The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they happen.
Some US states’ convention delegates begin shifting support to Harris
The Democratic delegations of multiple US states have decided to back Vice President Kamala Harris for the party nomination at next month’s national convention.
“Tonight, all 168 delegates of the North Carolina Democratic Party made history,” North Carolina party chair Anderson Clayton says in a post on the social platform X.
In South Carolina, party chair Christale Spain says in an email statement Sunday night that that state’s delegation met virtually. The vice president “has been fully vetted, and she has earned our unwavering support,” Spain says.
Harris received her first delegates earlier in the day from Tennessee, when the state party posted on X that its delegation voted during a meeting to back her.
Another state where the switch was made was New Hampshire, where the 25 pledged delegates voted unanimously Sunday night to endorse Harris.
US national security adviser to meet Monday with families of American hostages
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan will meet Monday with the families of several American hostages being held in Gaza, a White House National Security Council spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.
Trump campaign official says JD Vance won’t attend Netanyahu’s speech to Congress
US Senator JD Vance of Ohio, who is Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s running mate, will not attend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday, a Trump campaign adviser tells the Kan public broadcaster.
Jason Miller is quoted stressing Vance’s backing for Israel while explaining he won’t be at the speech due to commitments relating to the campaign. An unnamed Republican source also insists that his absence is no slight.
“This is not a signal or message. JD is a true friend of Israel,” the source says.
California Governor Newsom, seen as possible rival, backs Kamala Harris
California Governor Gavin Newsom endorses US Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the Democratic ticket, removing a key possible rival to the nomination after Joe Biden’s shock exit from the White House race.
“With our democracy at stake and our future on the line, no one is better to prosecute the case against Donald Trump’s dark vision and guide our country in a healthier direction than America’s Vice President, @KamalaHarris,” Newsom writes on X.
Biden’s senior staff learned of decision to drop out one minute before announcement
At 1:45 p.m. EST, US President Joe Biden’s senior staff was notified that he was stepping away from the 2024 race. At 1:46 p.m., that message was made public.
It was never Biden’s intention to leave the race: Up until he decided to step aside Sunday, he was all in.
His campaign was planning fundraisers and events and setting up travel over the next few weeks. But even as Biden was publicly dug in and insisting he was staying in the race, he was quietly reflecting on the disaster of the past few weeks, on the past three years of his presidency and on the scope of his half-century career in politics.
In the end, it was the president’s decision alone, and he made it quietly, from his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, sick with COVID-19, the first lady with him as he talked it through with a small circle of people who have been with him for decades.
Geologists record 3.7-magnitude earthquake near Dead Sea
A 3.7-magnitude earthquake occurred near the Dead Sea, according to the Israel Geological Institute, with the tremor felt in the Jerusalem area and parts of southern Israel.
There are no reports of injuries or damage.
West Virginia’s Manchin considers reregistering as Democrat to seek presidential nomination
Though some potential challengers to Kamala Harris for the Democratic bid have already made it clear they would not run, there is some early indication that she might not be alone in seeking the nomination.
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who left the party earlier this year to become an independent, is considering reregistering as a Democrat to vie for the nomination against the vice president, according to Jonathan Kott, a longtime adviser to Manchin.
Manchin, who repeatedly irked Democrats with his independent streak but was also a lynchpin for the Biden administration’s biggest legislative accomplishments, was the latest senator to call on Biden to drop his candidacy before the president made his announcement Sunday.
Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro backs Harris amid speculation over potential running mate
Democrats are quickly rallying around US Vice President Kamala Harris as their likely presidential nominee after President Joe Biden ’s ground-shaking decision to bow out of the 2024 race.
Among others, endorsements came from Biden; Bill and Hillary Clinton; prominent US senators; a wide swath of House representatives and members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus; and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who has been the subject of speculation as a potential running mate.
But the fast-moving political situation remains volatile just months before the November election.
Harris campaign, allies lobbying delegates to lock in support before DNC
WASHINGTON — US Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign officials, allies, and supporters have started making calls to secure the support of delegates for her nomination ahead of the Democratic National Convention in August, multiple sources say
The outreach, which started soon after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid on Sunday, would be essential to ensuring Harris replaces Biden on the November 5 ballot as the party’s rival to Republican Donald Trump.
“A lot of people are working on it right now,” a source familiar with the matter says. “She has made clear she will work to earn their support,” the source says.
About 4,000 Democratic delegates, meeting in Chicago from August 19-22, will pick the Democratic Party’s nominee. Most are committed to Biden. After his abrupt announcement, they are not bound by any law or party rules to back anyone.
Biden was the party’s presumptive nominee, but he has no direct power over choosing the delegates’ formal nominee.
Harris needs the support of 1,969 of the 3,936 Democratic delegates to secure her nomination at the August convention.
Abortion rights groups including Emily’s List and Reproductive Freedom for All have been reaching out to delegates to make the case also for Harris. The vice president has been the leading voice for abortion rights in the Biden administration.
The vice president’s office declines to comment.