Biden will make a case for his legacy — and for Harris to continue it — in his Oval Office address

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By SEUNG MIN KIM and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even though President Joe Biden won’t be on the ballot i n November, voters still will be weighing his legacy.

As Vice President Kamala Harris moves to take his place as the Democratic standard-bearer, Biden’s accomplishments remain very much at risk should Republican Donald Trump prevail.

How Biden’s single term and his decision to step aside are remembered will be intertwined with Harris’ electoral result in November, particularly as the vice president runs tightly on the achievements of the Biden administration.

Biden will have an opportunity to make a case for his legacy — sweeping domestic legislation, renewal of alliances abroad, defense of democracy — on Wednesday night when he delivers an Oval Office address about his decision to bow out of the race and “what lies ahead.”

And no matter how frustrated Biden is at being pushed aside by his party — and he’s plenty upset — he has too much at stake simply to wash his hands of this election.

President Joe Biden disembarks Air Force One as he arrives Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Tuesday, July 23, 2024. Biden is returning to the White House from his Rehoboth Beach home recovering from COVID-19 and after ending his 2024 campaign. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Biden endorsed Harris shortly after he announced Sunday that he would end his candidacy, effectively giving her a head start over would-be challengers and helping to jumpstart a candidacy focused largely on continuing his own agenda.

“If she wins, then it will be confirmation that he did the right thing to fight against the threat that is Trump, and he will be seen as a legend on behalf of democracy,” said presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. “If she loses, I think there will be questions about, did he step down too late? Would the Democratic Party have been more effective if he had said he was not going to run?”

What-ifs play out at the end of every presidency. But Biden’s defiance in the face of questions about his fitness for office and then his late submission to his party’s crisis of confidence heightens the stakes.

The last vice president to run for the top job was Democrat Al Gore, who sought to distance himself from President Bill Clinton during the 2000 campaign after the president’s affair with a White House intern and subsequent impeachment.

Harris, in contrast, has spent the better part of the last three years praising Biden’s doings — meaning any attempt to now distance herself would be difficult to explain. And she has to rely on the Biden political operation she inherited to win the election with just over 100 days to go before polls close.

Speaking to campaign staff on Monday, Harris said Biden’s legacy of accomplishment “just over the last three and a half years is unmatched in modern history.”

Harris, addressing the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta in Indianapolis on Wednesday, previewed Biden’s remarks, saying, “He will talk about not only the work, the extraordinary work, that he has accomplished, but about his work in the next six months.”

Trump and his allies, for their part, were eager to tie Harris to Biden’s record even before the president left the race — and not in a good way.

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One campaign email to supporters declared “KAMALA HARRIS IS BIDEN 2.0 – Kamala Harris owns Joe Biden’s terrible record because it is her record as well,” calling out high inflation and border policies, among other things.

Biden this week promised the staffers of his former campaign that he was still “going to be on the road” as he handed off the reins of the organization to Harris, adding, “I’m not going anywhere.”

His advisers say he intends to hold campaign events and fundraisers benefiting Harris, albeit at a far slower pace than had he remained on the ballot himself.

Harris advisers will ultimately have to decide how to deploy the president, whose popularity sagged as voters in both parties questioned his fitness for office.

The president’s allies insist that no matter what, Biden’s place in the history books is intact.

Biden’s win in 2020 “was that election that protected us from a Donald Trump presidency,” said Rep. Steven Horsford, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. “Yes, we have to do it again this November. But had Donald Trump been in office another four years, the damage, the destruction, the decay of our democracy would’ve gone even further.”

Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left think tank Third Way, predicted there will be a difference between short-term recollections of Biden and his legacy if Democrats lose in November.

“It is true that if we lose, that will cloud things for him in the near-term” because Democrats will have to confront Trump, Bennett said. “In the long term, when history judges Biden, they’ll look at him on his own terms. They will judge him for what he did or did not do as president, and they will judge him very favorably.”

