“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

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Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, to be her running mate in the 2024 election, according to NBC News.

Harris interviewed multiple candidates ahead of the announcement, the Associated Press reported. That included Govs. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, as well as Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Harris opted for the governor of a swing-state who has successfully pushed multiple democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

“I am proud to announce that I’ve asked @Tim_Walz to be my running mate,” Harris posted on X Tuesday morning. “As a governor, a coach, a teacher, and a veteran, he’s delivered for working families like his. It’s great to have him on the team.”

Walz posted shortly after.

“It is the honor of a lifetime to join @kamalaharris in this campaign,” Walz posted on X. “I’m all in. Vice President Harris is showing us the politics of what’s possible. It reminds me a bit of the first day of school. So, let’s get this done, folks! Join us.”

Those who Walz were competing with for the bid posted their support on X.

“Tim Walz is an exceptionally effective governor – and also great to work with,” Buttigieg posted on X. “I’m excited for what his Midwestern voice, military experience, and common-sense values will bring to our winning ticket, and for everything the Harris-Walz administration will deliver for Americans.”

“My friend @Tim_Walz is an excellent choice to be the next Vice President of the United States,” Pritzker posted. “I’m ready to work alongside the Harris-Walz team to help ensure victory for Democrats up and down the ballot in November. Let’s win this!”

“My work here in Pennsylvania is far from finished — there is a lot more stuff I want to get done for our Commonwealth,” Shapiro posted. “Over the next 90 days, I look forward to traveling all across the Commonwealth to unite Pennsylvanians behind my friends Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and defeat Donald Trump.”

“Vice President @KamalaHarris and Governor @Tim_Walz are going to move us forward,” Kelly posted. “They’re already building a campaign to unite our country — and @GabbyGiffords and I are ready to do everything we can to help them win.”

“It was an honor to be considered in this process, but @Tim_Walz is a great friend and a great choice,” Beshear posted. “I fully support this new ticket and will work to elect @KamalaHarris as our next President of the United States.”

Here’s how others – from prominent politicians to celebrities to Minnesota representatives – reacted to the announcement.

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“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

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Walz also served in the House of Representatives for more than a decade and had a decades-long military career in the Army National Guard, but many voters are still getting to know Minnesota’s chief executive.

Born in Nebraska, Walz enlisted in the Army National Guard out of high school. He served in the Guard for more than two decades before retiring his position in 2005.

During that time, Walz completed college and became a high school teacher. He first gained fame in the state after leading Mankato West to their first-ever state championship in football, according to his official campaign biography.

After retiring from the National Guard, Walz decided to run for Congress, and was elected to the House in 2006 in a district that had typically voted for Republicans. He was reelected in four successive elections, and according to NPR was the highest-ranking retired enlisted solider to ever serve in Congress.

Walz typically supported key progressive values in Congress, including opposing continued increases of troop levels in Iraq and in favor of the Affordable Care Act. He also occasionally would push back on the Obama administration, at one point joining 17 Democrats who voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in criminal contempt of Congress after he declined to turn over documents related to the Fast and Furious scandal.

After serving five terms in Congress, Walz was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018, and quickly went about establishing himself as a progressive liberal with a slew of legislation to back up that classification.

Among the pieces of legislation highlighted on his official biography are a bill to provide free college tuition to students whose family incomes are under $80,000, expanding background checks on all weapons purchases, and providing free meals to all Minnesota school students.

He also has a track record of backing labor unions and workers, including expanding protections for workers in Amazon warehouses and banning non-compete agreements, according to his official website.

In recent weeks, Walz has stepped up his attacks on former President Donald Trump and Sen. JD Vance. His most famed contribution to the current political climate was the introduction of the adjective “weird,” which he used during an MSNBC interview to describe Republican politicians who he said misrepresented small-town values.

“We do not like what has happened where we can’t even go to Thanksgiving dinner with our uncle because you end in some weird fight that is unnecessary,” he said. “It’s true. These guys are just weird.”

The “weird” adjective has become a source of heated debate, with Republicans and Democrats slinging the term at one another as it became a viral hit on multiple social media platforms.

Now, Walz will take his folksy approach directly to voters on a massive battleground state tour with Harris, including stops in Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada. He’ll also address voters on a national stage in Chicago at the Democratic National Convention later this month, with a presumed Wednesday speaking slot at the event.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Taiwan is under growing pressure to build up its defense capabilities and deterrence against China in the face of uncertainty surrounding the U.S. elections slated for November, according to security and policy analysts. 

Taiwan’s foreign minister, Lin Chia-lung, last month told reporters that the self-governed island must rely on itself for defense and will likely keep spending and modernizing its military in the face of threats from China, which sees the island as its own.

The minister’s comments came in response to presidential candidate Donald Trump suggesting that Taipei should pay Washington for military protection. Trump said that the country “doesn’t give us anything” and has taken “100% of our chip business.” 

Experts said Trump’s remarks highlighted the unpredictability that faces Taiwan, especially after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, who has relatively less foreign policy experience.

‘Unpredictable’ Trump

While Biden has been “more consistent in his policy toward Taiwan,” Trump, since the start of his first term, has proven to be “erratic and unpredictable,” said Stephen Naggy, professor of politics and international studies at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan.

This is largely due to a difference in strategy between the two leaders. While Biden has, on several occasions, stated the U.S. would come to Taiwan’s defense, Trump has opted for “strategic ambiguity,” Naggy added. 

Just days after his inauguration, Trump had become the first U.S. president in decades to communicate directly with Taiwan‘s president. 

Soon after, he suggested that the U.S. may change its long-held position that Taiwan was part of “one China.” However, he reportedly walked back on that position on a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in February 2016. 

Regardless, Trump’s tough stance on China has led many in Taiwan to believe he would support the island substantially, according to Lu-Chung Weng, a Political Science professor at Sam Houston State University.

Similar to 2016, the candidate is running on a tough-on-China policy and has already proposed a major ramp-up of his trade war against the country. 

According to Muhammad Faizal, a research fellow at Singapore-based S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, a tougher China containment stance by Trump 2.0 would be welcomed by the ruling party of Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners. 

However, he added that they also fear that Trump’s “myopic and transactional approach” to foreign and defense relations — exemplified by his comments about Taiwan paying the U.S. for defense — could place them back on his geopolitical dartboard.

Meanwhile, while experts who spoke to CNBC agreed that a second Trump administration was likely to be packed with China hawks who see defending Taiwan as a top priority, the extent to which they may be able to steer policy remains unclear. 

“I think anyone who says they’re sure where [the administration] would head is out of their mind … I think the degree of unpredictability would be greater than ever,” said Richard Heydarian, policy adviser and senior lecturer of international affairs at the University of the Philippines.

Harris’ statecraft?

On the other side of the ballot is presumptive democratic nominee Harris, after Biden succumbed to pressure to drop out of the race amid concerns about his age. 

According to analysts, she is expected to remain somewhat consistent with Biden’s agenda and foreign policy. 

“I see [Harris] as a continuity play in terms of foreign policy trends more broadly over the last several decades,” Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Foresight, told CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” last week. 

Dewardric McNeal, managing director and senior policy analyst at Longview Global, said there was a lack of clarity on exactly what Harris thinks as distinct from Biden, with her first 100 days to be closely watched by Beijing if she were to win.

As vice president, Harris has expressed support for Taiwan and met with the island’s new leader, Lai Ching-te, in 2022. However, she would come into office with significantly less foreign policy experience than President Biden.  

“While I anticipate some continuity [with Biden] in her China policy, it is essential to recognize the strong influence that personalities have on policy shaping, making, and execution,” McNeal said. 

“Vice President Harris is not Joe Biden, and her approach to statecraft will differ,” he added. 

Taiwan’s defense measures

As both candidates pose a level of uncertainty for Taiwan, policy experts said the island-nation was under more pressure to accelerate efforts to build up its own deterrence.

These efforts have already been building momentum since the election of Lai in January, with U.S. elections only injecting more urgency, according to Ava Shen, who covers Taiwan and Chinese foreign policy and domestic politics at Eurasia Group. 

Lai, a member of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, is seen by Beijing as a separatist and has continued his predecessor’s efforts of relationship building with Washington amid intensifying military and political pressure by China. 

His inaugural speech emphasized the importance of aligning with democracies and strengthening national defense. Around the same time, an extended one-year mandatory military service for men came into effect, an initiative announced under former DPP president Tsai Ing-wen. 

Meanwhile, Taiwan has been raising total spending on defense in its annual budgets, with the amount reaching 2.6% of GDP this year, and another proposed increase for 2025, according to local reports.

Bolstering defense has entailed securing more weapons from the U.S. As of February this year, the country was waiting on a backlog of some $19 billion worth of already-purchased American weapons, according to the Cato Institute.

A bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers met with Lai in May, promising that weapons and $2 billion of a support package for Taiwan’s military was on the way.

China’s latest official defense budget was $224 billion, about 12 times that of Taiwan’s, according to a report from the Council for Foreign Relations.

“In general, the government and society of Taiwan feel a certain degree of disquiet or anxiety,” said Kwei-Bo Huang, professor of diplomacy at Taiwan’s National ChengChi University and secretary-general of the Taiwan-based Association of Foreign Relations. 

He added that in the event of a Trump victory, Taiwan is expected to continue to expand its defense budget to at least 3% of its GDP, which is at par with what the former president’s advisors are reportedly considering asking NATO members.

According to Professor Lu-Chung of Sam Houston State University, while the U.S. elections are certainly bringing more pressure on Taiwan to boost deterrence, this is beneficial for the country, as it must grapple with tough realities.

“As to the self-defense plan, Taiwan will continue what it is doing, but filling the gaps across the Taiwan Strait is not easy,” he said.

A political action committee backed by billionaire Elon Musk is under investigation in Michigan amid efforts to collect voter data.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has said he created and helped fund the America PAC, which is supporting former President Donald Trump. Musk has a net worth of over $225 billion, according to Forbes.

The committee has been acquiring detailed voter information from those living in Michigan and other battleground states after people submit their personal data through a section on the PAC’s website that says “register to vote.”

After clicking on the “register to vote” tab on America PAC’s website, users in states like Michigan can submit a ZIP code, address and phone number. People with a Michigan address are brought to a page that says “thank you” and asks users to “complete the form below” to help wrap up the voter registration process. As of Sunday afternoon, though, there was no other form to complete below the words “thank you.”

“Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state,” a spokeswoman for the Michigan secretary of state’s office said in a statement to CNBC.

“While the America PAC is a federal political action committee, the Department is reviewing their activities to determine if there have been any violations of state law. We will refer potential violations to the Michigan Attorney General’s office as appropriate,” the spokeswoman added.

CNBC first reported on the group’s efforts and how the site does not directly register people to vote for those with an address in a swing state.

A person with direct knowledge of the PAC’s operations told CNBC that, at one point since the group registered with the Federal Election Commission in May, the links on the website were functioning properly — but admits now they’re not.

The group is planning to launch a new website in the coming weeks, this person explained. The person declined to be named in order to speak freely about private matters.

A spokesman for the America PAC declined to comment. Musk did not return emails seeking comment.

Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, is Michigan’s secretary of state and the lead election official in the state. She has been a vocal opponent of election-related misinformation and taken on such statements made by former President Donald Trump.

The Republican National Committee has sued Benson and other Michigan Democrats at least twice this year, according to legal records.

Unclear if any laws broken

It’s unclear if any laws in Michigan have been broken by the America PAC.

Barbara McQuade, who once served as a U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, was not convinced that the the PAC was necessarily breaking any state laws. “I am not aware of any laws being broken,” McQuade said in an email on Sunday.

Mary Massaron, a partner at law firm Plunkett Cooney, raised concerns in an email to CNBC, but did not say whether the PAC could have broken state laws.

“It is very troubling for any candidate or PAC funded project to deliberately fail to provide information or a link to register to vote when someone asks because they would potentially vote for the opposing candidates,” Massaron said in an email.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

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Jason Carter told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an article published Aug. 3 that the 39th president told his son Chip: “I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris.”

Jason Carter, chairperson of the Carter Center’s Board of Trustees, added that his grandfather has been “more alert and interested in politics and the war in Gaza.”

The former president has been in hospice at his home in Plains, Georgia, since February 2023. His wife, Rosalynn Carter, entered hospice care a few days before her death on Nov. 19, 2023. She also was diagnosed with dementia earlier that year.

