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Harris, Walz campaign in Arizona, where every vote will be critical

phoenix — Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate held a rally in Arizona Friday as part of their tour of electoral battlegrounds, visiting a state with a Democratic U.S. senator she passed over in favor of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and gun control advocate, had been a top contender for running mate. He’s won two tough races in politically divided Arizona.

In passing over Kelly, Harris may have lost the chance to win over people like Gonzalo Leyva, 49, a landscaper in Phoenix. Leyva plans to vote for former President Donald Trump, a Republican, but said he would have backed a Harris-Kelly ticket.

“I prefer Kelly like 100 times,” said Leyva, a lifelong Democrat who became an independent at the beginning of Trump’s term in office. “I don’t think he’s that extreme like the other guys.”

In Arizona, every vote will be critical. The state is no stranger to nail-biter races, including in 2020 when President Joe Biden bested Trump by fewer than 11,000 votes. Both parties are bracing for a similar photo finish this year.

“These last few months are going to feel like years, and it is tough to see anyone winning by a large margin,” said Constantine Querard, a veteran Republican strategist in the state.

Harris acknowledged how tough the race will be, as she and Walz toured a campaign office in North Phoenix Friday afternoon and thanked volunteers, who were making signs with sayings such as “This Mamala is Voting for Kamala” and “Kamala and the Coach.” (Walz has been a high school football coach.)

“It’s gonna be a lot of work,” Harris told volunteers, referring to winning in November.

Democrats profess confidence that Harris is in solid shape in the state even without Kelly on the ticket. The senator is expected to remain a strong advocate for Harris and is already mentioned for possible Cabinet posts or other prominent roles should the vice president ascend to the Oval Office.

“Not picking Kelly hasn’t put the brakes on support for Harris,” said Stacy Pearson, a Democratic strategist in Phoenix. She said she feels the same enthusiasm for the new ticket that has led to giant crowds greeting Harris and Walz at prior stops on their tour, including the home of another running mate also-ran, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

Arizona is something of a magnet for Midwesterners seeking to escape the cold. So, several observers say, Walz may still play well there.

Arizona was reliably Republican until Trump’s combative approach to politics went national.

In 2016, Trump won Arizona, then quickly started feuding with the late Republican Senator John McCain, a political icon in the state. That sparked a steady exodus of educated, moderate Republicans from the GOP and toward Democrats in top-of-the-ticket contests.

In 2018, Democrats won an open Senate race in the state, foreshadowing Kelly’s 2020 win and Biden’s victory there as well. In 2022, Kelly won again, and Democrats swept the top three statewide races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state, defeating Republican candidates who hewed to Trump’s style and his lies about fraud costing him the 2020 presidential election.

Chuck Coughlin, a Republican strategist and former McCain staffer, said the same voters who tipped the state to Democrats in the past few cycles remain lukewarm, at best, on Trump.

“Trump’s not doing anything to embrace that segment of the electorate,” he said.

The campaign is already being fought over familiar turf in Arizona — its border with Mexico. Trump and his allies have been hammering Biden over the influx of migrants during his term and are shifting their attacks to Harris.

“It’s very easy for us to segue and switch our sights and focus on her,” said Dave Smith, Pima County’s Republican Party chairman.

Kari Lake, who is running against Democratic Republican Ruben Gallego for an open Senate seat in Arizona, unveiled an ad late last week bashing Gallego for supporting what the ad calls Biden’s and Harris’ “radical border agenda,” featuring repeated clips of the vice president chortling.

Meanwhile, Harris is targeting the state’s fast-growing Latino population with her own ad highlighting how Harris, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica, rose to the highest echelons of American politics.
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Trump heads to Montana rally after plane was diverted but landed safely

BOZEMAN, Mont. — Former President Donald Trump headed to Montana for a Friday night rally in hopes of ousting the state’s Democratic senator, but his plane first had to divert to an airport on the other side of the Rocky Mountains because of a mechanical issue, according to airport staff.

Trump’s plane was en route to Bozeman, Montana, when it was diverted Friday afternoon to Billings, 142 miles to the east, according to Jenny Mockel, administrative assistant at Billings Logan International Airport. Mockel said the former president was continuing to Bozeman via private jet.

Trump’s campaign posted a video of him upon landing in which he said he was glad to be in Montana but did not mention anything about the landing.

