Vice President Kamala Harris, grappling with how to keep early 2024 Presidential election momentum alive, has begun a crucial week that includes her most critical decision yet: choosing a running mate.
While Harris had quickly to become the Democratic nominee, delegates still had to participate in a 鈥渧irtual roll call鈥 to solidify her nomination.
Harris was the only candidate eligible to receive votes after qualified by a deadline last week. She officially claimed the nomination when the DNC released final results.
Follow the AP鈥檚 Election-2024 coverage at: .
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Harris formally secures the Democratic presidential nomination
Vice President Kamala Harris formally secured the Democratic presidential nomination late Monday 鈥 becoming the first woman of color to lead a major party ticket.
Harris鈥 nomination became official after a five-day round of online balloting by Democratic 好色tv Convention delegates ended Monday night, with the party saying in a statement released just before midnight that 99% of delegates casting ballots had done so for Harris. It said it would next formally certify the vote before holding a celebratory roll call at the party鈥檚 convention later this month in Chicago.
Harris鈥 coronation as her party鈥檚 standard-bearer caps a tumultuous and frenetic period for Democrats prompted by President Joe Biden鈥檚 .
As soon as Biden abruptly , Harris and her team worked rapidly to secure backing from the 1,976 party delegates needed to clinch the nomination in a formal roll call vote. She reached that marker at warp speed, with an Associated Press nationwide showing she locked down the necessary commitments a mere 32 hours after Biden鈥檚 announcement.
Democratic strategist says Walz is 鈥榝ired up鈥
A Minnesota Democratic strategist who attended a fundraiser in Minneapolis Monday described both Gov. Tim Walz and the audience of more than 300 as 鈥渇ired up.鈥
鈥淗e had an energy, a vigor, an intensity in some of his remarks that really signaled, whether he鈥檚 on the ticket or not, he鈥檚 going to be deployed as an instrumental asset,鈥 Abu Amara said by phone after the event.
鈥淎nd it was an energetic room,鈥 Amara said, noting some attending wore shirts emblazoned with 鈥淲alz for VP.鈥
Walz is on Vice President Kamala Harris鈥 shortlist of potential running mates.
鈥淧eople connect on an instinctive level with him. That鈥檚 part of why he鈥檚 been so effective,鈥 he said.
Gov. Tim Walz extols 鈥榩olitics of joy鈥 at Harris campaign event
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke before an energetic crowd Monday at a fundraiser in downtown Minneapolis. He didn鈥檛 drop any hints about Vice President Kamala Harris鈥 shortlist of potential running mates, but the governor touted a 鈥減olitics of joy鈥 that he hopes to spread on the campaign trail in support of her.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to run this campaign against the serious threat that鈥檚 there, but we have to do it every single day with a sense of joy,鈥 Walz said. He also criticized Trump and Republicans who want to regulate what books children read and undermine abortion rights. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 a slur to call these guys weird,鈥 Walz said. 鈥淚t was an observation.鈥
Walz was joined at the fundraiser by Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, who praised his 鈥渉umble beginnings鈥 as a geography teacher and his background representing a rural district in Congress. 鈥淭im has been in the news because the country and the world is seeing the guy we love so much,鈥 Klobuchar said.
Ken Martin, Chairman of the Minnesota-Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, said young people he鈥檚 spoken to on the campaign trail are 鈥淲alz pilled.鈥
And he鈥檚 cashed in on political domain names before
In 2011, five years before former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton selected Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine to be her running mate, then Jeremy Peter Green 鈥 he took his wife鈥檚 last name 鈥 purchased . He later offered the domain to the campaign for a hefty return, but they declined, so he sold it for $15,000 to a digital marketing company that turned out to be the Trump campaign. The website pushed anti-Clinton news with 鈥淧aid for by Donald J. Trump for President, Inc鈥 emblazoned at the bottom.
Eche says that he has not connected with the Harris campaign, but notes that Walz is his favorite of Harris鈥 potential VP picks.
Eche鈥檚 Walz website is now simply a blank chartreuse with the governor鈥檚 name in lower-case black letters (his wife鈥檚 idea), a callback to the artist .
Despite being a supporter and what happened to his Clinton site, Eche has no pause in selling his latest site back to the Harris campaign.
鈥淭he Harris campaign has hundreds of millions of dollars, so if they don鈥檛 buy their own domain, that is kind of on them,鈥 he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e got to sell it to somebody. I know I could just donate it, but that is not really how this works. People with billboards aren鈥檛 donating their billboards to the campaign. It is just a property basically.鈥
The cyber squatter who owns the website
In 2020, Jeremy Green Eche took a chance and purchased the website for $8.99 when the would-be vice president was in the midst of a primary campaign for president.
