watch
now
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris
joined
a
call
with
major
Democratic
donors
Friday
afternoon
to
discuss
what
the
hosts
called
“urgent,
emerging
needs.”
The
call
came
as
more
Democratic
lawmakers
publicly
call
on
President
Joe
Biden
to
drop
his
bid
for
reelection.
A
Biden
campaign
official
told
NBC
News
that
the
president’s
advisers
asked
Harris
to
do
the
call,
which
Democratic
megadonor
Reid
Hoffman,
the
billionaire
LinkedIn
co-founder,
planned
to
join.
“We
continue
to
find
ourselves
in
a
rapidly
evolving
environment,”
an
invitation
for
the
call
said.
“With
the
stakes
as
high
as
they
are
this
cycle,
we
have
to
remain
focused
on
the
critical
work
that
needs
to
be
done
to
protect
our
democracy.”
The
call
began
with
a
presentation
from
campaign
field
organizers,
a
source
with
direct
knowledge
of
the
call
told
NBC.
The
organizers
repeated
claims
first
made
in
a
Biden
campaign
memo
earlier
on
Friday,
saying
that
voters
still
wanted
Biden,
even
if
donors
and
Democrats
in
office
do
not.
Harris
then
joined
the
call,
which
lasted
approximately
40
minutes.
“I
will
start
by
sharing
something
with
all
of
you,
something
I
believe
in
my
heart
of
hearts.
It
is
something
I
feel
strongly
you
should
all
hear
and
should
take
with
you
when
you
leave,
and
tell
your
friends
too,”
the
vice
president
said,
according
to
a
second
source
who
was
on
the
call.
“We
are
going
to
win
this
election.
We
are
going
to
win.”
“We
know
which
candidate
in
this
election
puts
the
American
people
first: our
President,
Joe
Biden,”
Harris
said.
Harris’
other
remarks
on
the
call
largely
echoed
what
she
said
at
a
campaign
rally
in
North
Carolina
on
Thursday.
US
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris
greets
US
model
Tyra
Banks
as
she
stops
for
for
ice
cream
at
Banks’
SMiZE
and
DREAM
ice
cream
shop
in
Washington,
DC,
on
July
19,
2024.
Erin
Schaff
|
AFP
|
Getty
Images
The
number
of
Democrats
in
Congress
calling
on
Biden
to
step
aside
surged
past
30
on
Friday
after
nine
Democrats
in
the
House
and
one
Democratic
senator
urged
him
to
drop
out
of
the
presidential
race.
If
Biden
were
to
drop
out
of
the
race,
which
he
has
persistently
said
he
will
not
do,
many
see
Harris
as
the
likeliest
replacement
at
the
top
of
the
Democratic
ticket.
CNBC
reported
Thursday
that
while
Democratic
megadonors
are
pressuring
Biden
to
step
aside,
donor
events
featuring
Harris
are
selling
out.
Past
donors
to
the
vice
president
have
even
begun
to
privately
strategize
in
case
Biden
does
drop
out.
Most
recently,
major
Democratic
donor
Michael
Moritz
—
the
Silicon
Valley
venture
capitalist
—
said
on
Friday
in
an
email
to
the
New
York
Times
that
Biden
should
step
aside,
writing,
“The
clock
has
run
out.”
Harris,
who
has
been
active
on
the
campaign
trail
this
week
as
Biden
isolates
with
Covid,
stopped
by
former
model
Tyra
Banks’
ice
cream
shop
in
Washington,
D.C.
earlier
in
the
day.
She
did
not
respond
to
questions
from
reporters
about
the
call.
—
CNBC’s
Megan
Cassella
contributed
reporting
from
Washington