Jimmy Carter hasn’t been seen much since entering hospice care.

On Nov. 28, 2023, Jimmy Carter attended Rosalynn Carter’s funeral and many were moved to see the 99-year-old leave hospice care to honor the life of his late wife.

When Jimmy Carter arrived at the ceremony, he was photographed in a wheelchair with a blanket covering his legs. On it was a stitched image of the couple with the words “The Carters.”

In a tender moment, one of the Carters’ sons, James Earl “Chip” Carter III, 73, was photographed kissing his ailing father on the head. Jimmy Carter’s family was concerned about him traveling over 150 miles to attend the services, the New York Times reported.

The former peanut farmer is the first president to live to 95 or older and the only one to see the 40th anniversary of his inauguration. In recent years especially, his health has made headlines, and his family has shared updates about his time in hospice care.

Jimmy Carter’s health now

Jimmy Carter, now nearing his 18th month in hospice, is “experiencing the world as best he can as he continues through this process,” Jason Carter told Southern Living on June 5.

It’s been an adjustment to live without wife Rosalynn Carter by his side.

“After 77 years of marriage… I just think none of us really understand what it’s like for him right now,” Jason Carter said. “We have to embrace that fact, that there’s things about the spirit that you just can’t understand.” 

As for the former president’s health, Jason Carter says there’s “really been no change.” Jimmy Carter, he says, isn’t awake every day to receive the family members who regularly visit him.

On May 14, at an annual mental health forum in honor of Rosalynn Carter at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Jason Carter said the former president “is coming to an end” but “he’s still there,” according to NBC News.

Jason Carter spoke in September 2023 about his grandparents’ time together “coming to the end.”

“He’s been in hospice now for several months, but they are happy,” he told USA Today at the time. “They are together. They are at home. They’re in love, and I don’t think anyone gets more than that. I mean, it’s a perfect situation for this time in their lives.”

Jimmy Carter faces “really significant physical challenges,” and he spends his time watching baseball and seeing family members, Jason Carter added.

Josh Carter, another of the former president’s 11 surviving grandchildren, told People in August 2023 that his grandfather is in “the final chapter” of his life, but “he’s still fully Jimmy Carter.”

Although the former president is tired, Josh Carter said “he fully understands (how many well wishes he’s received) and has felt the love.”

Josh Carter added that there’s always someone at his grandparents’ home, usually one of their four kids: Amy Carter, 56, John William “Jack” Carter, 77, James Earl “Chip” Carter III, 74, and Donnel Jeffrey “Jeff” Carter, 71. Recently, visitors to the home have only been caregivers and family, Josh Carter said.

He also said at the time his grandmother was “still able to form new memories” during her final months.

In Feb. 2023, Jimmy Carter announced through his foundation, the Carter Center, that he’d be stopping medical intervention and only receiving hospice care. The news came after he’d survived a series of hospital stays.

Over the past several years, Jimmy Carter has survived cancer and multiple falls, among other illnesses.

In 2015, Jimmy Carter was diagnosed with and treated for metastatic melanoma.

In August 2015, Jimmy Carter underwent surgery to remove a small mass from his liver. At the time, the Carter Center called the procedure “elective” and said he’d make a full recovery.

Soon after, it was revealed that the mass on Jimmy Carter’s liver was metastatic melanoma, and later on in August 2015, it was announced that Jimmy Carter’s melanoma had spread to his brain, and he was preparing to undergo radiation treatment.

But by December 2015, he seemed to be cancer free. An MRI scan on Jimmy Carter’s brain at the time did not show “any signs of the original cancer spots nor any new ones,” according to a Carter Center statement. Afterward, he continued to receive immunotherapy treatments.

Jimmy Carter has a family history with cancer. His father, brother and both of his sisters died of pancreatic cancer. His mother was also diagnosed with the disease, NBC News reported.

A few years later, during a 2019 church service, Jimmy Carter reflected on his cancer scare and the possibility he was going to die. He said he was “absolutely and completely at ease with death.”

“I assumed, naturally, that I was going to die very quickly,” he said. “I obviously prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death, and I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death.”

In 2019, Jimmy Carter had a series of falls and needed surgery.

In May 2019, Jimmy Carter fell at his Georgia home and broke his hip. Shortly afterward, he underwent surgery.

The injury occurred when he was getting ready to leave for a turkey hunting trip. The Carter Center shared a statement with NBC News at the time, proving that he was in good spirits.

“President Carter said his main concern is that turkey season ends this week, and he has not reached his limit,” the statement read. “He hopes the State of Georgia will allow him to rollover the unused limit to next year.”

In October 2019, Jimmy Carter fell again and needed 14 stitches in his forehead. Despite the injury and a black eye, he still traveled to Nashville to speak at a Habitat for Humanity event.

“I fell down and hit my forehead on a sharp edge and had to go to the hospital,” he told the audience. “But I had a No. 1 one priority, and that was to come to Nashville and build houses.”That same month, Jimmy Carter suffered a fractured pelvis from another fall at home. The Carter Center said in a statement at the time: “He has been admitted to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center for observation and treatment of a minor pelvic fracture. He is in good spirits and is looking forward to recovering at home.”

In November 2019, Jimmy Carter spent two weeks in the hospital in recovering from a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain caused by bleeding from several falls. Following the surgery, the Carter Center revealed that there were “no complications.”

In October 2022, Jimmy Carter turned 98 and was still “with it.”

As Jimmy Carter prepared to celebrate his 98th birthday in October 2022, his grandson Jason Carter shared some thoughts about the former president’s life.

“He is looking at his 98th birthday with faith in God’s plan for him,” he told the Associated Press. “That’s just a beautiful blessing for all of us to know, personally, that he is at peace and happy with where he has been and where he’s going.”

Jason Carter described his grandfather as still being “100% with it” but acknowledged that “daily life things are a lot harder now.”

In February 2023, Jimmy Carter entered hospice care.

In February 2023, the Carter Center revealed that Jimmy Carter would soon commence in-home hospice care.

“After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the statement read. “He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers.”

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“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

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The ruling from U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is the first substantive order since the case was returned to her Friday following a landmark Supreme Court opinion last month that conferred broad immunity for former presidents and narrowed special counsel Jack Smith’s case against Trump.

In their motion to dismiss the indictment, defense lawyers argued that Trump was mistreated because he was prosecuted even though others who have challenged election results have avoided criminal charges. Trump, the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential race, also suggested that President Joe Biden and the Justice Department launched a prosecution to prevent him from winning reelection.

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But Chutkan rejected both arguments, saying Trump was not charged simply for challenging election results but instead for “knowingly making false statements in furtherance of criminal conspiracies and for obstruction of election certification proceedings.” She also said that his lawyers had misread news media articles that they had cited in arguing that the prosecution was political in nature.

“After reviewing Defendant’s evidence and arguments, the court cannot conclude that he has carried his burden to establish either actual vindictiveness or the presumption of it, and so finds no basis for dismissing this case on those grounds,” Chutkan wrote in her order.

Also Saturday, she scheduled an Aug. 16 status conference to discuss next steps in the case.

The four-count indictment, brought in August 2023, accuses Trump of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Biden through a variety of schemes, including by badgering his vice president, Mike Pence, to block the formal certification of electoral votes.

Trump’s lawyers argued that he was immune from prosecution as a former president, and the case has been on hold since December as his appeal worked its way through the courts.

The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion, held that presidents enjoy absolute immunity for core constitutional duties and are presumptively immune from prosecution for all other official acts. The justices sent the case back to Chutkan to determine which acts alleged in the indictment can remain part of the prosecution and which must be discarded.

The DNC will not make an official announcement of results until Monday evening, when the virtual voting process closes for delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention.

“I will officially accept your nomination next week, once the virtual voting process is closed, but I’m happy to know we have enough delegates to secure the nomination,” Harris said on call with supporters organized by her campaign, where Harrison made the announcement.

Harris would be the first Black woman and first Indian American in American history to secure a major party’s presidential nomination.

Democratic delegates are holding an unusual pre-convention virtual vote in order to finalize their nomination before a ballot access deadline in Ohio next week, which was set before the party’s national convention kicks off in Chicago on Aug. 19. They had been planning to formally select their presidential candidate that way since May, long before Biden withdrew his re-election bid.

Harris is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid and endorsed her last month. Democrats threw together a new lightning-fast nomination process that allowed other candidates to compete, but no major Democrats threw their hats in the ring and the unknown candidates who submitted nomination papers failed to secure enough support to qualify for the internal ballot.

Virtual voting for the roughly 4,700 delegates to the convention began Thursday morning and is not scheduled to conclude until 6 p.m. ET on Monday. Harris’ campaign says she received more than the 2,350 votes needed to secure the nomination a little over day into the process. Delegates cannot change their votes once cast.

Delegates will hold a “ceremonial and confirmatory” roll vote in-person at the convention, according to the party’s newly adopted rules, but the nomination will be made official once the virtual voting ends next week.

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The recount results confirmed McGuire beat Good, after McGuire initially led Good by just 374 votes in the June primary in Virginia’s 5th District. 

Good had previously said he would step down as chairman of the hard-right Freedom Caucus if he did not prevail in the primary recount. 

The recount officially brings the race to an end, with Good becoming the first sitting House Republican to lose to a primary challenger this year. Good faced a broad coalition of GOP opposition, which included former President Donald Trump and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. 

Trump jumped into the race shortly before the June 18 primary by endorsing McGuire, who attended the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and walked to the U.S. Capitol grounds, saying, “We felt like we were being cheated.”

McGuire declined to commit to certifying the 2024 presidential election results in an interview with NBC News shortly before the primary, saying he “would “need to see what happens.” 

“I can understand why people lack trust in elections,” McGuire added. 

Good drew Trump’s ire by backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the presidential primary, and his subsequent endorsement of Trump wasn’t enough to put him in the former president’s good graces. 

Trump appeared in a TV ad and held a tele-rally for McGuire ahead of the primary, telling supporters, “John is running against Bob Good, who is not good. Despite his name, he’s very bad for Virginia.” 

McGuire, a former Navy SEAL whose campaign slogan was, “We can do better than Good,” previously told NBC News that Trump’s endorsement was helpful in the race. 

“I’ve had many people say ‘I don’t know anything about you, never met you before, but if Trump’s endorsing you, I’ve got you,’” McGuire said. “I believe with all that Trump has been through he has earned the right to call the shots and pick his team.”

McCarthy also played a role in the race, as he looked to target the handful of Republicans who ousted him as speaker late last year. 

Outside groups tied to McCarthy allies and GOP establishment donors blanketed the district’s airwaves, spending $6.9 million against Good, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact. And while Good also had support from outside groups that helped match that spending, McGuire also vastly outspent Good on ads, helping to get his message out to the sprawling district. 

McGuire acknowledged McCarthy had given him advice, noting he has spoken to the former California congressman over the phone a few times. And he pointed to the vote to oust McCarthy as evidence that Good was not focused on helping his party or the district.  

“If you’re on the Republican team, and you’re part of the Democrat team to take out the Republican team, You’re not on the Republican team,” McGuire said. “Bob is on the Bob Good team.” 

McGuire is now expected to win in November, given the 5th District’s Republican lean. Trump carried the district by 8 percentage points in 2020, according to calculations from Daily Kos Elections. 

Good joins two other members of Congress who failed to advance out of their primaries this year. Rep. Jerry Carl lost to a fellow incumbent, Rep. Barry Moore, in an Alabama GOP primary spurred by redistricting. And Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a member of the ‘squad’ of progressive lawmakers of color and vocal Israel critic, was defeated by Westchester County Executive George Latimer in a New York Democratic primary.

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NBC News’ Syedah Asghar contributed.

The six contenders are Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

All of them are around the same age as Harris, 59, or younger, and most have already stumped for the vice president on the campaign trail or in media appearances since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

Shapiro met with Harris’ vetting team on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the meeting. The vice president was not present, the source said.

Shapiro canceled fundraisers in the Hamptons this weekend originally scheduled to raise money for his PAC, his press secretary Manuel Bonder confirmed. “His schedule has changed and he is no longer traveling to the Hamptons this weekend,” Bonder said.

Two sources familiar said Kelly met with Harris’ vetting team Tuesday afternoon. Kelly missed at least two votes on the Senate floor on Wednesday between noon and 6 p.m. ET, one source said. His aide said he was “off campus.”

