North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper withdraws from race to be Harris’ vice presidential running mate
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper speaks before U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at a post-debate campaign rally on June 28, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement on Monday night signaling that he’s removed himself from contention as a vice presidential running mate for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President. I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket,” he said in a post on X.
“As l’ve said from the beginning, she has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins,” he added.
Moments after Cooper issued his statement, he delivered remarks on a “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom call, but did not address withdrawing as a possible running mate. The governor instead took the time to boost Harris’ candidacy, saying, “We know that this country needs Kamala Harris more than ever right now, and we can hold the key now.”
Cooper previously announced his support for Harris’ presidential campaign. On July 21, he formally endorsed the vice president, writing, “Kamala Harris should be the next President. I’ve known @VP going back to our days as AGs, and she has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country thoughtfully and with integrity. I look forward to campaigning for her as we work to win NC up and down the ticket.”
Cooper, who is the former chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, was seen as a possible top contender for Harris’ 2024 election ticket to expand the Democratic Party’s reach into swing states.
If Cooper were to join Harris’ campaign, however, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson would become active governor while on the campaign trail, under constitutional law.
Robinson is the Republican party’s nominee for governor in the state, in the race to replace Cooper who is term-limited from running for a third time.
Other rumored contenders for Harris’ running mate include Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
Harris is expected to announce her VP nomination by Aug. 7, ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which will kick off in Chicago on Aug. 19.
Liz Cheney attends Liz Cheney in Conversation with David Rubenstein at The 92nd Street Y, New York, June 26, 2023. (Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, a staunch critic of former President Donald Trump, announced Wednesday that she will be voting for Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, revealed her decision during a panel at Duke University and reiterated her warnings of the dangers of a second Trump term.
“As a conservative and as someone who cares and believes in the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this and because of the danger Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris,” she said to a roaring crowd.
Harris is “proud” to get “patriot” Cheney’s endorsement, the Harris campaign said in a statement Wednesday night as it continues to court Republican voters ahead of the election.
“The Vice President is proud to have earned Congresswoman Cheney’s vote. She is a patriot who loves this country and puts our democracy and our Constitution first,” Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote. “As she noted in her powerful remarks, this election is a choice between the fundamental threat Donald Trump poses to our democracy and a leader who will stand up for our freedoms and the rule of law in Vice President Harris.”
Answering questions from the audience at a campaign event in Mesa, Arizona, Trump’s running mate Ohio Sen. JD Vance blasted Cheney for backing Harris.
“A very good thing that I could say about the next Presidency of Donald J. Trump is that he’s going to make sure that people like Liz Cheney are laughed out of the Oval Office instead of rewarded,” Vance said.
Cheney voted to impeach Trump following what she has called the “insurrection” of Jan. 6, 2021, and was vice chair of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. She received backlash from Trump and other Republicans for her criticism of the former president and was censured by the Republican National Committee.
Trump said in March that Cheney and the entire Jan. 6 committee should be jailed.
Cheney lost her seat in the 2022 primary to Trump-backed Harriet Hageman by more than 60,000 votes, according to election results.
Since leaving Congress, Cheney has continued to criticize MAGA Republicans and Trump.
“I think we have to take everything that Donald Trump says literally and seriously,” Cheney said in an interview with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl in December.
“And I think that we saw, frankly, what he was willing to do already after the 2020 election in the lead up to Jan. 6, after Jan 6,” she continued. “People need to remember that when Donald Trump woke up on the morning of Jan. 6, he thought he was going to remain as president. And we saw the extent to which he was willing to attempt to seize power when he lost an election.”
(WASHINGTON) –Suspense is building as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate selection announcement nears — with the process now resting in her own hands as of Friday, a person familiar tells ABC News.
The vetting, led by former Attorney General Eric Holder and his team at the Covington and Burling law firm, has concluded and the process has been turned over to Harris, the source said.
Harris is expected to announce her pick by Tuesday evening, when she and her running mate will appear together for a rally in Philadelphia, kicking off a multi-day blitz through battleground states.
They will make stops in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
News that the process has now entered this final stage was first reported by the New York Times.
All eyes are now on potential running mates — a mix of governors and one senator. Sources have confirmed to ABC News that Harris’ vetting team has met with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has canceled the fundraisers he had planned in the Hamptons this weekend, ABC News has confirmed. It’s unclear now what his weekend schedule entails.
In a gaggle with the press following a bill signing ceremony on Friday in Pennsylvania, Shapiro dodged a series of questions about the running mate process.
“I think any process questions like that should go directly to the Harris campaign,” Shapiro said when asked if he’d met yet with Harris.
When asked what he’d bring to a presidential ticket, he said, “I’m not going to engage in those kinds of hypotheticals,” he said
But when asked if he’d be in “Philadelphia on Tuesday” — when Harris is scheduled to campaign for the first time with her running mate — Shapiro responded: “I hope to be.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has also canceled an item on his Friday schedule amid speculation he may be in the running.
When asked by The Daily Show host Jon Stewart on Monday if he was being vetted, Buttigieg laughed and said “probably.”
In an appearance on ABC’s “The View” on Friday, Buttigieg was more circumspect: ” I’m flattered to even be mentioned in this context, and it’s a very important choice, and she’s going to make the choice that is right for her, for the ticket in the campaign, but most of all, for the country.”
What about his weekend plans? Pritzker had some fun answering: “Lollapalooza is happening this weekend here in Chicago … I’ve heard other governors talking about how they’ve canceled their weekend plans. I was gonna perform, of course, with Blink-182 on Sunday, but I’ve canceled in order to clear my schedule.”