The former president came to Montana hoping to remedy some unfinished business from 2018, when he campaigned repeatedly in Big Sky Country in a failed bid to oust incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Tester.

Tester has tried to convince voters he’s aligned with Trump on many issues, mirroring his successful strategy from six years ago. While that worked in a nonpresidential election year, it faces a more critical test this fall with Tester’s opponent, former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, trying to link the three-term incumbent to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Harris has benefited nationally from a burst of enthusiasm among core Democratic constituencies, who coalesced quickly around her after President Joe Biden withdrew from the campaign last month. She’s drawn big crowds in swing states, touring this week with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, her choice to be her vice presidential nominee.

Trump’s only rally this week, meanwhile, will be in a state he won by 16 percentage points four years ago rather than a November battleground. Facing new pressure in the race from a candidate with surging enthusiasm, Trump on Thursday called questions about his lack of swing state stops “stupid.”

“I don’t have to go there because I’m leading those states,” he said. “I’m going because I want to help senators and congressmen get elected.”

He will add fundraising stops in Wyoming and Colorado.

Trump could be decisive in Montana’s Senate race.

Friday’s rally at Montana State University, which is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Mountain time, is expected to draw thousands of GOP supporters. Yet the former president’s bigger impact could be simply having his name above Sheehy’s on the ballot in November, said University of Montana political analyst Rob Saldin.

“There is a segment of the electorate that will turn out when Trump is on the ticket,” Saldin said. And that could benefit Sheehy, a Trump supporter and newcomer to politics who made a fortune off an aerial firefighting business.

Republicans have been on a roll in Montana for more than a decade and now hold every statewide office except for Tester’s.

Tester won each of his previous Senate contests by a narrow margin, casting himself as a plainspoken farmer who builds personal connections with people in Montana and is willing to break with his party on issues that matter to them. He’s also become a prolific fundraiser.

The race has drawn national attention with Democrats clinging to a razor-thin majority in the Senate and defending far more seats than the GOP this year. Tester is considered among the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents.

For him to win, large numbers of Trump supporters would have to vote a split ticket and get behind the Democratic senator.

Trump’s drive to oust Tester traces back to the lawmaker’s work in 2018 as chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Tester revealed past misconduct by Trump’s personal physician, Ronny Jackson, that sank Jackson’s nomination to lead the Veterans Affairs Department.

Then-President Trump took the matter personally and came to Montana four times to campaign for Republican Matt Rosendale, who was then the state auditor. Rosendale lost by 3 percentage points.
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Biden set to share a legacy with LBJ  

U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to pass the Democratic Party’s torch to Vice President Kamala Harris makes him a lame-duck president – one who remains in office without any hope of an additional term. VOA’s chief national correspondent Steve Herman at the White House looks at how Biden’s legacy may eventually compare to the previous one-term president who did not run for reelection.
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US presidential campaign: The view from Ukraine

The U.S. presidential campaign is being closely followed in Ukraine as its outcome could significantly impact regional security, U.S. foreign policy, NATO support, aid to Ukraine, and relations with Russia. VOA Eastern Europe Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports. Camera: Daniil Batushchak, Vladyslav Smilianets
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Microsoft: Iran accelerating cyber activity in apparent bid to influence US election

NEW YORK — Iran is ramping up online activity that appears intended to influence the upcoming U.S. election, in one case targeting a presidential campaign with an email phishing attack, Microsoft said Friday.

Iranian actors also have spent recent months creating fake news sites and impersonating activists, laying the groundwork to stoke division and potentially sway American voters this fall, especially in swing states, the technology giant found.

The findings in Microsoft’s newest threat intelligence report show how Iran, which has been active in recent U.S. campaign cycles, is evolving its tactics for another election that’s likely to have global implications. The report goes a step beyond anything U.S. intelligence officials have disclosed, giving specific examples of Iranian groups and the actions they have taken so far. Iran’s United Nations mission denied it had plans to interfere or launch cyberattacks in the U.S. presidential election.

The report doesn’t specify Iran’s intentions besides sowing chaos in the United States, though U.S. officials have previously hinted that Iran particularly opposes former President Donald Trump. U.S. officials also have expressed alarm about Tehran’s efforts to seek retaliation for a 2020 strike on an Iranian general that was ordered by Trump. This week, the Justice Department unsealed criminal charges against a Pakistani man with ties to Iran who’s alleged to have hatched assassination plots targeting multiple officials, potentially including Trump.