Pennsylvania and Arizona are considered critical battleground states needed to win the Electoral College.

Pritzker sat for two Zoom interviews with Harris’ vetting team, one three-hour session on Monday and a follow-up session on Wednesday that included some questions on policies.

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NBC News previously reported the list of candidates who received vetting materials, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but she later made clear she wants to finish her term as governor rather than be Harris’ vice president. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also withdrew his name from consideration.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Harris told reporters she had “not yet” chosen her running mate, but the decision is expected by next Tuesday when Harris is set to appear with her choice for the first time during a battleground state tour that begins in Philadelphia, a source familiar told NBC News.

A source familiar with the process strongly cautioned against reading too much into the location, saying Philly was chosen in a vacuum apart from Shapiro.

The tour next week also includes visits to western Wisconsin; Detroit; Raleigh, North Carolina; Phoenix; Las Vegas; and Savannah, Georgia.

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee’s virtual roll call to nominate Harris for president began Thursday and is expected to end Monday. DNC Chair Jaime Harrison announced Tuesday that only Harris qualified for the ballot and 3,923 delegates petitioned to put her on the ballot for the nomination. The DNC said that Harris secured the support of 99% of participating delegates.

Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under President Barack Obama, is leading the vetting process for Harris as part of his role as senior counsel at Covington & Burling LLP.

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In an interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, some of which aired Tuesday, Trump — who has a long history of making derogatory comments about female opponents — said: “She’ll be so easy for them. She’ll be like a play toy.”

He added, “They look at her and they say we can’t believe we got so lucky. They’re gonna walk all over her.”

Looking directly into the camera, Trump said, “I don’t want to say as to why, but a lot of people understand it.”

The former president has repeatedly attacked women who have criticized him by mocking their appearances and insulting their character. During the 2016 Republican presidential cycle, he called Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, a “nasty woman” — an insult that her supporters turned into a feminist rallying cry — and “unhinged.” Trump also poked fun at his Republican primary rival Carly Fiorina’s face on television and shared an unflattering photo of Sen. Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi Cruz, on Twitter.

Trump has lobbed personal attacks and unflattering nicknames on his male opponents, but the attacks on his female rivals are often gender-based. He has referred to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “crazy,” adult film actress Stormy Daniels as “horse face,” and his 2024 primary rival Nikki Haley as “birdbrain.”

Trump and his allies have pummeled Harris with attacks on her race and gender since she jumped into the presidential race, calling her “crazy” and a “DEI vice president.” They have also made fun of Harris’ laugh and called her “dumb as a rock.” On Wednesday alone, Trump referred to the vice president as “Crazy Kamala” at least five times on his Truth Social website.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump was not referring to Harris’ race or gender in the Ingraham interview and slammed Harris on her record on immigration.

“She is weak, dishonest and dangerously liberal, and that’s why the American people will reject her on November 5th,” Leavitt said in a statement.

Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance — who is facing backlash himself over comments he made in 2021 about “childless cat ladies” leading the country — repeatedly used the word “weak” during a speech in Nevada on Tuesday when describing Harris’ leadership.

“Of all of Kamala Harris’ faults, the worst of all is that she left America weak and vulnerable,” Vance said. “The entire world now knows that she helped cover up Joe Biden’s declining mental capacity for years.”

But he told NBC News that there’s no “particular effort to tag her as weak.” Vance added, “If there’s a particular label we want the American people to be aware of, it’s that she’s an ultra-liberal.”

NBC News’ Henry J. Gomez and Jillian Frankel contributed.

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When answering a question about Republicans labeling Harris a “DEI hire,” Trump asked for the reporter’s definition of DEI and appeared to question Harris’ heritage.

“So I’ve known her a long time – indirectly, not directly very much – and she was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black,” Trump said. “And now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

He went on to say the change happened “all of a sudden,” when she “made a turn and she became a Black.”

ABC News’ Rachel Scott, one of the event’s three moderators, said that Harris had always identified as Black. Harris also attended Howard University, a historically Black college.

The Harris campaign called Trump’s comments “hostile.”

“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president,” Harris’ campaign’s communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement. “Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign.”

Harris campaign statement on Donald Trump’s remarks at the NABJ pic.twitter.com/atHw27Crfu

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) July 31, 2024

Similarly, at an event in Houston on Wednesday, Harris said Trump’s comments at the NABJ convention were disrespectful.

“It was the same old show ..the divisiveness and the disrespect,” Harris said according to NBC News. “And let me just say the American people deserve better. The American people deserve better.”

As for whether he thinks Harris is a “DEI hire,” Trump said he didn’t know.

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“Could be,” he said.

Trump’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists was contentious and heated from the start.

“A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today,” Scott asked Trump during the conversation held at the NABJ conference. “You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told four congresswomen, women of color, who were American citizens, to ‘go back to where they came from.’

“You have used words like ‘animal’ and ‘rabid’ to describe Black district attorneys. You’ve attacked Black journalists, calling them a ‘loser,’ saying the questions that they ask are, quote, ‘stupid and racist.’ You’ve had dinner with a white supremacist at Mar a Lago resort,” she continued.

“So my question, sir, now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you? After you have used language like that?” Scott asked.

Trump began by saying the question was asked “in such a horrible manner.”

“Don’t even say ‘Hello, how are you?’ Are you with ABC because I think they’re a fake news network. Terrible. I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit.”

Questions for Trump ranged from his thoughts on comments made by his vice presidential nominee JD Vance to the police shooting of Sonya Massey in Illinois to the Republican party’s thoughts on abortion and more.

The conversation was heated at times before ending abruptly as reporters on the stage said Trump’s team said they needed to end.

The program got off to a delayed start due to what NABJ sources said was a dispute over a live fact check of the address. But Trump noted the delay onstage and said the issue was from an equipment failure, with mic issues present during the Q&A.

The event, open to convention attendees only, had been described by organizers as a “Q&A with political journalists before an audience of registered convention attendees that will concentrate on the most pressing issues facing the Black community.” It was fact-checked live by PolitiFact.

“Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us,” Harris’ campaign’s communications director Michael Tyler said in a statement. “Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign.”

No questions from the audience were taken.

“We look forward to our attendees hearing from former President Trump on the critical issues our members and their audiences care about most,” NABJ President Ken Lemon said in an initial statement about the event. “While NABJ does not endorse political candidates as a journalism organization, we understand the serious work of our members, and welcome the opportunity for them to ask the tough questions that will provide the truthful answers Black Americans want and need to know.”

Wednesday, Lemon released a new statement defending the organization’s controversial decision to invite Trump to speak, saying it was “in line” with convention practices dating back to 1976.

“It has always been our policy to ensure that candidates know that an invitation is not an endorsement,” Lemon’s statement said. ‘We also agreed that while this race is much different — and contentious — so are the consequences.”

Lemon added that Harris, the presumptive Democratic Nominee for President, had also been invited to speak.

Trump’s appearance at the NABJ has sparked mixed reactions from within the organization, as convention co-chair, Washington Post reporter Karen Attiah announced she would step down from her role, saying she wasn’t consulted about the decision to invite Trump to speak.

“To the journalists interviewing Trump, I wish them the best of luck,” Attiah wrote in a social media post announcing her decision to resign her position. “For everyone else, I’m looking forward to meeting and reconnecting with all of you in the Windy City.”

Attiah went on to say her decision was influenced by a “variety of factors,” and that she was “not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format.”

Attiah’s announcement Tuesday came several hours before a source familiar with Vice President Kamala Harris’ plans said that Harris would not attend the NABJ convention because of conflicts with her schedule, a report from CNBC said. According to a post from the NABJ, Harris has offered to address the NABJ virtually, post-convention.

The appearance from Donald Trump comes weeks away from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, scheduled for Aug. 19-22.

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“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

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“No,” Vance, R-Ohio, said in an interview aboard his campaign plane en route to a rally here Tuesday. “I mean, I knew that when I came out of the gate there was going to be a couple of days of positive media coverage and then immediately they would go and attack me over everything that I had ever said in my life.”

Vance has faced relentless criticism from allies of Vice President Kamala Harris, the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, for his 2021 comments questioning the societal value of women who don’t have children and referring to them as “childless cat ladies.” Harris’ campaign over the last week has tried to brand Vance and his political point of view as “weird.” Trump has stood by Vance.

“The price of entry of being on the national ticket and giving me an opportunity to govern is you have to … take the shots, and so I sort of expected it,” Vance said. “I think that, frankly, the people who’ve made a lot of money and acquired a lot of power screwing the country up are not going to go easily.”

Vance is in the midst of a big Western swing that includes California fundraisers, traditional campaign rallies and a visit Thursday morning to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. With his wife, Usha, seated next to him at the front of their chartered 737, Trump Force Two, Vance discussed the early days of his vice presidential campaign, as well as what he hopes to accomplish if the GOP ticket wins this fall.

“My attitude is I want to be a good public servant,” Vance said when he was asked what particular policy areas he would carve out for himself. “I’ll help out wherever I’m asked to help out. Certainly, I’d love to be given some influence over our border policy, and I’d basically do the exact opposite of what Kamala Harris did.” 

This week’s trip is a bit of a reboot meant to sharpen Vance’s role as an attack dog against Harris, whom President Joe Biden endorsed as his successor when he ended his re-election bid days after Vance accepted the Republican nomination for vice president. While Harris backers have tried to define Vance as weird, Vance tried Tuesday to define Harris as weak — particularly on immigration and border security.

“It all starts with strength — strong borders, strong families, a strong economy and a strong president,” Vance said in an afternoon speech at a high school in Henderson, Nevada, near Las Vegas. “Of all of Kamala Harris’ faults, the worst of all is that she left America weak and vulnerable. The entire world now knows that she helped cover up Joe Biden’s declining mental capacity for years.”

“Our adversaries,” Vance added, “are licking their chops and the world is in disarray because of weak American leadership.”

Asked aboard his plane whether the weird vs. weak contrast was intentional, Vance described it as more of a coincidence.

“I wouldn’t say there’s some particular effort to tag her as weak,” he said. “If there’s a particular label we want the American people to be aware of, it’s that she’s an ultra-liberal.”

Aside from border issues, Vance said he could see himself in the Trump administration as a spokesperson on combating drug abuse. His mother, Beverly Aikins, is nearly 10 years sober after having battled addiction — a struggle he wrote about in his best-selling 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” and talked about in his speech at this month’s Republican National Convention. On the plane, Vance mentioned that he attends Narcotics Anonymous meetings with his mother “fairly frequently” to support her.

“One of the largest providers of medical care for people who have substance abuse disorder is Medicare,” Vance said. “And another big one is Medicaid, right? So the federal government has a huge role to play, I think, in solving or at least addressing the substance abuse problem. I think one of the roles that I can play is just a basic leadership role and remind people that there is hope on the other side of addiction — there is recovery.”

Vance then connected the issue back to a central issue in his recent speeches: the border.

“For people to get second chances, they have to not die when they’re at the bottom of the addiction crisis, and the best way to solve that problem is to prevent the worst poison from coming into our streets in the first place,” he said, blaming Mexican drug cartels. “And if there’s an attitude shift that I’ve seen over the last five years, the last three years, it’s that there’s so much fentanyl out there, and everything is laced with fentanyl, that the consequence of falling off the wagon could very well be death, right? There’s a sense of fear in the addiction recovery space that I didn’t notice five years ago.” 

Vance got enthusiastic receptions in Henderson and Reno. At the first stop, after he noted that he will turn 40 on Friday, the crowd broke into a rendition of “Happy Birthday.” He also has reinforcements on this trip. Jason Miller, a senior adviser on the Trump campaign, and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., were among those traveling with him Tuesday.

“I’m here today because of the nasty attacks on JD Vance claiming that he’s anti-woman,” Luna said from the stage in Henderson. “Can you believe that? This is, mind you, by the same party that can’t define what a woman is.”

Speaking with reporters afterward, Luna, who traveled on Vance’s plane, said no one asked her to make the trip. 

“It was actually me,” she said. “I was like, you know, I have some things to say. So I kind of invited myself. But they’re happy to have me.”

On the plane, Vance stood by his old comments about childless women, which at the time he applied specifically to Harris, a stepmother of two, and other Democrats. Vance also said at the time that the criticism didn’t extend to women who have trouble conceiving. 

