VP Harris to worried Democratic donors: 'we are going to win'

[July 20, 2024]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris assured major Democratic donors on Friday that the party would win the presidential election as more lawmakers called for her running mate, President Joe Biden, to stand down.   

Vice President Kamala Harris attends the opening of a pop-up ice cream shop "Smize & Dream" owned by Tyra Banks, in Washington, U.S., July 19, 2024. Nathan Howard/Pool via REUTERS

"We are going to win this election," she said on a call arranged on short notice to calm donors, according to a person on the call. "We know which candidate in this election puts the American people first: Our president, Joe Biden."

The call came after Biden vowed to continue in the 2024 race and the Democratic Party planned to accelerate his nomination. At least nine Democratic lawmakers called on Biden to drop out on Friday.

Reuters reported that several of Biden's campaign fundraisers were put on hold, citing multiple Democratic sources involved in the events, as donors threatened to withhold funds from the campaign.

Donors were called to join the 30-minute briefing "to discuss urgent, emerging needs," according to a copy of the invitation seen by Reuters.

Harris attended the call "at the direct request of senior advisers to the president," one of the people said, an account confirmed by another person familiar with the matter.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose; Additional reporting by Ismail Shakil and Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Rod Nickel)

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