Election 2024 updates: House GOP leaders want focus on Harris' record, not race

Vice President Kamala Harris is pushing ahead with campaigning for president days after President Joe Biden's decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race .

With enough delegates secured to become the presumptive Democratic nominee, Harris held her first presidential campaign rally on Tuesday with another campaign event slated for Wednesday. She's set to deliver a keynote speech at Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.'s Grand Boulé in Indianapolis on Wednesday -- a significant moment given that Harris is an HBCU graduate.

Latest Developments

_{Jul 24, 2:12 PM}

LGBTQ groups, leaders come out in support of Harris

More than 1,100 LGBTQ leaders, celebrities and figures have signed an open letter endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.

The letter, released Wednesday to ABC News by the Human Rights Campaign, includes signatures from Sophia Bush, George Takei, Colman Domingo, Zachary Quinto, Jinkx Monsoon; Congress members Ritchie Torres, Mark Takano and Becca Balint, and Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride.

“Vice President Kamala Harris is a galvanizing trailblazer and has been a champion for LGBTQ+ equality for decades: leading the fight in San Francisco against hate crimes, working to end the so-called gay and transgender ‘panic defense’ in California, and, as an early supporter of marriage equality, refusing to defend the unconstitutional Proposition 8,” the letter said.

The letter touts the Biden-Harris administration’s policy record as “the most pro-LGBTQ+ administration in history” for passing the Respect for Marriage Act, advancing non-discrimination protections, expanding data collection, among other LGBTQ-related initiatives.

Several LGBTQ groups including the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund and the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute have also spoken out in favor of a Harris presidency.

“The community is sending a message loud and clear: we are united in support of the experienced, tough, pro-equality Vice President Kamala Harris and will do everything it takes to defeat Donald Trump and JD Vance,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson.

The LGBTQ voting bloc is expected to grow in the next two decades, nearing one in five voters by 2040, according to a federal data analysis by the Human Rights Campaign and Bowling Green State University.

-ABC News' Kiara Alfonseca

_{Jul 24, 1:23 PM}

Harris says Biden will talk about 'extraordinary' accomplishments tonight

Harris, addressing the historically Black Zeta Phi Beta Sorority's Grand Boulé in Indianapolis on Wednesday, said President Joe Biden will talk about his decision to abandon his reelection bid and his "extraordinary" accomplishments as president during his planned speech Wednesday night.

"Our president will address the nation about his decision to step down as a candidate, and he will talk about not only the work, the extraordinary work that he has accomplished, but about his work in the next six months," Harris said.

"Joe Biden is a leader with bold vision. He cares about the future. He thinks about the future. He has extraordinary determination and profound compassion for the people of our country. And I say that because I know that we are all deeply, deeply grateful for his service to our nation," she added.

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, and Will McDuffie

_{Jul 24, 12:20 PM}

Harris to speak to Zeta Phi Beta sorority in Indianapolis

Vice President Kamala Harris plans to give remarks to one of the country's largest historically Black sororities in Indianapolis on Wednesday.

Zeta Phi Beta is a part of the "Divine Nine" -- a collection of nine historically Black fraternities and sororities.

MORE: Harris to speak to Black sorority, mobilize a key constituency in Indianapolis

The event, which the White House announced in early July before Biden dropped out of the race, was scheduled during the same time that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington.

Harris will not be attending Netanyahu's address to Congress later in the afternoon.

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow and Will McDuffie

_{Jul 24, 10:56 AM}

House GOP leaders tell members to attack Harris on her record, not her race or gender

House Republican leaders have privately told their conference to focus their attacks against Harris on her record, sources familiar with the conversation tell ABC News.

It comes after a number of House Republicans made references to Harris' race and gender when asked by reporters about her bid for the White House. Some like Reps. Tim Burchett of Tennessee and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia went as far as calling her a "DEI Vice President" or "DEI hire."

When House Republicans met behind closed doors on Tuesday, North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson, who is a member of House leadership, warned members against making comments about Harris' race including that she's a "DEI pick" and urged the party to focus on her record, per multiple sources in the room.

It's notable coming from Hudson, who is the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP's campaign arm.