The report also reveals how Russia and China are exploiting U.S. political polarization to advance their own divisive messaging in a consequential election year.

Microsoft’s report identified four examples of recent Iranian activity that the company expects to increase as November’s election draws closer.

First, a group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in June targeted a high-ranking U.S. presidential campaign official with a phishing email, a form of cyberattack often used to gather sensitive information, according to the report, which didn’t identify which campaign was targeted. The group concealed the email’s origins by sending it from the hacked email account of a former senior adviser, Microsoft said.

Days later, the Iranian group tried to log into an account that belonged to a former presidential candidate but wasn’t successful, Microsoft’s report said. The company notified those who were targeted.

In a separate example, an Iranian group has been creating websites that pose as U.S.-based news sites targeted to voters on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the report said.

One fake news site that lends itself to a left-leaning audience insults Trump by calling him “raving mad” and suggests he uses drugs, the report said. Another site meant to appeal to Republican readers centers on LGBTQ issues and gender-affirming surgery.

A third example Microsoft cited found that Iranian groups are impersonating U.S. activists, potentially laying the groundwork for influence operations closer to the election.

Finally, another Iranian group in May compromised an account owned by a government employee in a swing state, the report said. It was unclear whether that cyberattack was related to election interference efforts.

Iran’s U.N. mission sent The Associated Press an emailed statement: “Iran has been the victim of numerous offensive cyber operations targeting its infrastructure, public service centers, and industries. Iran’s cyber capabilities are defensive and proportionate to the threats it faces. Iran has neither the intention nor plans to launch cyber attacks. The U.S. presidential election is an internal matter in which Iran does not interfere.”

The Microsoft report said that as Iran escalates its cyber influence, Russia-linked actors also have pivoted their influence campaigns to focus on the U.S. election, while actors linked to the Chinese Communist Party have taken advantage of pro-Palestinian university protests and other current events in the U.S. to try to raise U.S. political tensions.

Microsoft said it has continued to monitor how foreign foes are using generative AI technology. The increasingly cheap and easy-to-access tools can generate lifelike fake images, photos and videos in seconds, prompting concern among some experts that they will be weaponized to mislead voters this election cycle.

While many countries have experimented with AI in their influence operations, the company said, those efforts haven’t had much impact so far. The report said as a result, some actors have “pivoted back to techniques that have proven effective in the past — simple digital manipulations, mischaracterization of content, and use of trusted labels or logos atop false information.”

Microsoft’s report aligns with recent warnings from U.S. intelligence officials, who say America’s adversaries appear determined to seed the internet with false and incendiary claims ahead of November’s vote.

Top intelligence officials said last month that Russia continues to pose the greatest threat when it comes to election disinformation, while there are indications that Iran is expanding its efforts and China is proceeding cautiously when it comes to 2024.

Iran’s efforts seem aimed at undermining candidates seen as being more likely to increase tension with Tehran, the officials said. That’s a description that fits Trump, whose administration ended a nuclear deal with Iran, reimposed sanctions and ordered the killing of the top Iranian general.

The influence efforts also coincide with a time of high tensions between Iran and Israel, whose military the U.S. strongly supports.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said last month that the Iranian government has covertly supported American protests over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Groups linked to Iran have posed as online activists, encouraged protests and provided financial support to some protest groups, Haines said.

America’s foes, Iran among them, have a long history of seeking to influence U.S. elections. In 2020, groups linked to Iran sent emails to Democratic voters in an apparent effort to intimidate them into voting for Trump, intelligence officials said.
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Fact Focus: A look at Trump’s claims at news conference

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Biden set to share legacy with LBJ     

WHITE HOUSE — U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson, known popularly as LBJ, sat at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House on the last day of March in 1968. There, he addressed the nation, opening his remarks by telling the American public, “Tonight I want to speak to you of peace in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.”

The country had been at war in Vietnam for years. Johnson had taken America’s involvement in the conflict he inherited from his slain predecessor, John F. Kennedy, from a robust and well-funded advisory mission to direct combat in which more than 58,000 American military members would die. Several million Vietnamese civilians and those in uniform in both the North and South perished.

