Biden gives 1st remarks since leaving 2024 race during Harris campaign meeting

WASHINGTON - Speaking to campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, Vice President Kamala Harris acknowledged the "rollercoaster" of the last several weeks, but expressed confidence in her new campaign team.

"It is my intention to go out and earn this nomination and to win," she said. She promised to "unite our Democratic party, to unite our nation, and to win this election."

She quickly leaned into the themes that will be prominent in her campaign against Trump over the coming 100 days, contrasting her time as a prosecutor with Trump's felony convictions — "I know Donald Trump’s type," she said — and casting herself as a defender of economic opportunity and abortion access.

"Our fight for the future is also a fight for freedoms," she said. "The baton is in our hands."

Harris also spoke at length in praise of President Joe Biden, calling him and first lady Dr. Jill Biden, family. 

The president called into the meeting from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he is recovering from COVID-19, to lend his support to Harris. He planned to talk about his decision to step aside in an address to the nation later this week.

"The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all," Biden said in his first public remarks since announcing his decision to step aside, promising he was "not going anywhere" and plans to campaign on Harris' behalf.

Biden said of his decision to step aside, "It was the right thing to do."

As he handed off the mantle of leadership to Harris, Biden added: "I’m watching you kid. I love you," to which Harris responded with, "I love you." 

Earlier on Monday, Harris made her first public appearance Monday since Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race, where she spoke briefly at an event honoring National Collegiate Athletic Association championship teams. She was filling in for Biden, who is recovering after contracting COVID-19.

Harris said a few words about Biden's legacy before she continued on with programming, saying his accomplishments were "unmatched" in modern history.

She did not acknowledge his endorsement or her Harris for President campaign.

Here are the latest updates regarding her presidential bid: 

Holding Monday campaign event

After her remarks at the White House Monday, she is scheduled to travel that afternoon to Wilmington, Delaware for a campaign engagement.

Record-breaking $81 million raised

Harris’ presidential campaign has raised $81 million in grassroots donations from more than 888,000 donors. 

The record-breaking funds were raised in the first 24 hours since Biden's endorsement, according to the Harris campaign. 

The campaign added that the figure represents grassroots donations raised across "all entities, including ActBlue." 

Biden's exit on Sunday, prompted by Democratic worries over his fitness for office, was a seismic shift to the presidential contest that upended both major political parties' carefully honed plans for the 2024 race.

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Prominent Democratic elected officials, party leaders and political organizations quickly lined up behind Harris in the hours after Biden announced he was dropping his reelection campaign.

On Sunday afternoon, Biden’s campaign formally changed its name to Harris for President, reflecting that she is inheriting his political operation of more than 1,000 staffers and a war chest that stood at nearly $96 million at the end of June.

Harris spent much of Sunday surrounded by family and staff, making more than 100 calls to Democratic officials to line up their support for her candidacy, according to the Associated Press, citing a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the effort. 

It comes as she tries to move her party past the painful, public wrangling that had defined the weeks since Biden's June 27 debate performance with Trump, which led many to question the 81-year-old’s fitness to lead for another four years.

Speaking to party leaders, Harris expressed gratitude for Biden's endorsement but insisted she was looking to earn the nomination in her own right, the person said.

RELATED: DNC chair vows ‘transparent’ process for new nominee after Biden exits 2024 race

Harris, in a statement, praised Biden’s "selfless and patriotic act" in deciding to leave the race and said she intends to "earn and win" her party’s nomination.

"I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda," she said.

Top Democrats endorsing Harris

In a sign that the Democratic Party was moving to coalesce behind her, Harris quickly won endorsements from the leadership of several influential caucuses and political organizations, including the AAPI Victory Fund, which focuses on Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, The Collective PAC, focused on building Black political power, and the Latino Victory Fund, as well as the chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the entire Congressional Black Caucus. 

RELATED: After Biden drops out: What happens to his campaign funds?

Harris, if elected, would be the first woman and first person of South Asian descent to be president.

Notably, a handful of men who had already been discussed as potential running mates for Harris — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — also swiftly issued statements endorsing her. 

Aides to Shapiro and Cooper confirmed that Harris spoke with them Sunday afternoon. In her brief call with Cooper, the North Carolina governor told Harris he was backing her to be the Democratic nominee, according to Cooper spokeswoman Sadie Weiner.

However, former President Barack Obama held off on an immediate endorsement, as some in the party have expressed worry that the quick shift to Harris would appear to be a coronation, instead pledging his support behind the eventual party nominee.

Meanwhile, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who left the party earlier this year to become an independent, is considering re-registering as a Democrat to vie for the nomination against the vice president, according to Jonathan Kott, a longtime adviser to Manchin.

Virtual roll call will happen as planned

The Democratic Party plans to push forward with a virtual roll call in which delegates to its convention can choose a presidential nominee before they gather next month in Chicago — despite Harris being overwhelmingly favored to replace Biden at the top of the ticket.

The convention rules committee will meet Wednesday to approve how the virtual roll call will work, but a draft of the plan was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday night. It does not list a date for when virtual voting would begin, but Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said the process will be completed by Aug. 7 — or 12 days before the party's convention begins.

"We are living through an unprecedented moment in history and, as a party, we are tackling it with the seriousness that it deserves," Harrison said on a conference call with reporters. "We are prepared to undertake a transparent, swift and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a nominee who represents our values."

He also said Democrats "can, and will, be both fast and fair as we execute this nomination."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. It was reported from Cincinnati.

Kamala Harris2024 ElectionJoe BidenU.S.