Kamala Harris is officially running for President of the United States.
“I am honoured to have the President’s endorsement, and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” Harris said in a statement. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
The announcement comes after current President Joe Biden revealed he would be dropping out of the 2024 presidential election race—a decision that follows weeks of concerns over the 81-year-old’s seemingly declining health.
“While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down,” he wrote in a statement, thanking the American public. “Together, we overcame a once-in-a-century pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We’ve protected and preserved our Democracy. And we’ve revitalised and strengthened our alliances around the world.”
Biden also issued his endorsement of Harris, 59, on social media.
“My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” he wrote in a post on X. “My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today, I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year.”
Harris also thanked Biden for his ongoing support and work over the past four years.
“On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country,” she wrote on Instagram. “I am honoured to have the President’s endorsement, and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
Since the news broke, Harris has been busy securing Democratic support for her candidacy. Many, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, promptly took to social media to publicly endorse her in the race against Donald Trump, 78.
If successful, Harris will be the first female president, having already made history as the first black and Indian-American woman to be named vice president.
Though he is yet to officially offer his endorsement, former US President Barack Obama backed Harris back in 2020. “I’ve known Senator Harris for a long time. She is more than prepared for the job,” Obama wrote in an Instagram post during her 2020 campaign. “She’s spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake. Her own life story is one that I and so many others can see ourselves in: a story that says that no matter where you come from, what you look like, how you worship, or who you love, there’s a place for you here. It’s a fundamentally American perspective, one that’s led us out of the hardest times before. And it’s a perspective we can all rally behind right now.”
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.