“What I was criticizing and continue to criticize is a particular neurosis in American leadership that I think leads people to say crazy things, like you shouldn’t have children because climate change is a threat to the future,” Vance said Tuesday. “Climate change may very well be a problem, but it is not a problem that should motivate people to not have families. And I think that attitude is quite damaging. It’s quite destructive.

“I’ll keep on calling it out, even though I’m sure that Democrats will misrepresent what I say,” he added. “I just think that the substance of what I said is actually quite defensible.” 

Vance, who remarked last week that he was “pissed off” that he would no longer face Harris in a vice presidential debate, said he had no particular preference for a new opponent.

“I don’t really care,” Vance said. “I think that obviously different guys — and they’re all guys, I guess, except for [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer, but I don’t feel like she has a good chance — they all present different strengths and different weaknesses. My attitude is I have a job, but it’s to persuade as many people to vote for us as possible. And I’m going to have that same job whoever the Democrats nominate.”

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Harris rebuts Trump attacks on immigration and border security at Georgia rally
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According to the Democratic National Committee, 99% of delegates signed Harris’ nominating petition.

With no internal competition, Democrats will avoid the messy fight that some party officials feared when President Joe Biden stepped aside in the race less than two weeks ago.

“Our Party has met this unprecedented moment with a transparent, democratic, and orderly process to unite behind a nominee with a proven record who will lead us in the fight ahead,” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement Tuesday night.

Delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago will begin voting virtually to formalize Harris’ nomination Thursday morning, sticking to the party’s existing plan to finalize its nominee before an Aug. 7 ballot access deadline in Ohio. Harris’ campaign has indicated she will select her vice presidential running mate before then, as well.

Democrats raced to rewrite their nominating rules after Biden dropped his re-election bid nine days ago, creating a lightning-fast nomination process that was open to anyone but was almost immediately seen as favoring Harris.

Any candidate who wanted to seek the nomination had until 6 p.m. ET Tuesday to secure the support of at least 300 delegates to qualify; Harris was the only candidate who did, according to the Democratic National Committee.

With virtually the entire party united behind Harris, the only candidates who declared their intentions to challenge her were a handful of unknown figures with no known support bases or funding.

Marianne Williamson, the self-help author who ran a long-shot Democratic presidential campaign in 2020, said she was planning to vie for the nomination at the Chicago convention but ultimately opted against throwing her name in the ring. She re-suspended her campaign Monday night.

“We did everything possible to stand for a blitz primary, an open convention and so forth. Yet the way the rules were made there truly was no way, Kamala’s momentum was in full swing, and all we could have done is create noise,” Williamson wrote to supporters. “I was in the race to create fundamental change, yes — but not as a chaos agent or metaphorical bomb thrower.”

Convention delegates will begin an unusual preconvention virtual roll call vote to ratify Harris as their top candidate. Voting will begin Thursday and continue for several days, according to the party’s plans, with a ceremonial in-person roll call planned for the convention, as well.

Even though Democrats stripped so-called super delegates of much of their power a few years ago, they will be able to vote virtually for Harris, the DNC said, since Harris has demonstrated that she has already secured an overwhelmingly majority support, meaning there’s no chance of the super delegates changing the outcome.

Democrats had been planning to nominate Biden virtually since May, when they realized they would have an issue in Ohio. The state initially set its deadline for all parties to submit the names of their candidates before the Democratic National Convention, and it was slow to resolve the matter.

While Ohio election officials argued that Democrats do not need to take drastic measures like a preconvention virtual roll call, conservative groups have already signaled their intention to sue if Democrats miss the state’s Aug. 7 deadline. Democrats say the party cannot risk litigation that could result in its losing its place on Ohio’s ballot this fall.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Harris rebuts Trump attacks on immigration and border security at Georgia rally
• Merrick Garland: It’s ‘extremely alarming’ shooter was able to get that close to Trump
• Project 2025 winding down policy work following criticism from Trump

In Maricopa County, which includes metro Phoenix and 60% of Arizona’s voters, Republicans also were choosing between a slate of incumbents who have stood up to former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election and challengers who claim it was stolen.

The primary will give insights about where the narrowly divided state is headed going into the final sprint of the 2024 election, when Arizona is central to the fight for control of the White House and Congress.

Gallego ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for Senate.

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“Go vote,” Trump urged supporters in a telephone rally with Lake on Monday evening. “She’s fantastic. She will not let us down. Kari Lake, I just think she’s going to be as good as you can get. There’s nobody going to be better.”

The once-crowded field of Republicans looking at the Senate race thinned out when Lake, who built a national profile in Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in an unsuccessful 2022 bid for Arizona governor, made clear she planned to run for the seat.

Lake defeated Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who had contended he is more electable and the best candidate to secure the border. But he struggled to raise the money needed to make his case to voters. Through the end of June, Lake had raised $10.3 million compared with Lamb’s $2 million.

Lake faces Gallego in the race to replace Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was elected as a Democrat in 2018 but left the party to become an independent after her standing among the Democratic base cratered. Sinema considered running as an independent but opted against it.

Lake entered politics after leaving the news anchor desk at the Phoenix Fox affiliate and quickly became a rising star on the right. Grassroots Republicans were drawn to her biting critiques of her former colleagues in the news media, her tough talk on border security and her unwavering support for Trump, who for a time considered her for his running mate.

“We’re looking forward to getting you back in Washington, DC,” Lake said to Trump during Monday’s telephone rally. “And I’m looking forward to helping back you up and make sure that we get this country gets turned back around.”

She defeated an establishment-backed Republican in the 2022 primary for Arizona governor but narrowly lost the general election. Convinced she had victory in hand after winning the primary, Lake did not move toward the center or work to unify Republicans behind her.

Since launching her Senate campaign late last year, Lake has made fitful efforts to moderate her most unpopular views but has not been consistent. She disavowed a near-total ban on abortion in Arizona, which she’d previously called “a great law,” but later spoke favorably for it.

She has at times steered clear of false claims of election fraud, but she continues trying to overturn her loss in the race for governor. Just this month she filed a longshot request for the Arizona Supreme Court to take up the issue, though the justices, all of whom were appointed by Republican governors, have already rejected her claims.

Meanwhile, Republican voters in Maricopa County got their first chance to oust elected officials who did not embrace Trump’s and Lake’s false claims that the 2020 and 2022 elections were rigged. Recorder Stephen Richer, one of the elected officials responsible for administering elections, has become a pariah on the right for aggressively defending the integrity of elections. Several members of the county board of supervisors also face challengers aligned with Trump’s MAGA movement. Those races were too early to call.

The feeling that elections are rigged against Republicans has permeated the Arizona GOP, though judges, election experts and Trump’s own attorney general have repeatedly rejected claims of widespread fraud.

“I think that there’s primarily the discussion about how to do the elections and how to do them less corruptly,” said Barb Schwisow, a retired critical care nurse who sat outside a polling place at a table full of Republican pamphlets in Sun City West, a retirement community outside Phoenix.

Republicans also had an eclectic group of candidates vying to replace retiring GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko in a safe Republican district. The field includes Blake Masters and Abraham Hamadeh, one-time allies who have turned bitterly on each other since both lost campaigns in 2022. A state lawmaker indicted for his involvement in Trump’s fake-elector scheme is also running, along with former Rep. Trent Franks, who resigned in 2017 when two aides said he sexually harassed them by asking them to carry a child through surrogacy.

On the Democratic side, voters will decide two hotly contested U.S. House primaries in the Phoenix area.

The winner in the 1st Congressional District will face Republican Rep. David Schweikert to represent an affluent district centered in Scottsdale that exemplifies the changing makeup of the political parties.

Two Democrats are also facing off in a bitter primary in the 3rd District, a safe Democratic district that includes the heart of the west Phoenix Latino community. The Democratic nominee is strongly favored in November to replace Gallego.

The two governors were demonstrating a time-honored tradition in presidential campaigns: Summertime auditions from vice presidential contenders who walk the line between open self-promotion and loyal advocacy for the potential boss.

Vice President Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, appears intent on making a choice that she’s comfortable with personally and that can expand her electoral appeal. Her campaign has been vetting about a dozen potential running mates, according to people familiar with the search process. Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly are seen as among the front-runners, according to the people.

Harris advisers, led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, have been combing through reams of paperwork submitted by potential running mates, while the candidate herself is holding personal conversations with the finalists, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Harris, according to another person familiar with the matter, is seeking someone with executive experience who can also serve as a governing partner. Notions of a so-called short list have not stopped those on the Democrats’ broader national bench from finding the spotlight.

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“I’m not going to talk about the interactions I’ve had with the campaign,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared recently on MSNBC. He added, though: “Let’s just say I’m aware that the vetting process is quite an in depth one.” Then he listed his accomplishments, offering that he was the only Midwestern governor to raise his state minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, once held out as an ideal nominee if Biden bailed out, has said, more or less, that she’s not a contender. But she appeared Monday with Shapiro in Pennsylvania and mused on MSNBC last week that “two women on the ticket would be exciting.”

Harris would be the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to serve as president. Many Democrats have argued she should balance her ticket both demographically and politically.

Dems’ VP list has notable differences

Shapiro, 51, is among the most popular U.S. governors, winning his 2022 election in a rout over a Trump-endorsed Republican. He’s an outspoken supporter of abortion rights who has won three statewide elections in Pennsylvania. His speaking style draws comparisons to former President Barack Obama. But he has taken flak from the left for his support for Israel’s war on Hamas, a private school voucher program and natural gas infrastructure.

His allies argue that he would help Harris win Pennsylvania, complicating if not blocking Republican Donald Trump’s path to an Electoral College majority.

Like all contenders, Shapiro sidesteps questions about the vetting process and stresses Harris should not be pressured. But he’s mentioned more than once that he’s known her for nearly two decades.

Beshear stands out in a heavily Republican state. During his weekend stop in Georgia, he talked of winning votes in “tough counties” but emphasized liberal bona fides: “I am a proud pro-union governor. I am a proud pro-choice governor. I am a proud public education governor. I am a proud pro-diversity governor.”

Closest in age to JD Vance among the Democrats’ possibilities, Beshear openly mocks Trump’s understudy for presenting himself as a son of Appalachia. “I mean, there’s a county that JD Vance says he’s from in Kentucky – and I won it by 22 points last November,” he said.

Back home in Frankfort recently, Beshear played down the importance of being from a battleground, saying, “About every successful ticket going back to 2000 did not have someone in a swing state.”

Of course, sometimes the spotlight can produce mistakes. Twice in Georgia, Beshear mispronounced Harris’ first name as “Kah-MAH-lah,” rather than the correct “KAH-mah-lah.”

Beshear and Shapiro were both state attorneys general, like Harris, before becoming governors. But their tenures did not overlap considerably with Harris’ service in California. She worked more closely with North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper during his days as an attorney general, but Cooper on Monday said he had opted not to be considered for vice president.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, 60, is a favorite of some progressives. He brings an atypical national political resume: He was a non-commissioned Army officer, public school teacher and state high school championship football coach before entering politics. Before being elected governor, he was one of the last white Democrats in Congress to represent a mostly rural, small-town House district — a notable juxtaposition for Harris, the Bay Area Californian.

“She will make the best choice she’s going to,” Walz said Sunday on CNN, a day after Trump held a mass rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota. “One way or another, she is going to win in November, and that’s going to benefit everyone,” Walz said, including “a lot of those folks who were out in St. Cloud with the (former) president.”

Kelly, 60, is the only top contender in Congress. He boasts an impressive military resume and experience as an astronaut. He has strong Latino support locally and solid relationships with Arizona officials along the U.S.-Mexico border. That balance could give him credibility on immigration policy as Republicans frame high numbers of migrant border crossings as a national crisis.

But Kelly has had to shore up his credentials with labor, a key Democratic faction. Kelly changed his position on union-backed legislation known as the PRO Act, which would make it easier to organize workers. He was one of just a handful of Democrats who didn’t co-sponsor the bill, saying at the time he supported the goals but had concerns. Following opposition from labor leaders, Kelly said this month he would vote for the bill if it came up for a vote.

Everyone has an opinion

Harris is expected to announce her pick in time for Democratic delegates to ratify her decision in a virtual nominating vote that could conclude by Aug. 7. Whatever her timetable, the media and campaign circuit is allowing plenty of Democrats additional time in the spotlight.

In the meantime, everyone seems to have an opinion.