Biden’s decision to end his candidacy buoyed the spirits of congressional Democrats who had been fretting that the incumbent president would drag down their prospects of retaining the Senate and retaking the House. An all-Republican Washington would threaten to do even more damage to Biden’s legacy.

Already, congressional Republicans have tried to unravel pieces of the Inflation Reduction Act, a central Biden achievement that was passed on party lines in 2022. And they could succeed next year, with a President Trump waiting to sign a repeal into law.

GOP lawmakers could also vote to reverse key federal regulations that had arrived later in the Biden administration.

“If the Republicans get dual majorities, they’re going to claw back as much as they can,” Bennett said. “They’re going to undo as much as they can and not only will that be a disaster for America and the world, it’ll be really bad for the Biden legacy.”

Biden aides point to the thus-far seamless nature of Harris’ takeover of his political apparatus as evidence that the president has set up his vice president to run successfully on their shared record. But the ultimate test of that organization will come in November.

No one will be cheering her on more than the president.

As Biden said to Harris: “I’m watching you, kid.”

Katie Ledecky hopes for clean races at Paris Olympics in aftermath of Chinese doping scandal

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By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer

PARIS (AP) — Katie Ledecky is hoping for clean races at the Olympics. Hope was just about as far as she was willing to go on Wednesday.

The U.S. swimming star is looking to add to her six individual gold medals when she races in the 400, 800 and 1,500 meters at the Paris Games. Her schedule begins with the loaded 400 freestyle on Saturday, which also includes Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh.

The 27-year-old Ledecky is competing in her fourth Summer Olympics, but it’s the first one since a doping scandal involving nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Games — and were allowed to compete with no ramifications. The controversy has raised major concerns about the seriousness of anti-doping efforts.

“I hope everyone here is going to be competing clean this week,” Ledecky said. “But what really matters also is: Were they training clean? Hopefully, that’s been the case. Hopefully, there’s been even testing around the world.”

There is an ongoing U.S. investigation of the suspected doping by the Chinese swimmers — drawing the ire of the International Olympic Committee. While awarding the 2034 Winter OIympics to Salt Lake City on Wednesday, the IOC pushed Utah officials to do what they can to stop the FBI probe.

“I think everyone’s heard what the athletes think,” Ledecky said. “They want transparency. They want further answers to the questions that still remain. At this point, we’re here to race. We’re going to race whoever’s in the lanes next to us.

“We’re not the ones paid to do the testing, so we hope that the people that are follow their own rules. That applies now and into the future.”

Ledecky won gold in the 800 free in each of the previous three Olympics. She also won the 200 free and 400 in Rio de Janeiro, and the 1,500 in Tokyo. She remains a dominant force in the 1,500, but she is facing a more difficult challenge for the rest of her schedule in Paris.

She was handed her first loss in an individual event at the Olympics when Titmus won the 400 in Tokyo. McIntosh is a prime contender for both the 400 and 800.

With the 400 coming up on the first day of the swimming competition, Ledecky said she isn’t going to attend the opening ceremony on Friday.

“I’m looking forward to the 400 free, day one,” she said. “I like my chances, but that’s me, and I feel like I’m prepared and ready to race and that’s all you can ask for. … It’s obviously a great field. Top to bottom, lots of people that have a chance.”

Racing comes naturally for the competitive Ledecky, along with the leadership that she earned with her long list of accomplishments. She isn’t quite as comfortable with any praise thrown her way by her U.S. teammates, looking as if she was searching for an escape route while backstroker Ryan Murphy paid tribute to her on Wednesday.

“She’s constantly pushing the envelope on how she can improve and it’s incredible for our sport,” Murphy said. “She’s one of the best of all time, so we’re really lucky to have her on our team as both an athlete and a leader.”

Finally feeling good, Twins right-hander Justin Topa headed to St. Paul

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A large handful of Twins players had trouble getting back to Minnesota after the all-star break. They weren’t alone in their misery, as a software update to Microsoft devices last Thursday sent the airline industry into a tailspin of delayed and canceled flights.

Justin Topa at least made some hay while stuck in Florida.