Johnson, that evening, announced he was halting most of the U.S. military’s aerial attacks on North Vietnam. It was big news. Johnson’s speech, however, is remembered for the bombshell he dropped next: “I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”

In that same room, the Oval Office of the White House, 56 years later, President Joe Biden explained why he also had decided to not seek another term.

“You know there is a time and a place, but there’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices, and that time and place is now,” Biden told the nation on the evening of July 24, 2024. He emphasized the last word in that sentence by jamming an index finger onto the oak surface of the Resolute Desk.

His words were no surprise. Biden, under intense pressure from his Democratic Party, had taken to social media the previous Sunday to announce he would not continue to seek re-election, although he had secured more than enough Democrats’ delegates – unlike Johnson, who had dropped out early in a contentious party primary process.

Johnson, like Biden, suffered from low popularity in the final year of his presidency. And Johnson’s fractured party eventually chose his vice president to be their candidate.

“I am ready to lead our country,” Vice President Hubert Humphrey told a chaotic 1968 national convention.

The majority of voters in the November election that year did not think so, electing Republican Richard Nixon instead of Humphrey.

This time, Democrats quickly united behind their sitting vice president. 

“The momentum in this race is shifting,” Vice President Kamala Harris repeated within days at packed public rallies after being anointed by Biden as the heir apparent. Her confidence has rejuvenated the Democrats, helping to close what had been a widening lead in the polls for former President Donald Trump, whom the Republicans nominated for a third consecutive presidential election despite his being convicted of numerous felony counts for falsifying business records.

“In contrast to Humphrey, she has really been able, at least for the moment, to separate herself from that unpopularity, to kind of develop a political identity of her own and really recast the momentum of the election,” said Guian McKee, a University of Virginia professor of presidential studies, about Harris’s nascent presidential campaign. 

Compared to the 81-year-old Biden, no one could credibly contend that Harris, 59, was in cognitive decline or unlikely to finish another full term because of the frailties of advanced age.

At the LBJ Presidential Library last month, Biden said he had long admired the late president’s public service, from rural Texas schoolteacher to senator, then vice president and president, noting Johnson had a simple philosophy: In a great society, “no one should be left behind.”

The accomplishments of Johnson’s Great Society – civil rights and voting rights laws, social welfare programs, federal funding for schools and some of the first significant anti-pollution legislation – were overshadowed by his losing efforts in an unwinnable war in Vietnam. In recent years, however, Johnson has climbed just ahead of James Monroe and Woodrow Wilson into the top quartile of historians’ rankings of America’s 46 presidents.

That 46th president, Biden, will be remembered for the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal, as well as his climate change initiatives and revitalization of America’s industrial base. Biden’s larger legacy may hinge on the fate of his unfinished diplomacy in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“It depends on whether the accomplishments grow over time and outweigh the limitations of his record, and that will shape his historical legacy and his rank among American presidents,” McKee told VOA.

Biden’s decision is an extraordinary moment in American history because a president is not pursuing another term because of scandal or policy failure “like Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1968 with Vietnam. He’s deciding not to run with a very strong economy, with America actually in very good shape,” according to Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a center-left research institution.

Biden “is above the fray now” as a so-called lame duck, added McKee. But the presidential studies professor explained that status as a lame duck “might actually give him more efficacy in terms of actually executing the duties and responsibilities of the presidency than if he were a candidate.”

After he dropped out of the race, Johnson said he would do nothing during his remaining nine months in office except “trying to find peace” in Vietnam.

Biden departs in a little more than five months. Trump continues to criticize his successor, saying at a rally in Atlanta last Saturday that the president “was choking like a dog” when he was forced out of their rematch. Trump also quipped the Democrats carried out a coup, but Biden “didn’t know it.”

During the 1968 general election campaign, Nixon also criticized Johnson even though the sitting president was not his opponent. The Republican nominee told voters he had a better plan to end the Vietnam War than Johnson did and accused him of not doing enough to combat crime and civil unrest at a time of social upheaval.

The real reason Johnson dropped out of the race was that he was often seriously ill and Lady Bird Johnson, the first lady, feared her husband would not survive another term, according to the late research historian Vaughn Davis Bornet. Johnson died of what was probably his fifth heart attack in 1973 at age 65.

Johnson and Biden are not the only once-elected presidents who decided not to pursue an additional term. An exhausted and ill James Polk left in 1849 and died three months later. James Buchanan was unpopular and in poor health as the nation headed toward Civil War. In the 20th century, Calvin Coolidge was beset by personal depression and an economic one. Harry Truman decided to bow out early after an upset loss in the first primary amid the stalemate of the Korean War and a yearning to return to private life. 