Steven Benjamin, the White House director of public engagement, laughed as he told reporters on Air Force One on Monday that his office has received thousands of recommendations from around the country.

Donna Brazile, who managed Democrat Al Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000 and was instrumental in urging Biden to pick Harris in 2020, said the selection process involves “a lot of noise” that underplays the complexity of the decision.

“The most important stage is what the lawyers will do to you,” she said, with a laugh and emphasizing the seriousness. “It’s worse than a dental hygiene check. … Before you get to suitability and other factors, before it gets to political people like me, they’ve done a forensic examination of your life.”

___

Barrow reported from Cumming, Georgia. Associated Press reporters Zeke Miller in Washington, Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Kentucky; Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix; and Colleen Long aboard Air Force One contributed.

But now that Biden has bowed out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely nominee, Democrats say they have new hope for the state. They’re betting that a fresh burst of energy and a surge in fundraising has helped make Georgia — the state that delivered Biden his narrowest victory margin in 2020 — a toss-up again.

Harris is planning to make a show of political force with a rally in Atlanta on Tuesday night that will feature a performance by hip hop star Megan Thee Stallion, the latest example of just how much the race against Republican Donald Trump has shifted since Biden abandoned his reelection bid. She will be appearing in the same city where Biden’s dismal performance in a debate against Trump on June 27 sparked a Democratic revolt that ultimately ended his campaign.

Harris is hoping a large rally will help affirm her campaign’s momentum. Her campaign argues that Harris’ appeal with young people, working-age women and non-white voters have scrambled the dynamics in Georgia and other states that are demographically similar, from North Carolina to Nevada and Arizona.

“The energy is infectious,” said Georgia Democratic Chairwoman Nikema Williams, a congresswoman from Atlanta. “My phone has been blowing up. People want to be part of this movement.”

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In a strategy memo released after the president left the race, Harris campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, who held the same role for Biden, reaffirmed the importance of winning Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, a trio of industrial states that have formed the traditional Democratic blue wall.

But she also argued that the vice president’s place atop the ticket “opens up additional persuadable voters” and described them as “disproportionately Black, Latino and under 30” in places like Georgia.

Republicans, who still control Georgia’s state government, counter that Biden’s lagging popularity and concern over higher consumer prices and immigration will transfer to Harris in the historically conservative state.

But they concede that the landscape suddenly looks much closer to 2020 – when Biden won by about 0.25 percentage points — than when Trump was riding high after the Republican National Convention and surviving an assassination attempt.

“Trump was going to win Georgia. It was over,” said Republican consultant Brian Robinson. “The Democrats have a chance here for a reset.”

Robinson said Harris still has plenty of liabilities, including the progressive positions she took in her failed 2020 primary campaign and her various rhetorical stumbles. But he said Harris so far in this campaign has been “in command,” and if that continues “we have a new ballgame and she will be competitive in Georgia.”

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Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt did not give similar ground. She dismissed Harris as “just as weak, failed and incompetent as Joe Biden” and said the vice president would have to explain her support of Biden administration policies that “hurt working families in Georgia over the past four years.”

The Harris campaign and Georgia Democratic officials have 24 offices across the state, including two added last weekend in metro Atlanta. Trump and the Republican National Committee opened their first Georgia offices only recently.

Democrats are betting that a combination of high turnout among traditional, core Democratic constituencies, as well as a strong showing in the suburbs and small pickups elsewhere can be enough for Harris to carry Georgia. That approach was on display at the weekend office openings.

On Saturday, the venue was East Point, a majority Black municipality and Democratic stronghold south of Atlanta. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., was the featured guest, telling a crowd of mostly Black women that they were the key to victory — “the people who are really going to save the country.”

A day later, it was Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, among several contenders Harris is considering for her running mate, campaigning in Forsyth County. The area is historically very conservative, though Democrats have narrowed the GOP margins in recent cycles.

“Every county matters,” Beshear said, holding out his ability to win two governor’s races in Kentucky despite Trump’s domination of the state in presidential elections.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, said in a recent interview that the best GOP campaigns can win comfortably in Georgia but bad efforts — combined with strong Democratic campaigns — lose.

Democrats recently have held wide advantages in the core of metro Atlanta, where Jayapal spoke. The party also performed well in Columbus and Savannah, as well as some rural, majority-Black counties. But Republicans dominated in other rural areas and small towns and cities –- where Trump has held multiple rallies in recent years.

The fast-growing, diversifying Atlanta suburbs and exurbs, like those where Beshear campaigned on Sunday, offer the most opportunity for swings, especially from GOP-leaning moderates disenchanted with Trump.

For Harris, that means depending on voters as varied as Michael Sleister, a white suburbanite, and Allen Smith, a Black man who lives not far from downtown Atlanta.

Sleister, who considers himself an independent, has lived in Forsyth County for 35 years. “I’ve voted Republican many times in my life,” he said, but not since the GOP took a rightward turn during President Barack Obama’s administration.

“Now I see the Republican Party as representing a direct threat to my grandchildren,” he said, adding that he sees Trump “as just a horrible person.”

Smith is a 41-year-old Atlanta native who has become a first-time campaign volunteer since Harris became the likely nominee.

“I was driving when I heard the news about President Biden endorsing her, and I started pounding my fist — I decided right then I would do whatever I could to help her get elected,” Smith said.

And Arizona’s position on the front lines of fights and conspiracy theories about election results over the last four years will take center stage once again, as a top election official in Arizona’s largest county faces a primary after having defended it from critics since 2020.

Here’s what to watch for after the polls close at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday.Setting up a critical Senate race

Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is running uncontested in his primary, will officially learn his general election opponent — though he and GOP front-runner Kari Lake have been sparring for months under the assumption she will be her party’s nominee. 

Lake, who has been endorsed by Donald Trump, has steadfastly refused to mention her nearest Republican rival, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, on the stump. When she was questioned about whether she would be open to debating Lamb in March, Lake said: “I am focusing on the general election. We feel very confident in what those poll numbers look like.” 

The closest the two came to a formal debate was on May 23, when Lake and Lamb both participated in a virtual forum and Lake, an election denier, ripped on him for not sharing her unfounded theories. 

“He’s a total coward when it comes to election integrity,” Lake said of Lamb’s refusal to reject the results of the election in 2020, when Joe Biden defeated Trump in Arizona and nationally.

“I don’t think Joe Biden got 81 million votes,” Lamb said at the forum. “But I don’t live in the world of feelings and thoughts. I live in the world of evidence, what you can prove in court beyond a reasonable doubt.” 

While Lake is the heavy favorite in the primary, having outraised Lamb and snagged big-name endorsements from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Vivek Ramaswamy and more, some in the Arizona Republican establishment have expressed skepticism that her firebrand style will be successful in a general election. She narrowly lost the governor’s race in 2022.

Republican former Gov. Jan Brewer was complimentary of Lamb in an interview with KSAZ-TV of Phoenix this summer. Talking about Lake, Brewer had less favorable things to say: “There’s a lot of people that are unhappy with her. They don’t think that she is a truth teller and that she has changed her opinion on certain things. She goes to different rallies, she says different things to different audiences.”

Looking ahead to November, Gallego launched his Latino campaign coalition, Juntos con Gallego, on Monday. Speaking afterward, he agreed to debate Lake should she clinch the GOP primary. 

“Unlike her, where she didn’t debate her opponent, we will gladly debate Kari Lake,” he said.

While Lake refuses to utter Lamb’s name, she has choice words for Gallego at every campaign stop, rotating insults from “swamp rat” to “deadbeat.” 

A battle over who’s more loved by Trump

One of the most closely watched GOP primaries of the election features a battle between a pair of Trump acolytes who have both made him the most prominent feature of their campaigns in the 8th Congressional District.

Blake Masters, a financier who lost his 2022 Senate bid, and Abraham Hamadeh, who lost his 2022 race for state attorney general by just 280 votes (and has made unfounded claims that the race was stolen a centerpiece of his current campaign), are the front-runners in a race crowded with several other well-known Republicans. Also running are state House Speaker Ben Toma; former Rep. Trent Franks, who served in Congress for 16 years before he abruptly resigned in 2017, acknowledging at the time that he discussed surrogacy with two former female staffers; and state Sen. Anthony Kern, who was among 18 Trump aides and allies whom an Arizona grand jury indicted in April for their roles in the effort to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

Hamadeh and Masters have been duking it out over who remains closer to Trump. Hamadeh won Trump’s endorsement in December, though Masters had for months touted that he had won Trump’s backing during his failed 2022 Senate bid. In an unusual move, Trump recast his endorsement in this year’s primary to throw support to both of them. Masters, like Vance, won major financial support from tech billionaire Peter Thiel in 2022.

The 8th District — in the northwest valley of the metropolitan Phoenix area with an older, retired population and a large chunk of evangelical Christians — is solidly Republican. Tuesday’s winner is all but certain to defeat likely Democratic nominee Greg Whitten in November.

Two of the closest House battlegrounds in the country

Former state Sen. Kirsten Engel is running uncontested in the Democratic primary in the swing 6th District, which covers a large chunk of the southeastern part of the state, including Tucson.

The race for the seat — currently held by Republican Juan Ciscomani, who is in his first term — is considered a toss-up by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. It is one of two toss-ups in Arizona, which could help decide control of the tightly divided House.

The match-up would be a repeat of the race in 2022, when Ciscomani defeated Engel by less than 2 percentage points.

Meanwhile, GOP Rep. David Schweikert is a heavy favorite in his primary against lesser-known and lesser-funded candidates in the 1st District. But across the aisle, the Democratic primary is tight, with six candidates in contention.

Locked in battle for the Democratic nomination for the seat Schweikert barely held in 2022 are Andrei Cherny, a businessman and former chair of the Arizona Democratic Party who previously ran for Congress; Amish Shah, a former member of the state House; Conor O’Callaghan, a businessman; Marlene Galán-Woods, a former television news broadcaster; Kurt Kroemer, a former Red Cross regional CEO; and Andrew Horne, a photographer and orthodontist. 

As the only woman in her party’s primary, Galán-Woods is emblematic of a larger trend in congressional politics. The Rutgers University-based Center for American Women and Politics, the pre-eminent organization tracking the topic, found fewer women are running as major-party candidates for the House this year. 

The race to succeed Gallego

Arizona’s 3rd District, currently represented by Gallego, has a rich Latino history: The area sent Arizona’s first Latino member of Congress, Ed Pastor, to Washington before Gallego continued that legacy, and now former state Democratic Party chair Raquel Terán hopes to extend it. 

“We are making the case that we need to make sure that we have our voices heard in Congress,” Terán said in an interview Friday. 

“Of course, this is a Democratic primary, and we welcome healthy competition. But what we don’t welcome is that Republican investors, donors that have bankrolled Donald Trump, are meddling in a Democratic primary,” Terán added, swiping at her primary opponent, Yassamin Ansari.

Ansari, a former Phoenix City Council member, has been backed by $1.3 million from the Protect Progress PAC, which has spent money backing Democratic candidates around the country — but whose cryptocurrency industry funders are also supporting Trump. In an interview with NBC affiliate KPNX of Phoenix, Ansari distanced herself from the donors. 

“I’m not sure what they want,” Ansari told KPNX’s Brahm Resnick of her PAC supporters. “I ran for office because I hate Donald Trump. I cannot stand MAGA extremism.”

A big election about elections

In most counties, and in a previous time, the race for county recorder would not typically generate a whole lot of hoopla. Maricopa County is not most counties. 

Stephen Richer, one of the most outspoken Republican defenders of election processes in the country, is simultaneously fighting to keep his job while preparing to manage the vote this fall in Maricopa, the largest county in battleground Arizona.

The Maricopa County recorder’s administrative role is vast, including processing deeds and overseeing the voter file and other parts of elections. Since 2020, that is what has captured the most attention.

After ballot printers and vote tabulation machines malfunctioned during Arizona’s 2022 election, baseless claims of malicious activity arose, and conspiracy theories about Richer, fueled by Lake, resulted in Richer’s facing death threats. 

Richer has continued to face a slew of attacks to this day. Last month, he posted a video on X of Shelby Busch, the chair of Arizona’s delegation to the Republican National Convention this month, saying she would “lynch” him if she had the chance. The video stemmed from a livestreamed event on Rumble, a conservative video platform, in Mesa on March 20. 

