How to watch President Biden’s speech tonight on dropping out of the 2024 race
Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden will deliver an Oval Office address on Wednesday night on his decision not to seek reelection and how he plans to finish his tenure as commander in chief.
What time is President Biden’s address from the Oval Office?
Biden said he will speak “on what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people” at 8 p.m. ET.
How to watch or livestream Biden’s address
ABC News Live will carry the network’s special report on the president’s speech.
The White House is also expected to stream the remarks live on their website and on YouTube.
It will be Biden’s first extensive, on-camera comments on his decision to step away from the 2024 campaign trail and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris.
The president first announced he would “stand down” from the race and focus his attention on the remaining six months of his term in a letter posted to social media on Sunday.
In the letter, addressed to his “fellow Americans,” Biden said it was the “greatest honor of my life to serve as your President.”
While he said his in-depth remarks on his decision would come later, Biden expressed his “deepest gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to see me reelected.”
“I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work,” he wrote. “And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me. I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do — when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.”
Biden’s decision to drop out of the race came after weeks of intense scrutiny from fellow Democrats about his ability to campaign and serve a second term after his poor debate performance against Donald Trump in June.
Biden was initially defiant, insisting he would stay the course and that only the “Lord Almighty” could tell him to step aside in the 2024 race.
But after a drumbeat of Democrats publicly called on him to step aside from his reelection bid, and other prominent leaders like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Majority Leader Hakeem Jeffries privately suggesting he do so, Biden made the decision to bow out.
Biden went on to endorse Harris to take his place atop the ticket.
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President,” he wrote in another social media post on Sunday. “And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks at a rally at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University on August 9, 2024, in Bozeman, Montana. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump focused partly on the economy during a speech in North Carolina on Wednesday as his campaign works to reset his close fight against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump advocated mostly for broad reforms, though, while offering little in the way of specifics and he went off on familiar tangents, including hurling repeated insults at Harris.
“Now this is a little bit different day,” Trump said as he began. “We’re talking about a thing called the economy. They wanted to do a speech on the economy. A lot of people are very devastated by what’s happened with inflation and all of the other things. So, we’re doing this as an intellectual speech. You’re all intellectuals today.”
Proposals he made included directing Cabinet secretaries and agencies to work to “defeat inflation,” getting rid of job regulations that he said were costing jobs, and highlighting his call for “no tax on tips” and eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits for seniors. He also repeated “drill, baby, drill” as his key solution to solving economic issues, accusing Democrats of using the environment to stop the oil and gas industry.
“Inflation is destroying our country. It’s destroying our families. We will target everything from car affordability to housing affordability to insurance costs to supply chain issues … to the price of prescription drugs, I will instruct my Cabinet that I expect results within the first 100 days, or much sooner than that,” Trump said.
The economy has been one of the Trump campaign’s central election issues this cycle — the former president often spending considerable time discussing inflation, gas prices and the job market. His speech on Wednesday — specifically his attacks on the Biden-Harris administration — included falsehoods as he painted a better situation of the U.S. economy during his administration over the current one.
Trump falsely claimed that when he left office the economy was surging when in fact the unemployment rate was at 6.4% in January 2021. Now, it’s much lower at 4.3%.
He also said inflation has never been as high as it was under President Joe Biden; however, the annual inflation rate peaked at 9% in June 2022 under Biden, and it reached 15% in April 1980. Now, it’s at 2.9%.
Attacking Harris, Trump branded her as a complainer and argued that the policies she’s currently advocating for shouldn’t be taken seriously because she would have already accomplished them as vice president.
“Kamala has declared that tackling inflation will be a day one priority … But day one for Kamala was three and a half years ago. Why hasn’t she done it?” Trump said.
After Harris recently advocated for the same no tax on tips policy Trump had announced earlier in the summer, the Trump campaign called Harris “Copy Cat Kamala,” and Trump on stage said it was evidence that she would copy all of his economic policies.
“When Kamala lays out her fake economic plans this week, it will probably be a copy of my plan, because basically, that’s what she does,” he said ahead of Harris’s economic plan rollout set for Friday.
“She’s doing a plan. You know she’s going to announce it this week. Maybe she’s, she’s waiting for me to announce it so she can copy it,” he said.
“During what was billed as a speech about his economic vision, Donald Trump said he’s ‘not sure the economy is the most important topic’ – because when you’re running to slash taxes for rich donors and corporations it’s easy not to care about the working families and middle class Americans who get hurt as a result,” Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement shared with ABC News.
(WASHINGTON) — As Vice President Kamala Harris continues to search for her 2024 running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is receiving some new buzz.
Walz, a veteran and former public school teacher now in his second term as governor, is making a name for himself in the veepstakes conversation as he stumps for Harris on the campaign trail and in cable news hits on CNN, MSNBC and even Fox News.
Clips of him at an event for Harris in St. Paul on Saturday clad in a simple gray T-shirt and camouflage baseball hat have gone viral online, as are his comments describing Donald Trump and J.D. Vance as “weird” people.