Many presidents who survive their time in office seem to struggle with that return to private life after their tenure as leader of the free world. Johnson could not abandon some of the trappings of power. He had a 7/8th scale replica Oval Office built for his retirement in Austin, Texas, which is now part of his official presidential library. Johnson also purchased a custom-built Lincoln limousine in which he continued to be chauffeured by Secret Service agents.

Biden will also have Secret Service protection until his death. For the 46th president, after a political career spanning a half-century as a senator, vice president and president, the most difficult thing to give up may be his influence and the ability to command history.
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Tim Walz’s China ties highlighted after VP announcement

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s ties to China will likely inform his work if elected. Where does he stand on key issues? And how does Beijing see him? Everyone has an opinion. VOA’s Anita Powell and Paris Huang report from Washington.
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Silicon Valley luminaries take sides in presidential contest

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Foreign policy differences with fellow Republicans could complicate second Trump presidency

Congressional Republicans closely align with presidential nominee Donald Trump on a number of key foreign policy issues, including U.S. support for Israel. But as VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, lawmakers still have significant differences on China, tariff policy and aid to Ukraine that could complicate a second Trump term. Videographer: Saqib Ui Islam
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Harris, Trump one-up each other on campaign trail

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US presidential campaigns clash in Midwest battleground state 

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Biden ‘not confident’ of peaceful power transition if Trump loses election

washington — President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he was not confident about a peaceful transfer of power in the United States if Republican Donald Trump loses the Nov. 5 presidential election.

“If Trump loses, I’m not confident at all,” Biden said in an interview with CBS News when asked whether he thought there would be a peaceful transfer of power after the vote.

“He means what he says. We don’t take him seriously. He means it. All this stuff about if we lose there’d be a bloodbath,” Biden added.

During a March campaign appearance in Ohio, Trump warned of a “bloodbath” if he fails win the election. At the time Trump was discussing the need to protect the U.S. auto industry from overseas competition, and Trump later said he was referring to the auto industry when he used the term.

Trump has falsely claimed he won the 2020 election against Biden and was criminally charged in Washington and Georgia with illegally trying to overturn the results.

Biden dropped out of the campaign last month after fellow Democrats called for him to step aside following a poor debate performance against Trump that raised questions about the Democratic president’s age and health.

Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, has since captured the Democratic nomination and is running against Trump.
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Are vice presidential picks game changers for US elections?

Now that both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have selected their running mates, the question is whether those picks will actually help boost the campaigns’ chances of winning the November election. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias looks at the historical relevance of vice presidential candidates and what Tim Walz and JD Vance bring to their respective tickets.
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Dueling political rallies in one of US oldest cities

The two U.S. presidential tickets are set. Vice President Kamala Harris named her running mate Tuesday. But the presumed Democratic Party nominee wasn’t alone making news in one of America’s oldest cities, Philadelphia, in the northeastern state of Pennsylvania. That’s where we find VOA’s Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti.
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US presidential campaigns focus on battleground states with three months before vote

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Successful Democratic presidential ticket would reverberate in Minnesota

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Kamala Harris’ VP choice, Tim Walz, ‘happy’ to be labeled a liberal

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Harris selects Tim Walz as her running mate

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate Tuesday, capping off a whirlwind sequence of events since President Joe Biden endorsed her to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee less than three weeks ago. Harris and Walz will kick off a seven-state trip to some of the biggest battleground states in the election. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
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Harris selects Tim Walz as running mate for US presidential run

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Kamala Harris is now Democratic presidential nominee

WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris, a daughter of immigrants who rose through the California political and law enforcement ranks to become the first female vice president in U.S. history, formally secured the Democratic presidential nomination on Monday — becoming the first woman of color to lead a major party ticket.

More than four years after her first attempt at the presidency collapsed, Harris’ coronation as her party’s standard-bearer caps a tumultuous and frenetic period for Democrats prompted by President Joe Biden’s disastrous June debate performance that shattered his own supporters’ confidence in his reelection prospects and spurred extraordinary intraparty warfare about whether he should stay in the race.

Just as soon as Biden abruptly ended his candidacy, 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 survey of delegates nationwide showing she locked down the necessary commitments a mere 32 hours after Biden’s announcement.