Separately, sources also tell ABC News, Speaker Johnson has also privately told members to focus on drawing a contrast with Harris' record against the "strength" of Trump. Johnson has privately and publicly insisted this has nothing to do with race.

Some moderate Republicans have been frustrated by the comments from others in the party.

One member saying, "pointing out she's not a white man is not a winning campaign message."

-ABC News' Rachel Scott and Jay O'Brien

_{Jul 23, 11:39 PM}

Presidents of 2 teacher unions endorse Harris

Ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris' speech at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) national convention, AFT President Randi Weingarten and National Education Association President Becky Pringle both endorsed Harris for president.

"Vice President Harris has delivered time and again for students and educators, and educators know we can count on her continued partnership in expanding access to free school meals for students, investing in student mental health, working to ensure no educator has to carry the weight of crushing student debt and, doing everything possible to keep our communities and schools safe," Pringle said in a statement Tuesday.

Harris is expected to give a keynote address this week at the AFT convention in Houston, on Thursday. She will be speaking to the nation's largest teachers union at their 88th annual gathering.

ABC News' Arthur Jones II

_{Jul 23, 7:34 PM}

'Harris is chronically underestimated,' Hillary Clinton says

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton published an op-ed in the New York Times on Tuesday reaffirming her support of Harris and warning of the attacks that Republicans will use against her during the campaign.

The 2016 Democratic nominee said that Harris is "chronically underestimated, as are so many women in politics, but she is well prepared for this moment," citing the vice president's experience as a prosecutor, U.S. senator and four years in the White House.

"Harris has sat with the president in the Situation Room, helping make the hardest decisions a leader can make. And when the extremist Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, she became the administration’s most passionate and effective advocate for restoring women’s reproductive rights," Clinton wrote.

Clinton referred to her own candidacy and the sexist attacks labeled against her by Republicans and critics. She said Harris "will face unique additional challenges as the first Black and South Asian woman to be at the top of a major party’s ticket."

"Ms. Harris’s record and character will be distorted and disparaged by a flood of disinformation and the kind of ugly prejudice we’re already hearing from MAGA mouthpieces. She and the campaign will have to cut through the noise, and all of us as voters must be thoughtful about what we read, believe and share," Clinton said.

_{Jul 23, 6:44 PM}

Sen. Mark Kelly dodges questions about possible VP consideration

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly dodged questions from an ABC News reporter Tuesday about whether he received vetting materials for a potential vice presidential ticket.

"This is not about me," he said. "I'm going to be focused on doing everything I can to make sure she is elected because we cannot have a repeat of what we saw between 2016 and 2020."

Kelly is seen as one of the front-runners to be Vice President Harris' running mate, sources have told ABC News.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

_{Jul 23, 5:57 PM}

Harris to visit Houston on Thursday

Harris is scheduled to visit Houston on Thursday to deliver the keynote speech at the American Federation of Teachers’ 88th national convention, according to the campaign.

"The Vice President’s speech to educators from communities throughout the nation is a continuation of her consistent efforts to fight for workers across America, including as Chair of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment," the campaign said in a statement.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

_{Jul 23, 5:43 PM}

Planned Parenthood Action Fund backs Harris

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund announced Tuesday that it will support Harris's presidential bid, citing her work promoting women's reproductive rights.

"Here’s the undeniable truth: Vice President Kamala Harris is the only person running for president that we can trust to protect access to abortion," Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement.

-ABC News' Ely Brown

_{Jul 23, 4:32 PM}

Congressional Black Caucus expresses their 'full and unanimous support' for Harris

The Congressional Black Caucus PAC (CBCPAC) extended its enthusiastic endorsement of Harris as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee during a press conference Tuesday.

Chair Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., expressed the caucus' "full and unanimous support."

"She is the most experienced individual for our safety and security around the world," he said. "She has more experience than any of the past four presidents before President Biden. She's the right person at the right time to get the job done."

The caucus also highlighted recent Zoom calls in which thousands of Black women continue to organize support efforts on behalf of Harris.

Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., explained that he "cannot wait" to hold his 5-year-old daughter's hand and "see this incredibly talented Black woman become President of the United States of America."

-ABC News' Emily Chang

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