Barack Obama endorses Kamala Harris as Democratic candidate for president
Barack Obama has endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for US president, meaning the vice-president has now won the backing of all the party’s politically active high-profile figures for her White House bid.
The former president had conspicuously withheld his endorsement in the immediate aftermath of Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the campaign, and was initially believed to favour an open nominating contest at next month’s Democratic national convention in Chicago.
But after Harris earned the backing of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, a host of state governors and the most senior Democrats in Congress – as well as Biden himself – Obama has added his voice in what amounts to a major boost for the vice-president.
The 44th president was joined by wife Michelle, the former first lady, in a phone call with Harris that was filmed and released by her campaign on Friday. In the video, Harris is seen listening to the Obamas on an iPhone in her right hand.
Read the full story here.
Meanwhile the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will visit Donald Trump at his Florida resort on Friday.
Netanyahu’s visit to Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 US presidential race, comes a day after meetings in Washington with Biden and Harris.
Opinion polls put Harris and Trump in a close race for the White House, leaving world leaders like Netanyahu, traditionally more closely aligned with Trump‘s Republicans than Biden’s Democrats, striking a balance in dealings with the United States.
Key events
Joe Biden has released a statement following the arrests of two leaders of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel, including the son of El Chapo, on Thursday in Texas:
Yesterday, the department of justice arrested Ismael Zambada Garcia (AKA ‘El Mayo’) and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, two of the most notorious leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, one of the deadliest enterprises in the world.
They are being charged for leading the Cartel’s deadly drug manufacturing and trafficking networks. I commend the work of our law enforcement officials who made this arrest for their ongoing work to bring Sinaloa cartel leaders to justice.
Too many of our citizens have lost their lives to the scourge of fentanyl. Too many families have been broken and are suffering because of this destructive drug. My administration will continue doing everything we can to hold deadly drug traffickers to account and to save American lives.
In a fiery tirade on Truth Social, Donald Trump hit back at the FBI director, Christopher Wray, who raised questions on Thursday about whether Trump was actually shot by a bullet during his assassination attempt.
Following Wray’s testimony at a Capitol Hill on Thursday during which he said: “There’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear,” Trump wrote:
“FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress yesterday that he wasn’t sure if I was hit by shrapnel, glass, or a bullet (the FBI never even checked!), but he was sure that Crooked Joe Biden was physically and cognitively ‘uneventful’ – Wrong!
That’s why he knows nothing about the terrorists and other criminals pouring into our Country at record levels. His only focus is destroying J6 Patriots, Raiding Mar-a-Lago, and saving Radical Left Lunatics, like the ones now in D.C. burning American flags and spray painting over our great National Monuments – with zero retribution.
No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel. The hospital called it a “bullet wound to the ear,” and that is what it was. No wonder the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America!”
Uncommitted voters tell Harris she must earn their vote
Uncommitted voters who protested against Joe Biden over his handling of Israel’s deadly war on Gaza are warning that Kamala Harris must earn their vote.
The Guardian’s Melissa Hellmann and Rachel Leingang reports:
The protest movement that sought to use the Democratic primaries to pressure Joe Biden to shift his policy on Israel and Gaza breathed a sigh of relief when he ended his bid for re-election. But they’re not ready to promise they’ll support Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee.
More than 700,000 Americans voted “uncommitted”, or its equivalent, in state primaries as a message to Biden that he risked losing significant support in November if he did not shift away from his support for Israel. As next month’s Democratic national convention inches closer, the movement has turned its sights to pressuring Harris to shape a new course on Gaza policy. Its demands of Harris include an arms embargo on Israel and support for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, according to health officials.
Uncommitted voters say that their message to the White House is clear: stop funding Israel’s war, or lose our votes.
For the full story, click here:
Here is the full video of Barack and Michelle Obama’s endorsement of Kamala Harris which her campaign team released:
“Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Obama said.
Some House Republicans criticize choice of JD Vance as Trump running mate
Several House Republicans are criticizing JD Vance as Donald Trump’s running mate, the Hill reports.
According to the outlet, “veteran lawmakers, moderates and Reagan-styled conservatives” have anonymously spoken out about their disapproval towards Vance.
“He was the worst choice of all the options. It was so bad I didn’t even think it was possible… Anti-Ukraine, more of a populist. He adds nothing to the Trump ticket. He energizes the same people that love Trump,” said one House Republican.
“I think if you were to ask many people around this building, nine out of 10 on our side would say he’s the wrong pick,” another House Republican said, adding, “He’s the only person who can do serious damage.”
“The prevailing sentiment is if Trump loses, [it’s] because of this pick. It doesn’t help,” another House Republican said.
Kamala Harris thanks Obamas for endorsement
In response to Barack and Michelle Obama’s expected yet highly significant endorsement, Kamala Harris wrote on X:
“It means so much to have your endorsements … Let’s get to work.”
Trump and Netanyahu meeting aimed at easing tensions from 2021 transition
The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu, due later today at Mar-a-Lago, signals that both are looking to ease tensions that have developed since Trump left office in January 2021.
Reuters reports that the Israeli leader angered Trump when he congratulated Biden on his victory over the Republican in the 2020 election.
Trump more recently criticized Netanyahu for security failures around the deadly 7 October Hamas attack on Israel that prompted the war on Gaza.
Local police told a press conference on Thursday that Netanyahu would arrive in Palm Beach, Florida, around 11am EDT and stay for two to three hours before returning to the airport, WPTV television reported.
The Palm Beach county sheriff Ric Bradshaw encouraged peaceful protests but said he did not expect demonstrations on the scale of what happened in Washington this week, when thousands of activists marched – vandalizing some landmarks and confronting police – to protest against the war in Gaza.
Israel’s far-right lawmakers have criticised Kamala Harris’s call for a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, Associated Press reports.
“There will be no end to the war, Mrs candidate,” the Israeli national security adviser Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote Friday on X. Ben-Gvir is one of the most visible right-wing ministers and a key ultranationalist ally to Netanyahu.
Harris met with Netanyahu in Washington yesterday and said that bringing home hostages was imperative and describing widespread suffering among Gaza’s civilian population as fighting continues.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, claimed Harris had “revealed” that a cease-fire deal amounted to surrendering to Hamas. “It is forbidden to fall into this trap!” he wrote.
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are opposed to a ceasefire deal in Gaza and say Israel should continue fighting until Hamas is vanquished.
Barack Obama endorses Kamala Harris as Democratic candidate for president
Barack Obama has endorsed Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee for US president, meaning the vice-president has now won the backing of all the party’s politically active high-profile figures for her White House bid.
The former president had conspicuously withheld his endorsement in the immediate aftermath of Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the campaign, and was initially believed to favour an open nominating contest at next month’s Democratic national convention in Chicago.
But after Harris earned the backing of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, a host of state governors and the most senior Democrats in Congress – as well as Biden himself – Obama has added his voice in what amounts to a major boost for the vice-president.
The 44th president was joined by wife Michelle, the former first lady, in a phone call with Harris that was filmed and released by her campaign on Friday. In the video, Harris is seen listening to the Obamas on an iPhone in her right hand.
Read the full story here.
Meanwhile the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will visit Donald Trump at his Florida resort on Friday.
Netanyahu’s visit to Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 US presidential race, comes a day after meetings in Washington with Biden and Harris.
Opinion polls put Harris and Trump in a close race for the White House, leaving world leaders like Netanyahu, traditionally more closely aligned with Trump‘s Republicans than Biden’s Democrats, striking a balance in dealings with the United States.
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