Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to speak Monday at an event celebrating college athletes, her first public appearance since President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential election.
NCAA Sports Day brings championship teams from the National Collegiate Athletic Association to the White House. Harris also spoke at the event in 2023, which saw more than 1,000 student athletes from nearly 50 teams, according to Harris’ remarks.
Shortly after Biden announced he will not seek reelection Sunday, he threw his support behind Harris as his successor for the Democratic Party’s nominee. Harris said in a statement on X, “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
Watch Harris’s remarks live, starting at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Live updates: Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump upends the 2024 race for president
Biden drops out following weeks of speculation and calls to step aside
Biden, 81, announced Sunday he is dropping out of the 2024 presidential election, ending the prospect of a rematch against former president Donald Trump.
Questions about Biden’s fitness for a second term as the oldest sitting president took on new significance earlier this year when a special counsel report called him an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Those questions dominated the political discourse after his debate against Trump on June 27, where he appeared disoriented.
Since then, more than 35 lawmakers have called on Biden to step aside.
Biden endorsed Harris to take his place as the party’s nominee, saying, “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.”
But the delegates Biden earned through the primaries do not automatically transfer to Harris, and they could cast their votes for someone else.
The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for Aug. 19-22 in Chicago.