鈥淚 just tried to grab her name and all the heartland governors I could think of,鈥 he recalled in an interview with The Associated Press. Four years later, if Harris selects Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate, Eche would be willing to sell it 鈥 and a slate of over a dozen other Harris website domains 鈥 for $15,000.
Eche is a 36-year-old trademark lawyer in Brooklyn, New York, and a cyber squatter, someone who buys a domain with someone else鈥檚 name or brand in it for very little money, hoping to sell it back to that person or brand for a large profit down the line. It is also called domain investing.
Eche owns at least 15 websites tied to Harris and her selection of a possible running mate. In addition to Walz, he also owns , a nod to Illinois governor JB Pritzker; , for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers; , for Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman; , for Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock; and several others.
Secretaries of state urge Elon Musk to fix AI chatbot spreading election misinformation on X
Five secretaries of state are urging Elon Musk to fix an AI chatbot on the social media platform X, saying in that it has spread .
The top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington told Musk that X鈥檚 chatbot, Grok, about state ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.
While Grok is only available to subscribers to the premium versions of X, the misinformation was shared across multiple social media platforms and reached millions of people, according to the letter. The bogus ballot deadline information from the chatbot also referenced Alabama, Indiana, Ohio and Texas, although their secretaries of state did not sign the letter. Grok continued to repeat the false information for 10 days before it was corrected, the secretaries said.
The letter urged X to immediately fix the chatbot 鈥渢o ensure voters have accurate information in this critical election year.鈥 That would include directing Grok to send users to , a voting information website run by the 好色tv Association of Secretaries of State, when asked about U.S. elections.
Who heads up Project 2025?
A chief architect of 鈥 the controversial conservative blueprint to remake the federal government 鈥 Russell Vought is likely to be appointed to a high-ranking post in a second administration. And he鈥檚 been drafting a so-far secret 鈥180-Day Transition Playbook鈥 to speed the plan鈥檚 implementation to avoid a repeat of the chaotic start that dogged Trump鈥檚 first term.
Among the small cadre of Trump advisers who has a mechanic鈥檚 understanding of how Washington operates, Vought has advised influential conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, held a top post in the Trump White House and later established his own pro-Trump think tank. Now, he鈥檚 being mentioned as a candidate to be Trump鈥檚 White House chief of staff, one of the most powerful positions in government.
Led by the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is a for governing under the next Republican administration. A whirlwind of hard-right ambitions, its proposals range from to reversing the Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 approval of medications used in abortions.
Trump revives false claim about 好色tv PM Justin Trudeau鈥檚 parentage
In a conversation with streamer and influencer Adin Ross, former President Trump brought up an old, false theory that former Cuban President Fidel Castro is the father of 好色tv Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
鈥淭hey say he鈥檚 the son of Fidel Castro and could be. Anything is possible in this world,鈥 he said, before saying that Trudeau has become more progressive and that a conservative candidate would be able to defeat him.
The 好色tv government has denied this story in the past. Trudeau鈥檚 parents never visited Cuba until several years after Trudeau was born.
The comment may come across as an insult of a critical national ally. Relations between the U.S. and Canada faced moments of tension during the Trump administration after the former president suggested new tariffs against Canada and he and top aides assailed Trudeau as a 鈥渨eak鈥 and 鈥渄ishonest.鈥
Former Republican governor of New Jersey endorses Harris
Former Republican governor of New Jersey and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Christine Todd Whitman was among a handful of Republicans who backed Vice President Kamala Harris鈥 bid for the White House.
Whitman, who was the first woman elected governor of New Jersey, has been a prominent critic of Donald Trump.
鈥淚 was a proud Republican, but Donald Trump is unfit to lead our nation,鈥 she said in a statement. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to move forward by electing Vice President Kamala Harris.鈥
Whitman has roots in the same county in New Jersey where Trump鈥檚 Bedminster golf club is located. Whitman endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 over Trump as well.
Harris postponing Georgia trip as Tropical Storm Debby moves across the region
Vice President Kamala Harris is postponing a scheduled trip to Georgia amid the ongoing effects of Tropical Storm Debby.
Harris鈥 campaign said her stop planned in Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday, was being put off due to the storm.
Harris is choosing her running mate and will introduce the choice during a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The pair will then travel together starting Wednesday to a series of key battleground states: Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada. But the Georgia leg of the original journey has been pulled down, for now.
Debby made landfall in Florida on Monday as a Category 1 hurricane and was expected to bring potentially record-setting rainfall to South Carolina and Georgia as it heads east.
Harris鈥 nomination to become official after online balloting ends Monday night
Vice President Kamala Harris鈥 nomination will become official after a five-day round of online balloting by Democratic 好色tv Convention delegates ends Monday night and the party announces the results. The party had long contemplated the early virtual roll call to ensure President Joe Biden would appear on the ballot in every state.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted after Biden withdrew found 46% of Americans have a favorable view of Harris, while a nearly identical share has an unfavorable view of her.