While he hasn’t said if he’s received vetting materials from the Harris campaign, Walz said on Sunday it was “certainly an honor” to be mentioned as a possible pick.
“I put him pretty low, as most of us did, as a candidate for vice president but he’s absolutely everywhere at this point and he’s getting a really good bounce,” said David Schultz, a professor of political science at Hamline University in Minnesota.
Walz, 60, served in the Army National Guard and was a high school social studies teacher and football coach before he was elected to Congress in 2006. He served for six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives representing a rural area of the state that had typically leaned conservative.
As governor, with the help of a narrow Democratic majority in the state legislature, he’s implemented a bevy of progressive policies including: paid family leave, universal school breakfast and lunch, legalization of recreational marijuana use, state codification of abortion rights and gun control measures like universal background checks and red flag laws.
“He’s good at articulating the argument for the Democratic Party’s agenda and he himself can say, ‘Look, I’m an example. My state is an example of what happens when you elect Democrats,'” said Schultz.
“He seems to have some buzz with some progressives, with some younger voters at this point,” he added. “He’s been able to check the box with a lot of critical constituencies in terms of where he stands on a variety of issues.”
One vocal supporter of Walz in recent days has been David Hogg, the co-founder of March for Our Lives — one of the country’s largest youth-led movements. The group made its first-ever presidential endorsement in support of Harris last week.
Hogg has said Walz would make an “incredible VP” and praised the governor as “so down to earth and such an excellent communicator.”
Others online have shared similar views, saying Walz “talks like a human” and comes across as “authentic.”
“Governor Walz has caught fire not because of one viral interview but because he talks to voters like they’re his neighbors,” said Tim Hogan, a Democratic strategist who was the communications director for Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s 2020 presidential campaign.
“He speaks in a way that is real, and the more voters learn about him, the more they like him,” Hogan said. “With a slim majority in Minnesota, he lowered costs for families and improved health care. It’s a Prairie Populist agenda that has worked in the Midwest, and he’s now bringing it to the national stage.”
As a surrogate for Harris, Walz has praised her for reenergizing the party and has defended her record against Trump’s attacks claiming she is “ultra-liberal.”
“He’s going to roll it out, mispronounce names, you know, to try and make the case,” Walz said of Trump attacking Harris during an appearance Sunday on CNN. “The fact of the matter is where you see the policies that Vice President Harris was a part of making, Democratic governors across the country executed those policies and quality of life is higher, the economies are better, all of those things, educational attainment is better.”
Walz’s communication style, Midwest bonafides and blue-collar background could make him an attractive pick for Harris.
Still, there are things working against him when it come to what Harris may be seeking in a running mate, Schultz said.
Unlike other contenders, such as Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly or Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Walz doesn’t represent a key 2024 swing state battleground.
And his record, while a boon for Democrats, could be fodder for Republicans to tag a Harris-Walz ticket as too progressive.
“By Minnesota standards, Walz is center-left,” Schultz said. “If you look at the critical swing states across the United States, like Georgia and Pennsylvania, he’s absolutely liberal in those states.”
Walz has also responded to criticisms that he may be viewed as too liberal.
“What a monster!” Walz quipped on CNN. “Kids are eating and having full bellies so they can go learn and women are making their own healthcare decisions … So, if that’s where they want to label me, I’m more than happy to take the label.”
There are about 12 people being considered for Harris’s running mate, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce. Harris is expected to make her announcement by Aug. 7.
Democratic Presidential candidate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks during the Sigma Gamma Rho’s 60th International Biennial Boule at the George R. Brown Convention Center on July 31, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris has secured enough Democratic Party delegate votes to become the party’s nominee when voting ends on Monday, according to the Democratic National Committee. And Harris is close to naming her running mate.
Former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance, have spoken to voters across the country this past week as they sharpen their attacks on Harris.
Here’s how the news is developing:
JD Vance to also give remarks in same states as Harris this week
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance is scheduled to give remarks in the same states on the same days as Vice President Kamala Harris this week, the Trump-Vance campaign announced, as Harris embarks on a battleground state tour.
Vance is scheduled to speak at noon ET in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The event comes as Harris is set to hold a rally with her yet-to-be-announced running mate Tuesday night in the city.
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to deliver remarks in the Detroit suburb of Shelby Township, Michigan, and Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as Harris also campaigns in those states then.
Then on Thursday, he is set to speak in Raleigh and Oakboro in North Carolina, aligning with Harris’ scheduled visit to the state.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Bon Iver to campaign with Harris in Wisconsin
Bon Iver will join Harris and her running mate on Wednesday in Eau Claire, Wisconsin — where the Grammy-winning indie folk band was founded — for a “special performance” as part of the campaign’s battleground state tour, the Harris campaign announced on Monday.
-ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Will McDuffie and Isabella Murray
Harris still deliberating on VP pick: Source
At this moment, Vice President Harris has not decided on a running mate and is still deliberating, according to a source.