Richer’s main primary challenger is state Rep. Justin Heap, who has dodged questions about whether the 2020 election was fraudulent. But he has been endorsed by many of Arizona’s most prominent election deniers, including Lake.

Don Hiatt, a long-shot candidate who worked in information management technology, has more explicitly sown doubt about the 2020 election.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com.  More from NBC News:

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• North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper backs out of consideration to be Harris’ running mate

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

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Cooper, 67, withdrew before Harris formally began soliciting vetting material from potential vice presidents, the people said. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive search process. Harris’ search is ongoing and her teams of lawyers and political aides are still reviewing information on a narrowing list of potential candidates.

Harris’ team was initially said to looking at about a dozen potential contenders, but the field has narrowed and now Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly are seen as among the front-runners, according to the people.

Cooper said in a statement, “This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket.” He said Harris “has an outstanding list of people from which to choose, and we’ll all work to make sure she wins.”

Cooper, the former chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, has been close to Harris since they were both state attorneys general. His potential selection was seen as a possible asset in shifting North Carolina — the Democrats’ only significant opportunity to expand on their 2020 map — into Harris’ hands.

Under the state constitution, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is the GOP’s nominee to replace the term-limited Cooper, becomes acting governor and can assume the Democrat’s powers when he travels out of state.

Cooper, according to one of the people, has expressed concern about what Robinson might do if he were to leave the state extensively for campaign travel.

Robinson is an ardent social conservative, who once called abortion “child sacrifice.” In various church pulpits, Robinson has asserted men as the rightful leaders in church and society. He once mused that leaders of the original birth control movement in the U.S. were “witches, all of ’em.” He has discussed LGBTQ people with words like “filth” and “maggots.”

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In the weeks before President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, Cooper appeared with Harris at campaign events in Greensboro and Fayetteville. He has deflected questions about the vetting process.

“I trust her to make the right decision,” he told reporters in North Carolina recently.

The New York Times first reported that Cooper had withdrawn himself from the process, but did not detail the timing of his decision or his rationale. The Harris campaign declined to comment.

__

AP writer Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed.

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More than 90,000 people have signed up for Monday night’s “White Dudes for Harris” Zoom fundraising and organizing rally, which will feature comments from several potential Democratic running mates for Vice President Kamala Harris.

That response is nine times the initial target of 10,000 sign-ups, which was set by organizers several days ago for the event. The call is the male version of a “White Women: Answer the Call” Zoom fundraising meeting that drew more than 160,000 women to support Harris last week.

“Ninety nine days from now we have an opportunity to help Kamala Harris make some history, we also have the opportunity to change some minds, to have some tough but fair conversations, to meet other white dudes where they are and to address some things that, well frankly, just haven’t been addressed,” the organizers of “White Dudes for Harris” said in a statement.

“We are honest, open, and ready to support our first black woman president,”

Among the scheduled speakers for the 8 p.m. ET Zoom event are U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, all of who reportedly are being considered as possible running mates for Harris.

All four also are themselves “white dudes.”

Also slated to speak at the event are Mitch Landrieu, the co-chair of Harris’ campaign, and the actors Mark Hamill, Mark Ruffalo, Misha Collins and Josh Gad.

Harris became the Democratic party’s de facto nominee last week, after President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 election contest against former President Donald Trump, and endorsed Harris as the party’s nominee.

Harris, if elected, would be the first woman, and only the second person of color to be elected president of the United States. The vice president’s father is a black man from Jamaica and her mother is from India.

Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, are both white.

“As White Dudes, we know full well how MAGA cynically preys on resentments,” the White Dudes for Harris organizers said in a social media kit for the event. “This moment of crisis is challenging us, but we won’t let fear define who we are and take us – or our country – down a dark path

“As White men, we recognize all too clearly the culture of toxic entitlement surrounding Donald Trump,” the organizers wrote. “We need to be honest with ourselves and each other about the role we’ve played in our nation’s history – good and bad.”

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The expected interview with the 2024 Republican presidential nominee is part of the FBI’s standard protocol to speak with victims of federal crimes during the course of their investigations. The FBI said on Friday that Trump was struck by a bullet or a fragment of one during the July 13 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“We want to get his perspective on what he observed,” Kevin Rojek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, said Monday.

Rojek disclosed the planned conversation with Trump as he revealed new details about the gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, including internet searches that reveal an interest in mass shootings, power plants, improvised explosive devices and the attempted assassination of Slovakia’s prime minister earlier this year.

Despite hundreds of interviews, the FBI said it still has not been able to uncover a motive for the shooting, but it said that the portrait of Crooks that has emerged is of a reclusive loner whose primary social circle was his family. Crooks’ parents have been “extremely cooperative” with investigators, Rojek said, and the extensive planning that preceded the shooting was done online.

The parents have said they had no knowledge of Crooks’ plans, and investigators have no reason to doubt that, the FBI said.

“I served as a U.S. senator for 36 years, including as chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations as senator, vice president and president than anyone living today,” Biden wrote. “I have great respect for our institutions and separation of powers. What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.”

Biden called for a constitutional amendment saying former presidents don’t have any immunity from federal criminal indictments, trials, convictions or sentencing.

“I share our founders’ belief that the president’s power is limited, not absolute,” the president wrote. “We are a nation of laws — not of kings or dictators.”

The amendment is in line with Biden’s recent statements that “no president is above the law,” a refrain he has repeated several times since the Supreme Court said some actions related to the duties of a president can’t be prosecuted. The decision favors former President Donald Trump in criminal cases against him and could enable other former presidents to avoid certain criminal charges going forward.   

Biden also expressed support for Congress to create term limits for Supreme Court justices, saying he favors 18-year terms, which he believes would prevent one president from having multigenerational influence on the judiciary.

“Term limits would help ensure that the court’s membership changes with some regularity” and “reduce the chance that any single presidency radically alters the makeup of the court for generations to come,” he wrote.

In addition to term limits, Biden called on Congress to make the Supreme Court subject to the kind of enforceable ethics requirements imposed on other federal judges regarding gifts, political activities and financial dealings.

“This is common sense,” he wrote. “The court’s current voluntary ethics code is weak and self-enforced.”

The de facto Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, issued a statement saying the American people must have confidence in a Supreme Court whose fairness has been called into question by numerous ethics scandals and decisions overturning long-standing precedent. She said the reforms being proposed would “help to restore confidence in the Court, strengthen our democracy, and ensure no one is above the law.”

Biden is scheduled to deliver remarks Monday afternoon at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas.

Biden will lay out his proposals at a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The event was rescheduled the day after the assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. Biden had been expected to present his plans the following Monday but instead stayed at the White House during his administration’s initial investigation of the shooting. 

In his address to the nation after having recovered from Covid-19 last week, Biden explained why he chose to end his re-election campaign and how he planned to spend his final months in office. He hinted then about supporting major changes to the Supreme Court.

“I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy,” Biden said from the Oval Office.

NBC News reported this month that Biden planned to endorse a series of reforms to the court and had notified members of Congress about his thinking. 

Biden was reluctant to back significant changes to the Supreme Court earlier in his political career. The shift in his public posture toward court reform follows recent controversies involving Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and decisions led by the conservative majority on issues like abortion rights — rulings Biden has heavily criticized. Biden told a crowd at a fundraiser last month that the Supreme Court “has never been as out of kilter as it is today.” 

Just last week, Justice Elena Kagan became the first member of the court to call for a stronger code of ethics in remarks at an annual judicial conference in California on Thursday. She signed on to the Supreme Court’s new code of ethics last year, but in last week’s remarks she said it needs an enforcement mechanism. 

“Both in terms of enforcing the rules against people who have violated them but also in protecting people who haven’t violated them — I think a system like that would make sense,” Kagan said.

Even with the presidential push for reforms, getting such legislation passed through Congress is unlikely. Before he called off his presidential run, Biden huddled with House Democrats, saying he would need their help to enact changes — and most likely need to persuade some Republicans to cross the aisle, given their majority in the House and Democrats’ narrow majority in the Senate. 

Senate Democrats introduced Supreme Court reforms last year, but Republican opposition thwarted the effort last month.

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both of whom immigrated to the U.S. during the Civil Rights Movement, Harris’s historic presidential bid has again put a spotlight on American identity politics and the growing number of people who say they are multiracial.

Different countries divide people into categories depending on different national traditions. The U.S., with its slavery-molded history, divides people into Black or white, and nine million people identified as multiracial in 2010.

When Harris ran for vice president in 2020, 33.8 million people in the U.S. identified as being more than one race, according to the census.

Is Kamala Harris a Black woman?

Yes, she is. Her father Donald Jasper Harris, professor emeritus of economics at Stanford University, is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Jamaica.

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Harris has said her mother deliberately raised her and her sister as Black because she felt that was how the world would see them first. Harris chose to go to Howard University, a historically Black college and university in Washington, D.C. The vice president maintains close ties to her alma mater and to her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Being multiracial often means people try to categorize you and then treat you accordingly, said Dr. Kalya Castillo, a licensed psychologist in New York whose clinical interests include multiracial identity. She has met with patients who come for therapy for one issue and end up talking about being biracial or multiracial.

“What are the messages that you’ve received from your family along with the outside community and society?” said Castillo, who is Black and Japanese. “I have more people who are curious about exploring that now.”

Every multiracial person’s experience and how they choose to present themselves is different. There’s also no predicting if someone decides to stereotype you. Castillo said many people assume she is a member of a “model minority” group because of her Japanese heritage.

Growing up, however, her Asian mother was afraid how Castillo would be treated if people saw her as Black.

Is Kamala Harris also an Indian American woman?

“She knew a bit about the discrimination that African-Americans, Blacks, have faced in America,” Castillo said.

Yes, she is. Her late mother Shyamala Gopalan, a biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, was born in India.

In 2020, there was criticism that Harris’ Indian heritage wasn’t given much media attention. Some wonder if that’s happening again.

“What I’ve already seen just in the last 24 hours is folks who are advocates for the South Asian community arguing or complaining that her Asian-ness is getting erased,” said Stephen Caliendo, co-founder and co-director of The Project on Race in Political Communication at North Central College.

“She’s often referred to as a Black woman candidate,” he said.

From the playground to the workplace, being multiracial can be fraught with challenges. In politics, it can spark attacks rooted in race instead of policy disagreements.

The day after Harris replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket, Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett called her a “DEI hire” in a TV interview. Conservatives have been using diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to argue that unqualified people get hired solely based on their race and gender.

But, GOP leaders are now urging Republicans to lay off racist and sexist attacks for fear of alienating voters.

Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University who has written extensively about Black politicians and political mobilization and race, says both racist and sexist tropes were inevitable for Harris. GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance said at a rally that Harris has been only ”collecting a government paycheck for the last 20 years.”

“Kamala Harris got something that was especially tailored to stereotypes about Black women,” Gillespie said.

Even seemingly innocuous words from Harris sparked what seemed like racist arguments, Caliendo said. In her first statement after Biden’s withdrawal, Harris announced “my intention is to earn and win this nomination.” Very quickly, some Republican officials quipped that she hadn’t earned anything.

“It plays into a stereotype of undeserving members of minority groups, particularly women, ‘welfare queen’ kind of thing,” Caliendo said. “She feels entitled to something that she hasn’t earned. She’s using it as an inoculation against what she expects.”

Conservatives have also butchered Harris’ first name, igniting accusations of racism and disrespect. Kamala (KAH’-mah-lah) means lotus in Sanskrit. In his first rally since Harris became the likely Democratic nominee, Republican Donald Trump repeatedly mispronounced her name as part of a broad attack on someone he called his “new victim to defeat.” And at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this month, several speakers mispronounced the vice president’s name.

Supporters say these mispronunciations are meant to stress her multiracial background as something scary.

“I think we should all expect more, from all corners of American civic life. But certainly we should expect more from the halls of Congress,” said Chintan Patel, director of the political empowerment organization Indian American Impact.

Do some people think the vice president isn’t Black or South Asian enough?

When Harris announced her presidential candidacy the first time in 2019, it didn’t take long for people in the Black community to question if she was “Black enough.” Some cited the fact she is Jamaican, not African American. Others pointed to her marriage to Doug Emhoff, who is white. Candidate Harris decided to address these accusations head-on by going on all-Black-hosted radio shows like “The Breakfast Club.”