Walz also has declined to directly address if he is in contention, telling reporters Thursday, “I’m not interviewing for anything. I’m just, am who I am, and put it out there,” adding that the decision belongs to Harris.
In a tongue-in-cheek aside later, he added, “I don’t know if every high school geography teacher expects to be in this position at some point, but it is very strange to be running on my treadmill and have people talking about the things that are there and and I scream back, this guy is too old.”
Another possible vice presidential contender, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, gave a stump-style speech at a dinner hosted by the Oklahoma Democratic Party on Thursday night, praising Harris as someone who is “going to move us into the future”
“As she says, ‘we’re not going back.’ Or as I say, ‘we ain’t going back,'” he added.
President Joe Biden — who endorsed Harris’ presidential bid immediately after he withdrew from the race — is giving no hints as to who Harris might choose.
Leaving the White House on Friday, Biden said “yes” when asked if he has spoken to Harris about her running mate.
“I’ll let her work that out,” Biden said when asked what qualities Harris should look for in who she chooses.
Asked who Harris should select, Biden did not respond and laughed.
ABC News’ Tommy Barone, Jacob Steinberg, Lauren Peller, Hannah Demissie, Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, and Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
(CHICAGO) — The venues may have changed, and the planning and special events may have gotten splashier with younger VIPs, but for more than 40 years, there has been one constant at Democratic Party conventions: Bill Clinton.
The former president, who just turned 78, is scheduled to speak ahead of Gov. Tim Walz at Wednesday night’s gathering, marking his 13th time making remarks at the event.
Clinton’s address will be hopeful and aspirational, according to a source familiar with its contents.
The source also said it will include fiery, newsworthy jabs aimed at former President Donald Trump and will highlight the qualities that make for a responsible, qualified commander in chief in the nation’s highest office.
His speech is expected to highlight the striking differences in vision, experience and temperament between Harris and Trump, the source said, underscoring the vice president’s story and what her candidacy means for the nation.
Wednesday’s speech is his 13th
His timeline at the conventions showcased his rise through the party ranks to the top of the Democratic ticket and being enshrined as one of its most prominent historical figures.
After giving a brief speech at the 1976 convention, where he talked about the legacy of former President Harry Truman, Clinton was invited to speak at the 1980 convention when he was freshman governor of Arkansas.
The 33-year-old gave a brief speech, talking about his upbringing in Hope, Arkansas, and the dreams for his then 6-month-old daughter Chelsea.
Between that convention and the next, Clinton had lost one gubernatorial reelection and won another, earning the nickname “the comeback kid.” Speaking at the 1984 convention, representing the New Democrats movement, Clinton invoked Harry Truman in his pitch to the Democrats.
“He began the Democratic Party’s historic commitment to civil rights and brought the United States into peacetime cooperation with other nations,” he said.
Clinton was given a major speaking slot at the 1988 DNC with a primetime speech ahead of the nomination of Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.
The speech turned out to be memorable but in the wrong way. Clinton spoke for 35 minutes, much longer than his planned 15, boring the crowd.
In fact, one of the loudest responses came at the end when Clinton told the crowd, “In closing.”
He would get a different reception four years later at the DNC at New York’s Madison Square Garden when he accepted the party’s nomination for president.
‘The Man from Hope’
Before his speech, an autobiographical video was played titled “The Man from Hope,” a theme that Clinton emphasized in a 53-minute speech.
“I still believe in a place called Hope,” he told the roaring crowd.
During his speech at the 1996 DNC, Clinton flipped the message of his Republican opponent Sen. Bob Dole, who campaigned on the idea of being a bridge to the past.
“Let us resolve to build a bridge to the 21st century,” he said.
Clinton’s next appearance at the DNC came after rough four years at the White House. He became the second president to be impeached on perjury and obstruction of justice charges following an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
The Senate later acquitted him on those charges.
Clinton entered the Staples Arena during the 2000 DNC with a camera following his path to the podium while the arena’s screen displayed his administration’s successes such as the first budget surplus in decades and declines in crime.
“My fellow Americans, the future of our country is now in your hands,” he said. “And remember, whenever you think about me, keep putting people first.”
In 2004, Clinton told Democratic delegates that he came as a “foot soldier” to help elect Sen. John Kerry.
He reminded the nation that was in the midst of two wars in the Middle East following the Sept. 11 attacks of more peaceful times.
When Hillary Clinton ran against Barack Obama
In 2008, Clinton began the campaign season championing Sen. Hillary Clinton in her bid for the Democratic nominee, even taking jabs at her competitor then Sen. Barack Obama.
Clinton showed no animosity towards Obama during his speech at the 2008 DNC.
“Senator Obama’s life is a 21st century incarnation of the old-fashioned American dream. His achievements are proof of our continuing progress toward the more perfect union of our founders’ dreams,” he said.
Clinton would repeat this sentiment during his remarks four years later.
In 2016, Clinton took the DNC stage in another new role as the spouse of the Democratic presidential candidate. In his speech, he talked about their relationship and her resolve to help Americans.
“But for this time, Hillary is uniquely qualified to seize the opportunities and reduce the risks we face. And she is still the best darn change-maker I have ever known,” he said.
Like other speakers, Clinton’s appearance at the 2020 DNC was done virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In just video message recorded from his Chappaqua, New York home, Clinton reassured voters that former Vice President Joe Biden was the best candidate to lead America back.
“It’s Trump’s “Us vs. Them” America against Joe Biden’s America, where we all live and work together. It’s a clear choice. And the future of our country is riding on it,” he said.
ABC News’ Gabriella Abdul-Hakim contributed to this report.