After days of driving to and from airports, and waiting hours inside them, the Twins right-hander decided to wait it out and do some more rehab work in Fort Myers and on Tuesday night, made his first appearance in a game since May 5 at Class AAA St. Paul.

Topa, battling tendinitis in his right knee since spring training, threw a hitless inning Tuesday night for Class A Fort Myers and expects to pitch again in St. Paul on Friday. He walked one and fanned one Tuesday in his first pain-free appearance in months.

“It was good. Felt good. No issues,” Topa, 33, said. “Nice and humid down there. Hasn’t changed much.”

Topa, one of four players acquired in the deal that sent Jorge Polanco to Seattle in January, was the key veteran in the deal after going 5-4 with a 2.61 earned-run average in 75 innings with the Mariners last season.

Getting that player for the stretch run would be a real boon to the Twins bullpen, especially with Brock Stewart finally back from a shoulder injury. Stewart, who pitched 12⅓ scoreless innings before going on the injured list, was activated before Wednesday’s series finale against the Phillies at Target Field and available for the first time since May 1.

“Can we get (Topa) out there soon? Let him go out there and get some outs, face a bunch of tough righties and get them out in big spots? That’s what I’m hoping for,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. . That’s what I’m waiting for and hoping for, and we just keep kind of pushing and moving these guys into places they can help us — get ’em healthy, get ’em throwing the ball. And then we get them out there.”

Tuesday was a big step for Topa, whose only appearances with the Twins so far have been in spring training games. He threw a pair of live bullpens before pitching in Tuesday’s game.

“I feel really optimistic after last night,” he said. “(The knee) wasn’t even in my mind; it was just focused on pitching. When it gets to that point, especially in the rehab process — as long and as tedious as it can be — once you can kind of eliminate that thought of, ‘Oh, are you going to feel something here on this pitch?’ Once you can eliminate that and focus on pitching, it’s a good thing.”

Stewart was on the 60-day IL. To make room for him on the 40- and 26-man rosters, the Twins designated infielder Diego A. Castillo for release or assignment.

Briefly

David Festa, the Twins’ top pitching prospect — and fifth overall, according to mlb.com — was called up to pitch the bulk of Wednesday’s rubber match against Philadelphia. Left-hander Steven Okert started and pitched to three batters — two of them lefties — before the right-handed Festa relieved. To make room on the active roster for Festa, the Twins reassigned reliever Henriquez to St. Paul.

Republican leaders urge colleagues to steer clear of racist and sexist attacks on Harris

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By LISA MASCARO and JILL COLVIN Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders are warning party members against using overtly racist and sexist attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris, as they and former President Donald Trump’s campaign scramble to adjust to the reality of a new Democratic rival less than four months before Election Day.

At a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday, National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Richard Hudson, R-N.C., urged lawmakers to stick to criticizing Harris for her role in Biden-Harris administration policies.

“This election will be about policies and not personalities,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters after the meeting.

“This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris,” he added, “and her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.”

The warnings point to the new risks for Republicans in running against a Democrat who would become the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to win the White House. Trump, in particular, has a history of racist and misogynistic attacks that could turn off key groups of swing voters, including suburban women, as well as voters of color and younger people Trump’s campaign has been courting.

The admonitions came after some members and Trump allies began to cast Harris, a former district attorney, attorney general and senator, as a “DEI” hire — a reference to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

“Intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel,” Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman said in a TV interview. “I think she was a DEI hire. And I think that that’s what we’re seeing and I just don’t think that they have anybody else.”

Since Biden announced he was exiting the campaign, Republicans have rolled out a long list of attack lines against Harris, including trying to tie her to the most unpopular Biden policies and his handling of the economy and the Southern border. Trump campaign officials and other Republicans have accused Harris of being complicit in a cover-up of Biden’s health issues, and they have been mining her record as a prosecutor in California as they try to paint her as soft on crime.

Johnson said both Trump and Harris have records in White House policy and said voters can compare how families were doing under the Trump administration with how they’re doing now under Biden.