“I’m black, and I’m proud of being black,” Harris, then a U.S. senator, said in the 2019 radio interview. “I was born black. I will die black, and I’m not going to make excuses for anybody because they don’t understand.”

Gillespie called such a criticism a tired trope, saying Harris has always rightfully been a part of the Black community and the Black experience. Gillespie also points to the two Zoom calls held this week by Black women and Black men, respectively, that raised nearly $3 million.

“The idea that you could get tens of thousands of Black people on a call that was organized at the last minute to talk about how are we going to support this presidential candidate, I think speaks volumes to how black grassroots activists are going to organize in support of her and how they’re organizing and embracing her as a member of their community,” Gillespie said.

Patel also hit back at any notion that Harris is not “Indian enough.” He praised her for supporting Indian American Impact when it launched in 2018.

“She has keynoted at many community events that we’ve had across the years, across the country. She’s hosted Diwali event celebrations, Eid celebrations at her home,” Patel said. “She’s really showed up and championed South Asian American communities.”

Why do racial labels continue to matter in American politics?

The idea that someone gets to be the authority on someone else’s racial identity is reminiscent of the “one-drop rule.” A legal principle rooted in slavery, the so-called rule determined anyone with even a drop of Black lineage could not own land or be free. To come up with criteria to validate a multiracial person is pointless and hurtful, Castillo said.

“Your legitimacy is questioned. It’s like this superficial, arbitrary stuff that’s like super performative,” Castillo said.

What Castillo has found helpful is the “Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People,” a list published by Maria Root, a renowned clinical psychologist who is also bi-racial, in 1993. The list contains a dozen declarations such as “I have the right not to justify my ethnic legitimacy.” Castillo showed it to her daughter after the girl’s friends argued “what percentage Asian she was versus Black.”

“It’s also been super-empowering for me,” Castillo said. “It’s something that I still am trying to practice and really be thoughtful about when I’m in situations in which I think people are trying to tell me who I am.”

The video gained attention after tech billionaire Elon Musk shared it on his social media platform X on Friday evening without explicitly noting it was originally released as parody.

The video uses many of the same visuals as a real ad that Harris, the likely Democratic president nominee, released last week launching her campaign. But the video swaps out the voice-over audio with another voice that convincingly impersonates Harris.

“I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate,” the voice says in the video. It claims Harris is a “diversity hire” because she is a woman and a person of color, and it says she doesn’t know “the first thing about running the country.” The video retains “Harris for President” branding. It also adds in some authentic past clips of Harris.

Mia Ehrenberg, a Harris campaign spokesperson, said in an email to The Associated Press: “We believe the American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.”

The widely shared video is an example of how lifelike AI-generated images, videos or audio clips have been utilized both to poke fun and to mislead about politics as the United States draws closer to the presidential election. It exposes how, as high-quality AI tools have become far more accessible, there remains a lack of significant federal action so far to regulate their use, leaving rules guiding AI in politics largely to states and social media platforms.

The video also raises questions about how to best handle content that blurs the lines of what is considered an appropriate use of AI, particularly if it falls into the category of satire.

The original user who posted the video, a YouTuber known as Mr Reagan, has disclosed both on YouTube and on X that the manipulated video is a parody. But Musk’s post, which has been viewed more than 123 million times, according to the platform, only includes the caption “This is amazing” with a laughing emoji.

X users who are familiar with the platform may know to click through Musk’s post to the original user’s post, where the disclosure is visible. Musk’s caption does not direct them to do so.

While some participants in X’s “community note” feature to add context to posts have suggested labeling Musk’s post, no such label had been added to it as of Sunday afternoon. Some users online questioned whether his post might violate X’s policies, which say users “may not share synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm.”

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The policy has an exception for memes and satire as long as they do not cause “significant confusion about the authenticity of the media.”

Musk endorsed former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, earlier this month. Neither Mr Reagan nor Musk immediately responded to emailed requests for comment Sunday.

Two experts who specialize in AI-generated media reviewed the fake ad’s audio and confirmed that much of it was generated using AI technology.

One of them, University of California, Berkeley, digital forensics expert Hany Farid, said the video shows the power of generative AI and deepfakes.

“The AI-generated voice is very good,” he said in an email. “Even though most people won’t believe it is VP Harris’ voice, the video is that much more powerful when the words are in her voice.”

He said generative AI companies that make voice-cloning tools and other AI tools available to the public should do better to ensure their services are not used in ways that could harm people or democracy.

Rob Weissman, co-president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, disagreed with Farid, saying he thought many people would be fooled by the video.

“I don’t think that’s obviously a joke,” Weissman said in an interview. “I’m certain that most people looking at it don’t assume it’s a joke. The quality isn’t great, but it’s good enough. And precisely because it feeds into preexisting themes that have circulated around her, most people will believe it to be real.”

Weissman, whose organization has advocated for Congress, federal agencies and states to regulate generative AI, said the video is “the kind of thing that we’ve been warning about.”

Other generative AI deepfakes in both the U.S. and elsewhere would have tried to influence voters with misinformation, humor or both. In Slovakia in 2023, fake audio clips impersonated a candidate discussing plans to rig an election and raise the price of beer days before the vote. In Louisiana in 2022, a political action committee’s satirical ad superimposed a Louisiana mayoral candidate’s face onto an actor portraying him as an underachieving high school student.

Congress has yet to pass legislation on AI in politics, and federal agencies have only taken limited steps, leaving most existing U.S. regulation to the states. More than one-third of states have created their own laws regulating the use of AI in campaigns and elections, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Beyond X, other social media companies also have created policies regarding synthetic and manipulated media shared on their platforms. Users on the video platform YouTube, for example, must reveal whether they have used generative artificial intelligence to create videos or face suspension.

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

Vance told “The Megyn Kelly Show” in an interview that aired Friday: “Obviously, it was a sarcastic comment. I’ve got nothing against cats” and then blamed the media for “focusing so much on the sarcasm and not on the substance of what I actually said.”

Vance made the remarks in 2021 on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, now the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, as one of the “childless cat ladies” running the nation who “want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”

The Ohio Republican added, “If you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.”

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Vance told Kelly in Friday’s interview, “It’s not a criticism of people who don’t have children. I explicitly said in my remarks … this is not about criticizing people who for various reasons don’t have kids. This is about criticizing the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child.”

Vance also accused the media of wanting “to attack me and [wanting] me to back down,” before adding that “what this is fundamentally about [is] the Democrats in the past five to 10 years, Megyn, they have become anti-family.”

Vance’s 2021 remarks resurfaced this week and quickly drew criticism from celebrities, politicians and members of Harris’ family. Some of the criticism drew comparisons between Vance’s “childless” comments and his stance on abortion rights and reproductive health care.

Earlier this week, after Vance’s 2021 comments resurfaced, actress Jennifer Aniston was one of the highest-profile names to criticize the senator, posting on her Instagram Stories: “I truly can’t believe this is coming from a potential VP of The United States.”

“All I can say is … Mr. Vance, I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children of her own one day. I hope she will not need to turn to IVF as a second option. Because you are trying to take that away from her, too,” Aniston added.

Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff also posted on Instagram, writing “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?,” referring to her brother Cole Emhoff.

Ella Emhoff added, “I love my three parents.”

Her comments were posted over an image of a statement her mother, Kerstin Emhoff, gave to news outlets, saying: “For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I. She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Harris calls Sonia Massey’s family
• Boar’s Head recalls more than 207,000 pounds of meat due to listeria concerns
• California education official embezzled over $16 million, hid cash in mini fridge

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

“Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” Obama says in a video that shows Harris getting a call from the Obamas.

Michelle Obama says in the approximately one-minute video: “I can’t have this phone call without saying to my girl Kamala: I am proud of you. This is going to be historic.”

Obama, the first Black president, and Harris, who could become the first female president, have been in close touch since she announced her candidacy Sunday, and he has privately been fully supportive, according to four people familiar with their discussions, NBC News has reported.

“He has been in regular contact with her and thinks she’s been off to a great start,” one of them said.

Aides to Obama and Harris have discussed their appearing together on the campaign trail at some point, three of the people familiar with the discussions said.

Obama had supported Biden’s re-election effort, but he had “concerns” about Biden’s prospects in November after his weak debate performance in late June.

Decision 2024 Jul 25

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Decision 2024 Jul 25

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Moments after he announced he was dropping out of the race Sunday, Biden endorsed Harris for president, and Democrats quickly coalesced around her.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also endorsed Harris in a joint statement Sunday.

While Obama praised Biden’s leadership as president and his life dedicated to public service in a statement released the day he made his announcement, he didn’t endorse Harris then.

Harris’ and Obama’s political lives have intertwined over the last two decades as they have campaigned with and endorsed each other for various elected offices. When she was San Francisco district attorney, Harris was a co-chair of Obama’s California campaign when he ran for president as a senator. During the race, she attended Obama’s launch speech in Springfield, Illinois; campaigned for him in Iowa, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire; and attended his victory speech in Chicago’s Grant Park when he won the general election, the San Francisco Chronicle reported at the time.

Soon after Obama won in 2008, Harris announced she would run for attorney general of California, telling the Chronicle: “To be sure, Obama has excited a whole new generation of voters — and … they span all ages and categories. But they’re an excited group of people who are feeling good about the country, and they want to be involved in it — and those are the people I want to talk to.”

In 2010, Obama endorsed Harris for attorney general, an office she won and held for six years. And in 2016, he endorsed and cut a TV ad for Harris when she ran for the Senate.

Obama also nominated Harris’ brother-in-law, Tony West — another prolific Obama supporter — to be the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division in 2009. He went on to become an associate attorney general at the Justice Department in the Obama administration.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Republicans see Gov. Josh Shapiro as Kamala Harris’ ‘super strong’ VP contender
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• Fearing a Trump takeover, Justice Department alumni endorse Kamala Harris

She accused him of “backpedaling” away from a previous agreement for a debate hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10.

“I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on the debate stage,” she said after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a trip to Indiana and Texas.

The Sept. 10 debate was one of two debates that President Joe Biden and Trump had agreed on. The first one was hosted by CNN on June 27, but Biden has since dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris as his successor.

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Trump has said he would prefer to shift the debate to Fox News, but he would be willing to face off with Harris more than once.

Harris did not respond to a question about having Fox News host a debate.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement late Thursday that debate arrangements “cannot be finalized until Democrats formally decide on their nominee.”

“Democrats very well could still change their minds,” Cheung said.

Alex Conant, a Republican consultant, said the debate could be “decisive.” “It’s the only time voters really tune in,” he said.

This year’s campaign has already shown the potential power of a debate. Biden’s disastrous performance on June 27 revived concerns that he was too old for a second term. His support within the Democratic Party crumbled, and he ended his reelection bid on Sunday.

Vice President Kamala Harris debuted an official TikTok account on Thursday, underscoring the social broadcasting app’s importance to the 2024 presidential campaign as a way to reach voters.

In her first short TikTok video, Harris described why she joined the popular app, saying that she’s “heard that recently I’ve been on the For You Page, so I thought I’d get on here myself.”

The vice president was referring to the widespread attention her recently announced presidential campaign garnered on social media platforms like TikTok. Numerous TikTok users, for instance, created a swarm of humorous videos — including fusing clips from Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ summer trend — featuring Harris as a way to celebrate her rise as the Democratic Party’s leading presidential nominee in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s recent announcement that he would drop out of the 2024 presidential race.

Harris’s quick adoption of TikTok contrasts with President Joe Biden, who personally appeared with Harris on the campaign’s @BidenHQ (now @KamalaHQ) page. U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern over TikTok’s ownership by a Chinese tech company.

TikTok’s immense popularity with the youth of America and the broader public has made the app an important campaigning tool by politicians, even though the company does not allow political advertising.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump debuted an official TikTok account in June. Earlier this year, Trump told CNBC that while he shares national security and privacy concerns about TikTok, he believed that banning the app would only “make Facebook bigger, and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people.”

Watch: “There is no rebranding Kamala Harris,” former Trump aide.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

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Biden insisted “the defense of democracy is more important than any title.” He did not directly call out former President Donald Trump, whom he has called an existential threat to democracy. “Nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy,” Biden said. “And that includes personal ambition.”

Here’s a transcript of Biden’s address to the nation on July 24, 2024:

My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office. In this sacred space, I’m surrounded by portraits of extraordinary American presidents. Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words that guide this nation. George Washington, who showed us presidents are not kings. Abraham Lincoln, who implored us to reject malice. Franklin Roosevelt, who inspired us to reject fear.