Harris’ nomination became official after a five-day round of online balloting by Democratic National Convention delegates ended Monday night, with the party saying in a statement released just before midnight that 99% of delegates had cast their ballots for Harris. The party had long contemplated the early virtual roll call to ensure Biden would appear on the ballot in every state. It said it would next formally certify the vote before holding a celebratory roll call at the party’s convention later this month in Chicago.

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 are 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.

Already Harris has telegraphed that she doesn’t plan to veer much from the themes and policies that framed Biden’s candidacy, such as democracy, gun violence prevention and abortion rights. But her delivery can be far fierier, particularly when she invokes her prosecutorial background to lambast Trump and his 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records in connection with a hush money scheme.

“Given that unique voice of a new generation, of a prosecutor and a woman when fundamental rights, especially reproductive rights, are on the line, it’s almost as if the stars have aligned for her at this moment in history,” said Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California, who was tapped to succeed Harris in the Senate when she became vice president.

A splash in Washington before a collapse in the 2020 primaries

Kamala Devi Harris was born Oct. 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, to Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer scientist who emigrated to the United States from India when she was 19 years old, and Stanford University emeritus professor Donald Harris, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Jamaica. Her parents’ advocacy for civil rights gave her what she described as a “stroller’s-eye view” of the movement.

She spent years as a prosecutor in the Bay Area before her elevation as the state’s attorney general in 2010 and then election as U.S. senator in 2016.

Harris arrived in Washington as a senator at the dawn of the volatile Trump era, quickly establishing herself as a reliable liberal opponent of the new president’s personnel and policies and fanning speculation about a presidential bid of her own. Securing a spot on the coveted Judiciary Committee gave her a national spotlight to interrogate prominent Trump nominees, such as now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

“I’m not able to be rushed this fast,” then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions said during a 2017 hearing as Harris repeatedly pressed him on potential conversations with Russian nationals. “It makes me nervous.”

Harris launched her 2020 presidential campaign with much promise, drawing parallels to former President Barack Obama and attracting more than 20,000 people to a kickoff rally in her hometown. But Harris withdrew from the primary race before the first nominating contest in Iowa, plagued by staff dissent that spilled out into the open and an inability to attract enough campaign cash.

Harris struggled to deliver a consistent pitch to Democratic voters and wobbled on key issues such as health care. She suggested she backed eliminating private insurance for a full government-run system — “Medicare for All” coverage — before releasing her own health care plan that preserved private insurance. Now, during her nascent general election campaign, Harris has already reversed some of her earlier, more liberal positions, such as a ban on fracking that she endorsed in 2019.

And while Harris tried to deploy her law enforcement background as an asset in her 2020 presidential campaign, it never attracted enough support in a party that couldn’t reconcile some of her past tough-on-crime positions at a time of heightened focus on police brutality.

Joining Biden’s team — and an evolution as vice president

Still, Harris was at the top of the vice presidential shortlist when Biden was pondering his running mate, after his pledge in early 2020 that he would choose a Black woman as his No. 2. He was fond of Harris, who had forged a close friendship with his now-deceased son Beau, who had been Delaware’s attorney general when she was in that job for California.

Her first months as vice president were far from smooth. Biden asked her to lead the administration’s diplomatic efforts with Central America on the root causes of migration to the United States, which triggered attacks from Republicans on border security and remains a political vulnerability. It didn’t help matters that Harris stumbled in big interviews, such as in a 2021 sit-down with NBC News’ Lester Holt when she responded dismissively that “I haven’t been to Europe” when the anchor noted that she hadn’t visited the U.S.-Mexico border.

For her first two years, Harris also was often tethered to Washington so she could break tie votes in the evenly divided Senate, which gave Democrats landmark wins on the climate and health care but also constrained opportunities for her to travel around the country and meet voters.

Her visibility became far more prominent after the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that dismantled Roe v. Wade, as she became the chief spokesperson for the administration on abortion rights and was a more natural messenger than Biden, a lifelong Catholic who had in the past favored restrictions on the procedure. She is the first vice president to tour an abortion clinic and speaks about reproductive rights in the broader context of maternal health, especially for Black women.

Throughout her vice presidency, Harris has been careful to remain loyal to Biden while emphasizing that she would be ready to step in if needed. That dramatic transition began in late June after the first debate between Biden and Trump, where the president’s stumbles were so cataclysmic that he could never reverse the loss of confidence from other Democrats.

