'I am Watching You, Kid': Biden Calls In Live to Harris Event

Wilmington, Delaware: A day after announcing his exit from the 2024 presidential race, US President Joe Biden reached out to his campaign staff via phone from his Delaware home, where he is isolating due to COVID-19. In his call, Biden urged his team to support Vice President Kamala Harris and assured them of his ongoing commitment to her campaign.

Biden, whose voice was slightly gravelly due to his illness, reassured staff that, despite his current health situation, he would be actively campaigning for Harris. "If I didn’t have COVID, I’d be standing there with you," he said, affirming his determination to be "out on the road" supporting her.

Referring to the news of his exit, Biden stated, “I know yesterday’s news was surprising and it was hard for you to hear, but it was the right thing to do.”

He uderlined that while the name at the top of the ticket has changed, the mission remains the same. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be out there in the campaign with her, with Kamala.”

Biden also underscored his continued focus on defeating Donald Trump. “I won’t be on the ticket, but I’m still going to be fully, fully engaged,” he affirmed.

He promised to support Harris in any way needed and expressed his affection and support as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff introduced Harris. “I’m watching you, kid,” Biden said. “I love you.”

Biden continues to recover from COVID-19, stays out of public view 

Biden's “symptoms have almost resolved completely” from COVID-19, according to his physician, as the president on Monday remained out of public view for the fifth straight day.

Biden called into the Wilmington, Delaware, headquarters of his former campaign during a visit by Vice President Kamala Harris, whose bid for the White House has been endorsed by Biden. The president sought to pep up the staff, urging them to give “every bit” of their “heart and soul" to Harris. Biden also vowed to be “out on the road” campaigning for his vice president.

“If I didn't have Covid, I'd be standing there with you," said Biden, whose voice sounded a touch gravelly.

The president was last seen in public late Wednesday after arriving at a US air base in Dover, Delaware, after testing positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas earlier in the day. He then motorcaded to his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The White House says Biden plans to return to the White House on Tuesday afternoon.

Biden's physician, Dr Kevin O'Connor, said that the president had completed his 10th dose of the COVID-fighting medication Paxlovid on Monday morning and continued to perform all of his presidential duties.

“His symptoms have almost resolved completely. His pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain absolutely normal,” O'Connor wrote. “His oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air. His lungs remain clear.” 

The White House said Biden received separate briefings on Monday from homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Both briefings were conducted virtually.

Harris wins enough support to clinch Democratic nomination 

Harris has attracted the support of enough delegates to become the Democratic Party's nominee for president, US media outlets reported on Tuesday, as the vice president received a wave of endorsements from potential rivals, lawmakers, governors and influential advocacy groups.

Harris, who is of Indian and African heritage, has received the backing from more than the 1,976 pledged delegates needed to win the Democratic Party's nomination on the first ballot, CNN reported on the first full day of her campaign.

"I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon," Harris, 59, said in a statement late Monday, a day after President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the race for the White House on November 5 and endorsed Harris.

As party officials were preparing to finalise the process for formally nominating a candidate ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago from August 19-22, it was already clear that the biggest remaining question about the 2024 Democratic ticket is who Harris will choose as her running mate, media reports said.

Harris, who will hold a campaign event in Milwaukee on Tuesday, staked her claim to the party’s standard-bearer role with an electric speech Monday evening, as she visited the campaign’s headquarters in Delaware.

"We have 106 days until Election Day and in that time, we have some hard work to do," she told them and assured them that those who had been working for the Biden-led campaign would remain on board. The vice president also laid out her case against her 78-year-old Republican rival Donald Trump, invoking a host of the former president’s scandals and legal woes.

She pointed to her time as a district attorney and California attorney general, saying that she “took on perpetrators of all kinds.” “Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own game,” Harris said. “So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.” She also noted President Biden's accomplishments, saying her time serving as his vice president was "one of the greatest honours of my life".

Harris noted the "roller coaster" of "mixed emotions" they've all been on because "I love Joe Biden, and I know we all do". She promised she'd work hard to earn the nomination for president and unite both Democrats and the country as a whole.

Meanwhile, in her first day as a candidate, Harris raised USD 81 million, the campaign announced Monday, saying it was the largest 24-hour raise by any candidate ever. The huge haul emphasised grassroots enthusiasm for a shake-up to the Democratic 2024 ticket after 81-year-old Biden quit the race. According to the campaign, more than 880,000 “grassroots supporters” donated, with 60 per cent making their first contributions of the 2024 cycle.