I revere this office, but I love my country more.

It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title.

I draw strength and I find joy in working for the American people, but this sacred task of perfecting our union is not about me. It’s about you, your families, your futures. It’s about we the people, and we can never forget that. And I never have.

I’ve made it clear that I believe America is at an inflection point, one of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine our fate of our nation and the world for decades to come.

America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division. We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy? In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies, but as fellow Americans. Can we do that? Does character in public life still matter?

I believe you know the answer to these questions because I know you, the American people, and I know this, we are a great nation because we are a good people.

When you elected me to this office, I promised to always level with you, to tell you the truth. And the truth, the sacred cause of this country, is larger than any one of us, and those of us who cherish that cause cherish it so much, a cause of American democracy itself must unite to protect it.

You know, in recent weeks it’s become clear to me that I needed to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term, but nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy, and that includes personal ambition.

So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation. I know there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life, but there’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices, and that time and place is now.

Over the next six months, I’ll be focused on doing my job as president. That means I’ll continue to lower costs for hard-working families, grow our economy. I’ll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose. I’ll keep calling out hate and extremism, make it clear there is no place, no place in America for political violence or any violence ever, period. I’m going to keep speaking out to protect our kids from gun violence, our planet from climate crisis, is the existential threat.

And I will keep fighting for my for my cancer moonshot, so we can end cancer as we know it because we can do it. And I’m going to call for Supreme Court reform because this is critical to our democracy, Supreme Court reform. You know, I will keep working to ensure America remains strong and secure and the leader of the free world.

I’m the first president in this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world. We’ll keep rallying a coalition of proud nations to stop Putin from taking over Ukraine and doing more damage. We’ll keep NATO stronger, and I’ll make it more powerful and more united than at any time in all of our history. I’ll keep doing the same for allies in the Pacific.

You know, when I came to office, the conventional wisdom was that China would inevitably surpass the United States. That’s not the case anymore. And I’m going to keep working to end the war in Gaza, bring home all the hostages and bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war.

We’re also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world. You know, we’ve come so far since my inauguration. On that day, I told you as I stood in that winter — we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities, peril and possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in the century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War, but we came together as Americans, and we got through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous and more secure.

Today, we have the strongest economy in the world, creating nearly 16 million new jobs — a record. Wages are up, inflation continues to come down, the racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years. We’re literally rebuilding our entire nation, urban, suburban, rural and tribal communities. Manufacturing has come back to America.

We’re leading the world again in chips and science and innovation. We finally beat Big Pharma after all these years, to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, and I’m going to keep fighting to make sure we lower the cost for everyone, not just seniors.

More people have health care today in America than ever before. And I signed one of the most significant laws helping millions of veterans and their families who were exposed to toxic materials. You know, the most significant climate law ever, ever in the history of the world, the first major gun safety law in 30 years. And today, violent crime rate is at a 50-year low.

We’re also securing our border. Border crossings are lower today than when the previous administration left office. And I’ve kept my commitment to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States of America. I also kept my commitment to have an administration that looks like America and be a president for all Americans.

That’s what I’ve done. I ran for president four years ago because I believed, and still do, that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was at stake and that’s still the case. America is an idea, an idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant.

It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident. We’re all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to it, to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either and I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.

In just a few months, the American people will choose the course of America’s future. I made my choice. I made my views known. I would like to thank our great Vice President Kamala Harris. She’s experienced, she’s tough, she’s capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and a leader for our country. Now the choice is up to you, the American people.

When you make that choice, remember the words of Benjamin Franklin. It’s hanging on my wall here in the Oval Office, alongside the bust of Dr. King and Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez. When Ben Franklin was asked as he emerged from the convention going on, whether the founders have given America a monarchy or republic, Franklin’s response was “a republic, if you can keep it.” A republic if you can keep it. Whether we keep our republic is now in your hands.

My fellow Americans, it’s been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. Nowhere else on earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States, but here I am. That’s what’s so special about America.

We are a nation of promise and possibilities, of dreamers and doers, of ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things. I’ve given my heart and my soul to our nation, like so many others. I’ve been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people. I hope you have some idea how grateful I am to all of you.

The great thing about America is here kings and dictators do not rule, the people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. We just have to keep faith, keep the faith and remember who we are. We’re the United States of America and there’s simply nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together.

So let’s act together, preserve our democracy. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Thank you.

“Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future,” Harris said at her first rally with Walz in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “I’m here today because I’ve found such a leader, Gov. Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.”

“I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug, this incredible journey,” Walz told Harris, referring to her husband. “Thank you for trust you put in me, and maybe more so, thanks for bringing back the joy.”

Walz, the governor of swing-state Minnesota, has become a powerful figure in the party thanks to his great success in pushing a variety of democratic initiatives, including expanding abortion rights, legalizing marijuana and gun reform.

The 60-year-old’s success in Minnesota has been viewed by Democratic operatives as an example of how Harris’ campaign could model her message on crucial issues in the 2024 election.

In 2022, Walz defied a “red wave” and won reelection in a heated race that also gave Minnesota Democrats control over both chambers for the first time in eight years.

“This isn’t about jamming down Democratic priorities. These are proven things that improve people’s lives,” Walz said in an interview according to NBC News, adding that Democratic policy goals so far “are about not allowing our people to be demonized” because of “Republicans wanting to go to war on social issues.”

Walz also oversaw the 2020 George Floyd protests, where he mobilized the National Guard to control protests and later filed civil rights charges against the Minneapolis Police Department.

“The investigation will review MPD’s policies, procedures and practices over the last 10 years to determine if the department has utilized systemic discriminatory practices towards people of color,” Walz said in a statement.

Among his most recent accomplishments, in 2023 Walz spearheaded a bill that gave free lunch and breakfast to all Minnesota students, regardless of income requirements set by a federal program. He also signed a bill allowing driver’s licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

“If there’s one thing I hope folks across this country recognize and take away from what we’re doing here in Minnesota, is it’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going ‘woke’ and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said.

Walz was born in 1964 in West Point, Nebraska, a small town of less than 4,000 people.

Before becoming governor, Walz was a social studies high school teacher who later ran for office and served in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. He then held the highest position for a Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

Walz also served for more than two decades in the Army National Guard, where he reached the Command Sergeant Major rank and was awarded the Army Commendation and Achievement medals.

Since 1995, Walz has been married to Gwen Whipple, who he met while they were teachers. They have two children together, Hope and Gus.

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Insisting that “the defense of democracy is more important than any title,” Biden used his first public address since his announcement Sunday that he was stepping aside to deliver an implicit repudiation of former President Donald Trump. He did not directly call out Trump, whom he has called an existential threat to democracy. The 10-minute address also gave Biden a chance to try to shape how history will remember his one and only term in office.

“Nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy,” Biden said. “And that includes personal ambition.”

It was a moment for the history books — a U.S. president reflecting before the nation on why he was taking the rare step of voluntarily handing off power. It hasn’t been done since 1968, when Lyndon Johnson announced he would not seek reelection in the heat of the Vietnam War.

“I revere this office,” Biden said. “But I love my country more.”

Trump, just an hour earlier at a campaign rally, revived his baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Biden. His refusal to concede inspired the Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, which Biden called “the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War.”

Biden skirted the political reality that brought him to that point: His abysmal performance in a debate against Trump nearly a month ago, where he spoke haltingly, appeared ashen and failed to rebut his predecessor’s attacks, sparked a crisis of confidence from Democrats. Lawmakers and ordinary voters questioned not just whether he was capable of beating Trump in November, but also whether, at 81, he was still fit for the high-pressure job.

Biden tried to outlast the skepticism and quell the concerns with interviews and tepid rallies, but the pressure to step aside only mounted from the party’s political elites and from ordinary voters.

“I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation,” Biden said, saying he wanted to make room for “fresh voices, yes, younger voices.”

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He added, “That is the best way to unite our nation.”

It was a belated fulfillment of his 2020 pledge to be a bridge to a new generation of leaders — and a bow to the drumbeat of calls from within his party to step aside.

Biden’s address was carried live by the major broadcast and cable news networks. He spooled out an weighty to-do list for his last six months in office, pledging to remain focused on being president until his term expires at noon on Jan. 20, 2025. He said he would work to end the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, fight to boost government support to cure cancer and push for Supreme Court reform, among other things.

The president sought to use the address to outline the stakes in the election, which both Biden and Harris have framed as a choice between freedom and chaos, but he tried to steer clear of overt campaigning from his official office.

“The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule,” Biden said. “The people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America — lies in your hands.”

Biden was also making the case for his legacy of sweeping domestic legislation and the renewal of alliances abroad. But the way history will remember his time in office and his historic decision to step aside is intertwined with Harris’ electoral result in November, particularly as the vice president runs tightly on the achievements of the Biden administration.

His advisers say he intends to hold campaign events and fundraisers benefiting Harris, whom Biden praised as “tough” and “capable,” albeit at a far slower pace than if he had remained on the ballot himself.

Harris advisers will ultimately have to decide how to deploy the president, whose popularity sagged as voters in both parties questioned his fitness for office.

Biden, aides say, knows that if Harris loses, he’ll be criticized for staying in the race too long and not giving her or another Democrat time to effectively mount a campaign against Trump. If she wins, she’ll ensure his policy victories are secured and expanded, and he’ll be remembered for a Washingtonian decision to step aside for the next generation of leadership.

Biden said he’s grateful to have served as president — nowhere else would a kid with a stutter grow up to sit in the Oval Office.

“I’ve given my heart and my soul to our nation,” he said. “I’ve been blessed a million times in return.”

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that any question of Biden resigning his office before the election — which would allow Harris to run as an incumbent — was “ridiculous.”

Jean-Pierre said Biden has “no regrets” about his decision to stay in the race as long as he did, or his decision to quit it over the weekend. She said Biden’s decision had nothing to do with his health.

Grassley on X demanded answers and accountability following the July 13 assassination attempt targeting former President Donald Trump as he spoke at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was shot in the ear.

Crooks was shot and killed after firing at Trump. Crooks shot and killed one other person and wounded two others when he opened fire at the event.

The body camera video posted by Grassley, R-Iowa, shows Crooks’ body on the roof of the building from where he fired. The video also showed blood by the shooter’s body.

“We NEED detailed answers ASAP on security failures,” Grassley wrote on X. “TRANSPARENCY BRINGS ACCOUNTABILITY.”

In the video, someone in a black suit and sunglasses speaks with law enforcement officers armed with rifles and wearing body armor following the shooting and Crooks’ subsequent killing.

An officer points out a rifle lying on the roof, though it is not clear whether it is Crooks’.

The officer whose body camera is recording mentions that a sniper had seen a person coming from a bike and setting a backpack down, but lost sight of him. It is not clear in the video if the officer is talking about Crooks.

Grassley wrote that the video was obtained from the Beaver County Emergency Services Unit after requests from Congress. The Beaver County Sheriff’s Office has an unit by that name, which is a tactical team that responds to high-risk incidents.

The U.S. Secret Service and Beaver County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday night.

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress have demanded answers about how Crooks was able to open fire at a former president, and the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General said it has opened three reviews surrounding the incident.

U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned Tuesday. She wrote in a resignation letter that she takes “full responsibility for the security lapse.”

Crooks’ motive has not been determined.

Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris, who heads the agency, told a House Homeland Security Committee hearing Tuesday that Crooks had been identified as suspicious before the shooting.

Crooks had been spotted “milling about and he stood out to them because he never made his way to a point of ingress to the venue,” meaning Crooks was milling about but not trying to enter, and that Crooks was later seen with a range finder.

Paris said the Butler County Emergency Services Unit, tasked with securing the building where Crooks fired from, relayed the suspicion and a photo of Crooks to the state police, which then passed along the message to the Secret Service.  

Crooks was not designated as an actual threat until seconds before he opened fire, Paris said.

Trump, now the official Republican nominee for president, plans to no longer hold outdoor rallies following the assassination attempt, according to two sources familiar with his campaign’s operations. The current plans are for those events to be held indoors instead, they said.

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Harris rips Trump before fired-up crowd at first presidential rally in battleground Wisconsin
• Pennsylvania State Police identified Trump shooter as ‘suspicious’ as he hung around before rally
• Sunday was the hottest day ever recorded on Earth