Headed to the top of the ticket

After Biden ended his candidacy July 21, he quickly endorsed Harris. And during the first two weeks of her 2024 presidential bid, enthusiasm among the Democratic base surged, with donations pouring in, scores of volunteers showing up at field offices and supporters swelling so much in numbers that event organizers have had to swap venues.

The Harris campaign now believes it has a renewed opportunity to compete in Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and Georgia — states that Biden had started to abandon in favor of shoring up the so-called “blue wall” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

“The country is able to see the Kamala Harris that we all know,” said Bakari Sellers, who was a national co-chair of her 2020 campaign. “We really didn’t allow the country to see her” four years ago. Sellers said: “We had her in bubble wrap. What people are seeing now is that she’s real, she’s talented.”

Yet Democrats are anticipating that Harris’ political honeymoon will wear off, and she is inevitably going to come under tougher scrutiny for Biden administration positions, the state of the economy and volatile situations abroad, particularly in the Middle East. Harris has also yet to answer extended questions from journalists nor sit down for a formal interview since she began her run.

The Trump campaign has been eager to define Harris as she continues to introduce herself to voters nationwide, releasing an ad blaming her for the high number of illegal crossings at the southern border during the Biden administration and dubbing her “Failed. Weak. Dangerously liberal.”

The Republican nominee’s supporters have also derisively branded Harris as a diversity hire, while Trump himself has engaged in ugly racial attacks of his own, wrongly asserting that Harris had in the past only promoted her Indian heritage and only recently played up her Black identity.

His remarks are previewing a season of racist and sexist claims against the person who would be the first woman and the first person of South Asian heritage in the presidency.

“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump said while addressing the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists. “So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

In her response, Harris called it “the same old show — the divisiveness and the disrespect” and said voters “deserve better.”

“The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts,” Harris said at a Sigma Gamma Rho sorority gathering in Houston. “We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us.”
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Harris to select running mate for US presidential run

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What is an open convention?

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Despite security concerns, TikTok still plays key role in 2024 race

Washington — Despite national security concerns about TikTok – and its ties to China – the popular short-form video app is playing an important role on the campaign trail for both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. The reason, experts say, is because the platform remains a crucial tool for candidates to reach young voters. 

Trump joined TikTok in June, where he currently has 9.5 million followers on the platform, more than the 7.47 million followers on his own social media service, Truth Social. 

Capitalizing on a sudden surge in popularity on the platform, Harris created a TikTok account on July 25. Harris has amassed more than 4.1 million followers. 

On both of their respective TikTok profiles, the candidates have adopted a unique TikTok style of campaigning, making use of popular background music, editing methods, and collaborations with popular celebrities. 

Young voters 

“A huge part of the reason why Joe Biden left the race is because voters thought he was out of touch, he was too old,” said Caitlin Chin-Rothmann, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who researches the impact of technology on geopolitics. “And so, I think both Trump and Harris are trying to position themselves as very relevant, especially when it comes to that younger demographic that’s harder to reach in general.” 

In one recent 8-second video, Harris is shown shaking hands with members of the USA Men’s Olympic basketball team to the sound of a screaming eagle and the buzz of an electric guitar. Twenty-nine-year-old rapper Megan Thee Stallion calls Harris “the future president of the United States” in another video on the candidate’s account. 

Trump has made videos with famous YouTuber brothers-turned-boxers Jake and Logan Paul, simulating pre-fight confrontations before breaking to hug each of the influencers. The video he filmed with Logan Paul has more than 157 million views. 

“I’m gonna save TikTok,” Trump says to the camera while holding a framed portrait of himself. In another video with famous UFC commentator Dana White, Trump describes joining TikTok as his honor. 

Beijing backed 

TikTok was adapted for overseas use by a Chinese social media platform owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance. Over one-third of American adults, and 62% of adults under 30, reportedly use TikTok, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center.

While he was president, Trump issued an executive order attempting to ban TikTok and WeChat, describing the Chinese-originated apps as a threat to American national security given that data collection on the platforms “threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.”

However, in an interview with CNBC in March, Trump said that while he still believes TikTok to be a national security threat, he understands that, if it were banned, a lot of young kids would “go crazy without it.”  

