US Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday (local time) won the support of enough Democratic delegates to clinch her party's presidential nomination. Harris has so far gained the support of over 1,976 pledged delegates she requires to win the nomination on the first ballot, a report by AFP said.
With the support of a slew of Democratic heavyweights, including President Joe Biden himself, and massive voter donations, Harris quickly closed in as the Democratic party's heir apparent and launched a blistering campaign against Donald Trump.
"Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party's nominee," Harris wrote in a statement after US media reported she had sailed past the number of delegates needed.
She said over the next few months, she'll be traveling across the country talking to Americans about everything on the line.
"This election will present a clear choice between two different visions. Donald Trump wants to take our country back to a time before many of us had full freedoms and equal rights. I believe in a future that strengthens our democracy, protects reproductive freedom, and ensures every person has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead," she said.
"Over the next few months, I will be traveling across the country talking to Americans about everything that is on the line. I fully intend to unite our party, unite our nation, and defeat Donald Trump in November," Harris said.
The news came after Harris, in her first speech to campaign workers since Biden's announcement, lashed out at Republican nominee Trump on Monday at campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. Telling the crowd of workers she had come to address them personally after the "rollercoaster" of the last few days, she reminded them that in her past role as California's chief prosecutor, she "took on perpetrators of all kinds."
"Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type," she said to applause.
"We are going to win in November," a smiling Harris told the workers.
She also pledged to focus on the politically explosive issue of abortion, after Trump praised the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn the long-held federal right to the procedure.
Biden, 81, meanwhile made his first public remarks in nearly a week as he recovered from a bout of Covid. He called into the campaign meeting to say that dropping out -- after mounting party and voter concerns over his health and mental acuity -- had been the "right thing to do" and he praised Harris as "the best".
On Tuesday Harris takes her fight against Trump to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she will hold a rally hoping to bolster her following in the critical swing state.
Biden dropped out and endorsed Harris after three weeks of intensifying pressure, triggered by a disastrous debate performance against Trump. Aiming to become the first woman president in US history, the 59-year-old Harris won the backing of a seemingly unassailable number of Democrats.