a long list of Democrats who could do an amazing job in that position with her,” Cooper said. “The thing is, she has extraordinary people to pick from and I trust that she’s going to make the right decision — not only for her but for the Democratic Party and the country.”
White House press secretary says calls for Biden to leave the presidency are ‘ridiculous’
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is dismissing Republican suggestions that President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race suggests that he’s no longer capable of finishing his term in the White House.
“I think that’s ridiculous. Seriously,” Jean-Pierre said Tuesday on ABC’s “The View.” “The president decided to not run for reelection. That’s it. That’s all he decided on. He wants to continue to do the work.”
She said the administration will “run through the finish line” and the end of Biden’s presidency in January.
Jean-Pierre argued that Biden’s leaving the race was him putting the country ahead of himself, saying, “This president was a public servant for 54 years.”
She quickly added, “We’re not done yet. He stepped down from being the nominee, but he’s still the president.”
New volunteers give Democrats a boost of optimism
After weeks of being downcast about the November election, Democrats in Congress have come back with a renewed sense of optimism as Vice President Kamala Harris has entered the presidential race.
They are especially encouraged by the boost in new volunteers.
Democrats hope that having Harris at the top of the ticket will give them a better chance of retaking a majority in the House and even potentially holding on to the Senate.
U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and one of the first Democrats to endorse Harris, said the turnout of tens of thousands of new volunteers would help turn the dynamics of the race.
“That is the juice behind the campaign,” Jayapal said. “That is the organizing. That is the door-knocking. That’s going to get people to care about the election and be able to see themselves in it.”
Biden will address the nation Wednesday on his decision to drop 2024 reelection bid
President Joe Biden will address the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening on his decision to drop his 2024 Democratic reelection bid.
Biden posted on the social platform X that he would speak “on what lies ahead” and how he will “finish the job for the American people.” He will speak at 8 p.m. ET.
The president is scheduled to return to the White House on Tuesday after isolating at his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home after being diagnosed last week with COVID-19.
Biden to appoint a new Secret Service director following Cheatle’s resignation
President Joe Biden says he’s grateful for Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle’s decades of public service and says he will soon appoint a new leader for the agency.
In a statement shortly after Cheatle announced her resignation over the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Biden said Cheatle “selflessly dedicated and risked her life to protect our nation” and said he wishes her “all the best.”
“The independent review to get to the bottom of what happened on July 13 continues, and I look forward to assessing its conclusions,” Biden said. “We all know what happened that day can never happen again.”
House Speaker calls Cheatle’s resignation ‘overdue’
House Speaker Mike Johnson says the resignation of Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was “overdue” and that it should have happened at least a week ago.
News of Cheatle’s resignation happened just as Johnson and Republican leaders were wrapping up their weekly press conference Tuesday morning.
“I’m happy to see that,” Johnson said. “I’m happy to see she has heeded the call of both Republicans and Democrats. Now we have to pick up the pieces. We have to rebuild the American people’s faith and trust in the Secret Service as an agency.”
Earlier Tuesday, Johnson and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries announced the formation of a bipartisan task force to investigate the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and the security failures that led up to it.
Trump: ‘I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy’ after the administration ‘did not properly protect me’
Minutes after news of Cheatle’s resignation broke, Trump posted a statement on his social media network saying: “The Biden/Harris Administration did not properly protect me, and I was forced to take a bullet for Democracy. IT WAS MY GREAT HONOR TO DO SO!”
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Cheatle’s resignation. It was not clear if Trump’s post in reaction to the news about the Secret Service director’s resignation.
Secret Service director resigns
The director of the Secret Service is stepping down from her job following the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump that unleashed intensifying outcry about how the agency tasked with protecting current and former presidents could fail in its core mission.
Kimberly Cheatle had served as Secret Service director since August 2022.
Cheatle announced her departure in an email she sent to staff. Cheatle had been facing growing calls to resign and several investigations into how the shooter was able to get so close to the Republican presidential nominee at an outdoor campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
House Republicans pivot to Harris and her work on immigration
House Republicans are quickly pivoting their focus from President Joe Biden to his possible successor, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her work on the issue of immigration.
Rules Committee Chair Michael Burgess, R-Texas, said his panel
