2024 election updates: Kamala Harris gives first campaign speech in Wisc. after securing delegates needed for Democratic nomination

Harris will deliver a keynote speech in Houston on Thursday at the American Federation of Teachers national convention, the White House confirmed Tuesday. The AFT is the country's largest teachers union, with 1.7 million members; its 3,500 delegates voted to endorse Harris as the Democratic presidential nominee on Monday.

This will be one of Harris's first stops on the campaign trail after Biden dropped out on Sunday.

President Biden returned to the White House on Tuesday from his home in Delaware, where he was recovering in isolation from COVID-19.

It was the first time Biden was seen in public since dropping out of the 2024 presidential race.

Before boarding Air Force One in Delaware, Biden told reporters he's "feeling well."

After landing in Washington, D.C., Biden was asked about what he plans to tell the nation in his primetime address scheduled for Wednesday night.

“Watch and listen," he replied. "Why don't you wait and hear what I say?"

Harris concluded the first official rally of her presidential campaign with a call-and-response urging voters in Milwaukee to mobilize for an election that she reminded voters was 105 days away.

"So, Wisconsin, I ask you, are you ready to get to work?" she asked.

"Do we believe in freedom?

"Do we believe in opportunity?

"Do we believe in the promise of America?

"And are we ready to fight for it?"

The crowd inside the West Allis Central High School gymnasium answered each with a resounding "Yes!"

"And when we fight," Harris added, "we win!"

During Tuesday's campaign rally in Milwaukee, Harris devoted a portion of her speech to Project 2025, the conservative policy blueprint crafted by the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups that has drawn the ire of Democrats.

"Donald Trump wants to take this country backward," Harris said. "He and his extreme Project 2025 agenda will weaken the middle class. Like, we know we've got to take this seriously — and can you believe they put that thing in writing? Read it. It's 900 pages. But here's the thing, when you read it you will see Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare. He intends to give tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations and make working families foot the bill. They intend to end the Affordable Care Act and take us back then to a time when insurance companies had the power to deny people with preexisting conditions."

Trump has denied knowledge of what Project 2025 entails.

In Milwaukee on Tuesday, Kamala Harris repeated much of the speech she gave at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., the day before.

She touted her experience as San Francisco's top prosecutor and California's attorney general.

"In those 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," Harris said. "So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type.

"And in this campaign," she added, "I promise you I will proudly put up my record against his any day of the week."

Speaking at a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Harris told her audience that she had essentially clinched the Democratic nomination for president.

"So, Wisconsin, as of this morning I am told that we have earned the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination," Harris said, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers. "And I am so very honored, and I pledge to you I will spend the coming weeks continuing to unite our party so that we are ready to win in November."

Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off the first official rally of her presidential campaign on Tuesday from a high school gymnasium in Milwaukee, saying, "the path to the White House goes through Wisconsin."

After thanking a long list of state and city officials, Harris turned her attention to the swing state's voters.

"You all helped us in 2020," Harris said. "And in 2024 we will win again."

Just over 24 hours after President Biden announced he was exiting the 2024 campaign and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as his replacement at the top of the Democratic ticket, Harris had secured the backing of a majority of delegates.

That rush of support, which will likely soon culminate in a virtual vote by delegates that will make Harris the nominee, has left some Democrats questioning whether it would be better for the party to hold a mini-primary prior before the start of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19.

Yahoo News collected some notable opinions on that question. Read the full article here.

President Biden's doctor said Tuesday that his COVID-19 symptoms have "resolved" and that he tested negative for the virus.

"The President's symptoms have resolved," White House physician Kevin O'Connor wrote in a memo released by White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. "Over the course of his infection, he never manifested a fever, and his vital signs remained normal, to include pulse oximetry. His lungs remained clear."

O'Connor said that Biden is also now testing negative for COVID, adding that the president "will continue to be monitored for any recurrence of illness."

Biden, who has been recovering at his Delaware home in isolation since testing positive last Wednesday, is scheduled to return to the White House this afternoon.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, both formally endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic presidential nominee in a joint press briefing Tuesday afternoon.

The congressional leaders also praised President Biden's "selfless" decision to end his re-election campaign.

"We are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris," Schumer said.

"Harris is ready, willing and able to lead us into the future," Jeffries said. "I am proud to strongly endorse Kamala Harris to be the 47th president of the United States of America."

Majority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries announced a joint press conference taking place today at 1 p.m. ET in Washington, D., the New York Times reported. Neither has publicly endorsed Harris for president.

Biden confirmed in a post on X that he would be speaking about his decision to end his reelection campaign. He also specified that it will happen at 8 p.m. ET and that he will be speaking from the Oval Office.

The Washington Post and NBC News reported this morning that Biden will deliver a speech Wednesday to address his decision to drop out of the 2024 election. The Washington Post's sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the timing has not been publicly announced.

Vice President Kamala Harris is launching her last-minute campaign for the 2024 Democratic nomination with a huge head start over other would-be candidates, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll — and the strongest head-to-head numbers against former President Donald Trump.

Here are some key findings from the survey of 1,743 U.S. adults, which was conducted from July 19 to July 22, mostly before President Biden ended his reelection bid on Sunday:

• Harris (46%) is currently tied with Trump (46%) among registered voters in a hypothetical matchup.