But more Democrats say they鈥檙e satisfied with her candidacy compared with that of Biden, energizing a party that had long been resigned to the 81-year-old Biden being its nominee against former President Donald Trump, a Republican they view as an existential threat.
Usha Vance defense husbands 鈥榗hildless cat ladies鈥 comment
Usha Vance says her husband鈥檚 鈥渃hildless cat ladies comment鈥 was 鈥渁 quip made in service鈥 of a bigger point the GOP vice presidential contender was trying to make about American political society, not a slight intended at U.S. citizens without children.
Sen. JD Vance鈥檚 wife made the comment Monday during an interview that aired on Fox News Channel鈥檚 鈥淔ox and Friends.鈥
Usha Vance also noted that she helped her husband with his acceptance speech at the Republican 好色tv Convention, while she wrote hers without his assistance.
Asked about her husband on a personal level, Usha Vance also noted that he 鈥渉as a lot of really dorky interests鈥 without going into specifics.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in court to fight lawsuit saying he falsely claimed to live in NY
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arrived at a New York court Monday to fight a lawsuit alleging he falsely claimed to live in New York as he sought to get on the ballot in the state.
Kennedy appeared and sat at his attorneys鈥 table during legal arguments Monday morning, ahead of a civil trial expected to start later in the day in the state capital of Albany. Under state election law, a judge is set to decide the case without a jury.
The lawsuit alleges Kennedy鈥檚 nominating petition falsely said his residence was in New York鈥檚 northern suburbs while he actually has lived in Los Angeles since 2014, when he married 鈥淐urb Your Enthusiasm鈥 actor Cheryl Hines.
The suit seeks to invalidate his petition. The case was brought by Clear Choice PAC, a super PAC led by supporters of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Gov. Josh Shapiro on status of Harris running mate selection: 鈥業 got nothing for you, man鈥
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro didn鈥檛 say anything about the status of the vice presidential candidate selection Monday morning as he arrived at the state Capitol in Harrisburg.
鈥淚 got nothing for you, man,鈥 the first-term Democrat said and told an Associated Press reporter 鈥渉ave a great day鈥 as he headed into the governor鈥檚 offices, flanked by an aide and several state troopers.
The officers and press secretary Manuel Bonder were waiting for Shapiro when he arrived just after 11 a.m. in a black SUV.
Trump blames Harris and Biden for drop in markets
Former President Donald Trump is blaming Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden for the tumbling of markets in Wall Street and around the world.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, made a series of posts on his network Truth Social, attacking his opponent Harris.
鈥淜amala is even worse than Crooked Joe. Markets will NEVER accept the Radical Left Lunatic that DESTROYED San Francisco and California, as a whole,鈥 he wrote, and is labeling the plunging market the 鈥淜amala Crash.鈥
In another post, Trump called it a 鈥減review of the world markets without Donald J. Trump in the White House.鈥
The S&P 500 was down 3.1% in early trading with rising fears about a slowing U.S. economy. Japan鈥檚 Nikkei 225 helped start Monday by plunging 12.4% for its worst day since the Black Monday crash of 1987.
JD Vance: Harris鈥 running mate pick doesn鈥檛 matter to him
Donald Trump鈥檚 running mate, JD Vance, told Fox News on Sunday that Harris鈥 pick doesn鈥檛 matter to him.
鈥淲hoever she chooses, the problem is going to be Kamala Harris鈥 record and Kamala Harris鈥 policies,鈥 he said, adding 鈥渋t鈥檚 not going to be good for the country.鈥
Harris will begin a tour of 7 battleground states
Harris and her running mate 鈥 whoever that is 鈥 will launch into an aggressive, seven-state battleground tour that begins in Philadelphia on Tuesday and winds through Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
Her early rallies have attracted enthusiastic thousands. Campaign officials say each stop will be loaded with local election officials, religious leaders, union members and more in an effort to show the diversity of her coalition.
Campaign officials are aware that momentum can be fleeting and are working to capitalize on the energy now, while managing expectations by continuing to emphasize that the race with Republican nominee Donald Trump is tight.
VP鈥檚 campaign launches 鈥楻epublicans for Harris鈥
Over the weekend, Vice President campaign launched 鈥淩epublicans for Harris鈥 as she looks to win over Republican voters put off by candidacy.
The program will be a 鈥渃ampaign within a campaign,鈥 according to Harris鈥 team, using well-known Republicans to activate their networks, with a particular emphasis on primary voters who backed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Hospitality workers鈥 union endorses Harris
The hospitality workers鈥 union UNITE HERE endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, a rejoinder to Republican Donald Trump鈥檚 effort to woo restaurant and hotel workers by promising to make their .
The endorsement includes a commitment by the union to have its members knock on more than 3.3 million doors for Harris in swing states.