More than 10K people expected at Harris’ Philly rally: Source
More than 10,000 people are expected to attend Harris’ rally Tuesday night in Philadelphia, where she’ll be joined by her new running mate, according to a source familiar with the plans.
That would make this the biggest event yet for the Harris campaign.
Harris is looking to build off her momentum. Pennsylvania kicks off her swing through seven battleground states in five days.
The pace of her campaign is in stark contrast to Trump’s, which has only one rally scheduled this week — in Montana on Friday.
Usha Vance says husband’s ‘childless cat ladies’ comment was a ‘quip’
In her first interview since her husband was named former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Usha Vance sat down with Fox & Friends where she discussed her husband’s “childless cat ladies” comment that has gained attention recently — calling it a “quip.”
“The reality is, JD made a quote – I mean, he made a quip, and he made a quip in service of making a point that he wanted to make that was substantive,” Usha Vance said of the comments her husband made in 2021. “And I just wish sometimes that people would talk about those things and that we would spend a lot less time just sort of going through this three-word phrase or that three-word phrase.”
She continued, “What he was really saying is that it can be really hard to be a parent in this country, and sometimes our policies are designed in a way that make it even harder.”
She added that her husband “would never ever ever want to say something to hurt someone who was trying to have a family who really was struggling with that.”
JD Vance has called the comments “sarcastic.”
“Let’s try to look at the real conversation that he’s trying to have and engage with it and understand for those of us who do have families, for the many of us who want to have families, and for whom it’s really hard,” Usha Vance said on Monday. “What can we do to make it better? What can we do to make it easier to live in 2024?”
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Hannah Demissie, Lalee Ibssa and Soorin Kim
Pelosi says she spoke with Biden ahead of his withdrawal ‘asking for a campaign that would win’
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, in an interview with Good Morning America anchor George Stephanopolous on Monday morning, said that she spoke with President Joe Biden ahead of his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race “asking for a campaign that would win.” She also said Biden was “the only person that I spoke to” about Biden possibly withdrawing.
“The only person that I spoke to about this was the president. Other people called me about what their views were about it, and — but I rarely even returned a call, much less initiated one,” Pelosi said.
Later, she added, “I wasn’t asking him to step down. I was asking for a campaign that would win, and I wasn’t seeing that on the horizon.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ choice for her running mate is a the “most important” decision she has to make as her campaign gets started, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
All of her choices appear to be good, Pelosi added.
“It’s a difficult decision because they are all so great,” she told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America on Monday. “It is the most important decision for her to make. Not just about who can help win, but who can help serve and lead and whose confidence she trusts.”
Harris and to-be-announced running mate to launch seven-state tour Tuesday
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, who is yet to be named, will go on tour, hitting seven battleground states in five days, the Harris campaign said Monday.
The tour will be an effort to “introduce the new Democratic ticket” and “speak directly with voters in their communities and cement the contrast between our ticket and Trump’s,” campaign said.
The tour, which kicks off Tuesday in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will feature rallies in cities and stops at college campuses, including HBCUs, union halls, family-owned restaurants and their field offices, the campaign said.
The tour will continue through Eau Claire, Wisconsin; Detroit, Michigan; Durham, North Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Phoenix, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada, the campaign said.
Harris interviewing top VP contenders today at her residence: Source
Vice President Harris is meeting with top running mate candidates Sunday at her residence at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., according to a source familiar with the matter.
Harris is meeting with at least three leading contenders — Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, according to the source.
The meetings were earlier reported by The New York Times.
Sen. JD Vance says he wears VP pick criticism as a ‘badge of honor’
In a Fox News interview Sunday, Sen. JD Vance responded to criticism of him being picked as former President Donald Trump’s running mate, saying he takes it as a “badge of honor.”
“All I can do is go out there and prosecute the case against Kamala Harris to remind people that things were more prosperous and more peaceful when Donald Trump was president,” Vance said. “Look, I recognize there are a lot of folks even in the GOP establishment and certainly on the far left who don’t like the fact that Donald Trump picked me, I actually take their criticism as a badge of honor.”
Vance also hit back at Democrats who’ve called him “weird,” calling it “a lot of projection.”
“They can call me whatever they want to. The middle school taunts don’t bother me,” he said. “What offends me is what Kamala Harris has done to this country over three and a half years.”
Harris campaign launches ‘Republicans for Harris’ outreach program
Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign announced Sunday that it would be launching a “Republicans for Harris” program aimed at reaching Republican voters who could be convinced to vote for Harris. The program will include digital advertising, phone banking, events and other initiatives, according to the campaign.
The program — and Harris herself — have been endorsed by a number of Republican figures, including former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
“I might not agree with Vice President Kamala Harris on everything, but I know that she will fight for our freedom, protect our democracy, and represent America with honor and dignity on the world stage,” Grisham wrote in a statement released by the Harris campaign.
The “Republicans for Harris” program will hold kickoff events starting this week, per the campaign.
