▲ Kamala Harris and Barack Obama during an event at the White House in 2010.Afp Photo

AP, Europa Press and Reuters

The newspaper La Jornada
Saturday, July 27, 2024, p. 22

Atlanta. Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama reaffirmed their support for Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate, an endorsement that is crucial for the vice president.

A video released yesterday showed Harris receiving a phone call from the most popular couple in the Democratic Party, in a further show of approval of her candidacy following President Joe Biden’s decision not to run for re-election and to support his number two in the campaign against former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The call highlighted the friendship and possible historic connection between the country’s first black president and the first woman of Asian origin who now aspires to break barriers in the presidency.

We’re calling to say that Michelle and I couldn’t be more proud to support you and do everything we can to help you win this election and get to the Oval Office.the former president told Harris, who was shown taking the call while walking backstage at an event, followed by a Secret Service agent.

I can’t have this call without telling my friend, Kamala, I’m proud of you.Michelle Obama said. This is going to be historic.

Harris, who knew the Obamas before Barack won the 2008 election, thanked them for their friendship and said she was looking forward to be there, on the road with them during the three months of campaigning before Election Day on November 5.

Let’s have fun with this too, right?Harris asked.

The Obamas are prominent party members who officially endorse Harris, a reflection of the former president’s desire to remain, at least in the public eye, a reference point that remains above partisan bickering. The Obamas remain a prodigious fundraising force and are featured speakers at large rallies representing candidates.

According to an Associated Press poll, Harris already has the public support of a majority of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, which begins Aug. 19 in Chicago. The Democratic National Committee plans to hold a virtual vote on Aug. 7 that would make Harris and an as-yet-unannounced vice presidential hopeful its official candidates.

Meanwhile, the vice president called the family of Sonya Massey, the 36-year-old black woman who was killed in her Illinois home by police, to offer her support, NBC News reported.

It made me feel much better todaysaid James Wilburn, Massey’s father. He conveyed his most sincere condolences and let us know that he is with us 100 percent, that this senseless slaughter must end..

Meanwhile, from within the Republican ranks, attacks on Harris resurfaced with a video that has been broadcast again online, from an interview given in 2021 to Fox News, in which JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, laments that the United States is governed by Ladies with cats and no childrenlike Vice President Kamala Harris, women who, according to him, have no direct interest in the future of the country and who govern it.

Meanwhile, Ronny Jackson, Trump’s former White House physician, questioned statements by Christopher Wray, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), suggesting that it is unclear whether a bullet, shrapnel or glass caused the injury to the Republican candidate’s ear.

There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet.Jackson said.

Trump said on his Truth Social account on Thursday that No, it was unfortunately a bullet that hit my ear, and it hit it hard. There was no glass, no shrapnel. It is no wonder that the once famous FBI has lost the trust of the United States..

Following these statements, the FBI issued a statement in which it asserted that Trump was indeed hit by a bullet, contradicting earlier ambiguous comments by the agency director.