Election 2024 live: Harris ‘ready to debate’ Trump as new poll shows Democrats gaining in key swing states

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, DC, on Thursday at a fragile moment in US/Israeli relations over the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza .

On Wednesday, Netanyahu addressed Congress as protests against the war raged near the Capitol with pro-Hamas elements defacing monuments and burning the US flag outside Union Station. The vice president condemned these acts on Thursday morning.

On the campaign trail, Harris released her first presidential ad and addressed the American Federation of Teachers conference in Houston, where the crowd enthusiastically chanted “Bring it on!” in response to her speech about preserving hard-fought freedoms.

The vice president also praised Biden, the morning after he explained that he decided to “pass the torch to a new generation” for the sake of democracy and to “unite our nation” in his first speech since dropping out of the 2024 race.

Arriving back in Washington on Thursday afternoon, Harris told reporters that she was ready to debate Donald Trump and accused him of backpedaling on the previously agreed date of September 10.

New polls from Emerson College and The New York Times /Siena College showed a much-narrowed gap among likely voters.