Last updated on August 27th, 2024 at 06:53 pm
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris rallied for the re-election of President Joe Biden at a Massachusetts fundraiser over the weekend, defying the growing pressure from Democrats and major donors on Biden to quit his struggling campaign.
But while she acknowledged the daunting task ahead for Biden’s candidacy in the wake of a lackluster debate performance last month, Harris did not discuss the growing chorus of calls for Biden to exit the 2024 race altogether.
The event, hosted by celebrity wedding planner Bryan Rafanelli, drew 1,000 attendees and netted more than $2 million. Celebrity guests included Jennifer Coolidge, Billy Porter and Darren Criss.
Biden and his top aides said they are forging ahead with the presidential campaign against Republican candidate Donald Trump amid a trend of major donors holding off on contributing unless the 81-year-old president steps aside.
There’s more focus on her than ever, amid uncertainty over whether Biden can pull it out on November 3, what that could mean, and donors are now suddenly interested in her fundraising events where they’ll support a potential White House run, three Democratic fundraisers said.
Harris condemned the toxicity and intolerance that she said Trump’s vision for the nation embodied during a campaign event in Provincetown on Saturday.
Despite growing speculation that Harris might replace Biden as the Democratic Party’s candidate, she expressed full support for his continued candidacy.
So far, 35 congressional Democrats-more than one in 10 in the party’s Congress membership-have issued public statements asking Biden, working from his Delaware home while quarantining with COVID-19, to withdraw after the June 27 debate against Trump. The debate spurred grassroots alarm within the party that Biden wasn’t the strongest candidate to take on the presidency and/or win in November or serve another four years.
Biden’s doctor said on Saturday the president continued to feel mild COVID-19 symptoms but was improving.
The Biden reelection effort had aimed to raise $50 million in big-dollar donations in July for the Biden Victory Fund but was on pace to bring in less than half that, according to two people familiar with the efforts.