Harris kicks off campaign against Trump

VP secures backing in bid to replace Biden as nominee

- ZEKE MILLER, SEUNG MIN KIM AND CHRIS MEGERIAN

U.S. VicePresident Kamala Harris closed in Monday on securing the Democratic delegates she needs to become her party’s nominee and set a new fundraising record in her first 24 hours as a presidential candidate, as top Democrats rallied to her in their bid to defeat Republican Donald Trump.

Aiming to put weeks of intraparty drama over President Joe Biden’s prospects behind them, prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organizations quickly lined up behind Harris.

Worries over Biden’s fitness for office were replaced by fresh signs of unity after a seismic shift to the presidential contest that upended both major political parties’ carefully honed plans for the 2024 race.

Speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, Del., Harris acknowledged the “roller-coaster” of the last several weeks, but expressed confidence in her new campaign team.

“It is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win,” she said. She promised to “unite our Democratic party, to unite our nation, and to win this election.”

She quickly leaned into the themes that will be prominent in her campaign against Trump over the coming 100 days, contrasting her time as a prosecutor with Trump’s felony convictions — “I know Donald Trump’s type,” she said — and casting herself as a defender of economic opportunity and abortion access.

“Our fight for the future is also a fight for freedoms,” she said. “The baton is in our hands.”

The president called into the meeting from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he is recovering from COVID-19, to lend his support to Harris.

He planned to talk about his decision to step aside in an address to the nation later this week.