• Compared to Biden, Harris performs 3 points better among women, 7 points better among Americans ages 18 to 29, 7 points better among independents, 8 points better among Black Americans and 13 points better among those who view both Biden and Trump unfavorably (so-called “double haters”).

• In contrast, Trump (46%) would defeat lower-profile Democrats such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom (40%), Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (41%) or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (39%) if the election were held today, according to the poll.

• Harris’s support among Democratic voters as a potential Biden replacement surged from 38% to 59% in the three weeks leading up to the president’s withdrawal, while support for "someone else" plummeted from 42% to 24%.

• Nearly half (49%) of Democratic voters said they would favor Harris as the new nominee over a field of hypothetical challengers, up from 31% three weeks ago against a different list of alternatives.

• Newsom finished in a distant second place at just 9% — down from 17% previously.

• Other rising Democratic stars — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (7%), Whitmer (5%), Shapiro (3%), Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (2%), Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (2%), Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (1%) and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock (1%) — lagged even further behind.

Read more here.

In an interview on MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning, DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said he expects Harris to pick her running mate by Aug. 7.

The Democratic convention is taking place Aug. 19-22, so Democrats will be having their virtual vote for a nominee sometime between Aug. 1 and Aug. 5, to have the process completed by Aug. 7, which is the deadline for a nominee to be listed on the ballot in Ohio. (This year, Ohio pushed back the deadline to Sept. 1, but party officials said they want to avoid any risk, Reuters reported.)

Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he hopes to have "many" debates with whoever becomes the Democratic nominee, but he reiterated his complaint that the debate he agreed to with President Biden was being hosted by ABC News.

"ABC Fake News is such a joke, among the absolute WORST in the business," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social shortly after midnight. "They try to make Crooked Joe into a brave warrior because he didn’t have the 'guts' to fight it out — He quit! They then tried to make 'Sleepy' look like a great President - he was the WORST, and Lyin’ Kamala into a competent person, which she is not. ABC, the home of George Slopadopolus, is not worthy of holding a Debate, of which I hope there will be many!"

Trump and Biden were scheduled to have their second debate of the 2024 election on Sept. 10. In a post on Sunday, Trump said the event should be held on Fox News "rather than very biased ABC."

George Clooney, who called on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race in an op-ed published by the New York Times just weeks after co-hosting a splashy Democratic fundraiser for his reelection campaign, praised the president for stepping aside.

“President Biden has shown what true leadership is," Clooney said in a statement to CNN. "He’s saving democracy once again.

The Oscar-winning actor and Democratic donor added: "We’re all so excited to do whatever we can to support Vice President Harris in her historic quest.”

Brianna Johnson, the communications director for the Harris campaign's Wisconsin office, sent a memo overnight previewing Vice President Kamala Harris's rally in Milwaukee.

"She is prepared to prosecute the case against Donald Trump — and there's no better place to drive this contrast than Milwaukee, Wisconsin," Johnson wrote. "Just last week, Trump and MAGA Republicans descended on this city for the Republican National Convention, highlighting his Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide, raise taxes for middle-class families, cut Social Security and Medicare, and give Trump virtually unchecked power.

"In Milwaukee, Trump paraded out JD Vance — a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda — the architect of Trump's family separation policies, authors of Trump's Project 2025, and governors who have signed dangerous and extreme abortion bans," Johnson added. "Vice President Harris's visit will highlight the choice facing Wisconsinites: between Donald Trump, the convicted felon who would drag this country backwards, and her brighter vision for the future, where our freedoms are protected and every American has a fair shot."

Vice President Kamala Harris will hold the first official rally of her 2024 presidential campaign in Milwaukee on Tuesday, while President Biden — who has been at home in Delaware recovering from COVID-19 — returns to the White House two days after dropping out of the race and endorsing her.

Here are their official schedules:

DAILY GUIDANCE FOR THE PRESIDENT FOR TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2024

12:30 PM THE PRESIDENT departs Rehoboth Beach, Delaware en route to Dover, Delaware
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
Out-of-Town Pool

1:15 PM THE PRESIDENT arrives in Dover, Delaware
Dover Air Force Base
Out-of-Town Pool

1:25 PM THE PRESIDENT departs Dover, Delaware en route to Joint Base Andrews
Dover Air Force Base
Out-of-Town Pool

2:00 PM THE PRESIDENT arrives to Joint Base Andrews
Joint Base Andrews
Out-of-Town Pool

2:10 PM THE PRESIDENT departs Joint Base Andrews en route to the White House
Joint Base Andrews
Out-of-Town Pool

2:30 PM THE PRESIDENT arrives at the White House
South Grounds
Out-of-Town Pool

3:00 PM THE PRESIDENT receives the President's Daily Brief
Closed Press

DAILY GUIDANCE FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2024

At 10:40 AM ET, the Vice President will depart Washington, D.C., en route to Milwaukee, WI. This departure from Joint Base Andrews will be pooled press.

At 11:30 AM CT, the Vice President will arrive in Milwaukee, WI. This arrival at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport will be pooled press and open to pre-credentialed media.

At 1:05 PM CT, the Vice President will deliver remarks at a political event. These remarks will be pooled press and open to pre-credentialed media.

At 2:15 PM CT, the Vice President will depart Milwaukee, WI en route to Washington, D.C. This departure from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport will be pooled press.

At 4:55 PM ET, the Vice President will arrive in Washington, D.C. This arrival at Joint Base Andrews will be pooled press.