“She is the co-owner, co-author, co-conspirator in all the policies that got us into the mess,” Johnson said.

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Harris poised to poll better against Trump than Biden did

Biden announced Sunday that he was withdrawing from the race. In a memo on the state of the race Tuesday, Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio argued the fundamentals of the campaign had not changed now that Harris appears increasingly likely to be the Democratic nominee.

“The Democrats deposing one Nominee for another does NOT change voters discontent over the economy, inflation, crime, the open border, housing costs not to mention concern over two foreign wars,” he wrote. “As importantly, voters will also learn about Harris’ dangerously liberal record before becoming Biden’s partner.”

In similar messaging, Hudson told members at the Tuesday meeting that the NRCC is focusing on how Harris is even more progressive than Biden and essentially “owns” all the administration’s policies, according to a person familiar with the conversation and granted anonymity to discuss it.

Sen. Steve Daines, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, echoed that criticism, calling Harris “too liberal.”

“She’s not an Irish Catholic kid who grew up in Scranton. She’s a San Francisco liberal,” Daines said.

Trump offered a similar argument in call with reporters Tuesday.

“She’s the same as Biden but much more radical. She’s a radical left person and this country doesn’t want a radical left person to destroy it. She’s far more radical than he is,” he said.

“So I think she should be easier than Biden because he was slightly more mainstream, but not much,” he added.

Later, in an interview on Newsmax, Trump claimed Harris “destroyed the city of San Francisco,” though she left her job as district attorney there in 2011, and called her “the worst at everything.”

“Kamala Harris is just as weak, failed and incompetent as Joe Biden — and she’s also dangerously liberal,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. “Not only does Kamala need to defend her support of Joe Biden’s failed agenda over the past four years, she also needs to answer for her own terrible weak-on-crime record in California.”

Trump has a long history of launching particularly caustic and personal attacks against women, from former Fox News host Megyn Kelly to his 2016 primary opponent Carly Fiorina to New York Attorney General Letitia James, who successfully sued him and his business for fraud.

Vice President Kamala Harris campaigns for President as the presumptive Democratic candidate during an event at West Allis Central High School on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, in West Allis, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

In a sign of what could come, Trump in a Fourth of July message on his Truth Social network took a jab at Harris’ poor performance in the 2020 Democratic primary, adding “that doesn’t mean she’s not a ‘highly talented’ politician! Just ask her Mentor, the Great Willie Brown of San Francisco.” Harris dated Brown in the mid-1990s.

Strong and intelligent women who attack him seem to get especially under Trump’s skin, said Stephanie Grisham, a 2016 campaign aide who served for a time as Trump’s White House press secretary, before breaking with him after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“She’s going to get a real rise out of him,” predicted Grisham, noting that when Trump is attacked, he “punches 1,000 times harder. He’s not going to be able to help himself.”

When it comes to women, she added: “His go-to is to attack looks and to call women dumb. It’s his go-to and I don’t expect this to be any different.”

Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who is a prominent member of the Congressional Black Caucus and was among the early Democrats to confront Trump, said she is well-braced for what’s ahead as the Republicans turn the campaign toward Harris.

“The first thing I think about are the attacks that are going to come from the Trump, the MAGA right wing — that have already started,” Waters told the AP. “They’re going to be nasty they’re going to be bad.”

She predicted that approach might backfire on Trump.

“The danger is that he’s so arrogant and egotistical that he’s going to step on women and it’s going to backfire,” she said.

The dynamics could be heightened on the debate stage, if Trump goes through with debating Harris, as he said Thursday he would.

Republican pollster Neil Newhouse said Trump was unlikely to debate Harris in the same way he would debate Biden — or the same way he debated another female rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, in 2016.

“I don’t think Trump can approach a debate against Kamala Harris with the same tone that he approached the debate with Hillary Clinton. Kamala Harris does not have the negatives that Hillary had and she is a relatively new political face,” he said. “Caution might be warranted.”

Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price, Stephen Groves and Amelia Thomson DeVeaux contributed to this report.