The former president also argued that a TikTok ban would ultimately benefit Facebook, which he described as “an enemy of the people.” After the January 6th Capitol riots, Meta suspended Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts for two years.  

Citing similar concerns to Trump’s, President Biden approved a bill in April that requires parent company ByteDance to sell the app to remain in the U.S. market. TikTok said it has not and will not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government and has been releasing a series of slick advertisements over the past year as the debate over its ownership has intensified, highlighting the benefit that TikTok provides to American citizens. 

Upper hand 

Arthur Herman, senior fellow and director of the Quantum Alliance Initiative at Hudson Institute, told VOA that although Trump’s and Harris’ decisions to campaign on TikTok are rational given the popularity of the app, American politicking occurring on a Chinese platform gives the Chinese government an upper hand. 

He said that TikTok, which is under the control of the Chinese government, will use its algorithm to influence the election results and “push one [candidate] who is probably going to be softer on China.” 

TikTok denies allegations that it is trying to carry out covert influence operations and has sued the federal government over the law that is forcing it to cut ties with its parent company to keep operating in the United States. 

In May, just a few weeks after the Brookings Institution released a study that said Russian state-media were boosting their use of the platform, the company said it was putting new regulations in place. Those regulations aimed to limit the reach of state media accounts. The company also pledged to release regular updates on what the platform is doing to fight back against covert influence. 

What’s next? 

Biden’s withdrawal from the race has left questions regarding the future of TikTok in the United States. Experts argue that even though TikTok’s fate is ultimately left up to the courts, a future president could try to revoke the ban or change the U.S. position toward Chinese companies. 

“No matter who wins the election in November, whether that’s Trump or Harris, they don’t have to take responsibility for the TikTok ban. Now they can say ‘that was Biden’s policy, not mine,’” Chin-Rothmann said. 

Herman is optimistic that the next president will continue to take actions against TikTok and ByteDance, and expressed hope that the United States will develop an “American version of TikTok.” 

“The most important next step is that we need an American TikTok. Let’s figure out a way in which to develop that and to turn America into high-tech leadership,” Herman said. He added that is where the real future lies. 

Katherine Michaelson contributed to this report.
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Senior economic aide Sperling leaving White House to work on Harris campaign

washington — White House senior adviser Gene Sperling is leaving his administration position to work with Vice President Kamala Harris’ election campaign as the Democrats step up efforts to challenge Donald Trump on policy issues in November’s election.

Sperling will be a senior economic adviser to Harris’ policy team. The shift was revealed by White House officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

Sperling served both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama as director of the White House National Economic Council. President Joe Biden tasked Sperling with managing his $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package, a role in which Sperling implemented the temporary expansion of the child tax credit. He was also the White House liaison to the union and car companies during the auto strikes.

“Under Gene’s leadership, the American Rescue Plan has delivered economic relief to cities and counties across the country, protected millions of union pensions, made the largest-ever federal investment in public safety, and kept thousands of small businesses afloat,” Biden said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press.

Sperling first worked with Harris when she was California attorney general during his time in the Obama administration. He frequently consulted with her as an outside adviser when she was in the Senate. The two partnered during the Biden presidency on promoting the monthly payments for the child tax credit, among other policies.

The pandemic programs halved child poverty with tax credits that went to 40 million families and provided rental assistance to 8 million.

But Republican critics blame the pandemic aid for sparking higher inflation, an issue that has hounded the Biden administration as many voters say that groceries, housing and gasoline have become less affordable. Financial markets opened Monday with a selloff as a weaker than expected jobs report last week has raised concerns about the U.S. economy’s resilience.

The White House has maintained that the inflation was global in nature, with chief of staff Jeff Zients saying that the efforts coordinated by Sperling “produced the strongest economy in the world.”

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, described the work that Sperling spearheaded as “generational investments” and credited him working with states to get the programs right.
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Who is Usha Vance, wife of Republican vice presidential nominee?

In the U.S. presidential election, likely Democratic candidate Kamala Harris is expected to announce her running mate Tuesday. Republican candidate Donald Trump last month chose Ohio Senator JD Vance. Vance went to law school at Yale, where he met his wife, Usha. She is a first-generation daughter of Indian immigrants who recently left her job at a top Washington, D.C., and California law firm. VOA’s Dora Mekouar has more about her. VOA footage by Adam Greenbaum.
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