Vice President Kamala Harris is neck-and-neck with former President Donald Trump after she replaced President Joe Biden as the likely Democratic nominee, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll published Thursday.

Among likely voters, Trump is at 48 percent to Harris’ 47 percent in a head-to-head matchup — narrowing the race to a virtual tie after Trump led Biden by six points when the Times polled the race in June. When third party candidates and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are included, Harris draws 44 percent of likely voters to Trump’s 43 percent, with Kennedy slumping to five percent.

The Times poll adds another data point to an emerging trend since Biden exited the race: Harris is showing early signs of closing the gap. And the poll found that both candidates benefit in different ways — Harris from a rise in popularity and major gains among several demographic groups, and Trump from a combination of continued strength with his base and his highest favorability ratings of the election.

Between Biden’s numbers in June and now, Harris has taken a 2 percentage-point lead over Trump among independent voters, flipping the former president’s previous 10 percentage point advantage She’s opened up a 14 percentage-point lead with women, a 21 percentage point lead with 18-29 year-old voters, a 24 percentage point lead with Hispanic voters, and 53 percentage point lead with Black voters — all double-digit increases over Biden’s numbers last month. Trump polls better than Harris among white, male and older voters.

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Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday that she’s “ready to debate Donald Trump,” agreeing to the Sept. 10 date previously set to be hosted by ABC News.

“[Trump] agreed to that previously. Now here he is backpedaling, and I’m ready and I think the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage. And so I'm ready to go,” Harris told reporters after Air Force Two landed at Joint Base Andrews.

Her statement comes after Trump committed to debating Harris earlier this week, while pushing for the more conservative Fox News to also hold a debate, calling ABC “a joke.” The vice president on Thursday accused Trump of “backpedaling,” though he said this week that he would debate her regardless and would be willing to do so multiple times.

Back in May, Trump and President Joe Biden agreed to two debates: a June 27 CNN face-off, and another on Sept. 10 with ABC. Biden’s June performance led to his campaign’s demise, prompting Democrats to launch a weekslong effort to push him to exit the race.

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Israel is privately ramping up pressure on the Biden administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to greenlight weapons it says it needs to protect itself from an increasingly aggressive Iran and its proxies.

The delegation traveling with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington this week is circulating a list among lawmakers and senior officials that lays out weapons systems it wants fast-tracked. Israeli representatives passed the list to members of Congress Wednesday following Netanyahu’s speech, according to a person familiar with the list who said Jerusalem needs the weapons to bolster its stockpiles.

The fact that Israel is pushing for the weapons now indicates that it is attempting to solidify the transfers and bolster its stockpiles before the U.S. election in November. It’s unclear how Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump would handle such requests if elected. But Israel is motivated to seek immediate approval from the current administration, which has consistently supported its military goals against both Hamas and Hezbollah.

The list, according to the person familiar, is not related to the shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that the Biden administration held up in May over concerns they would be used on civilians in the Gaza city of Rafah. The list instead focuses on other systems.

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On Jan. 6, 2025, Vice President Kamala Harris is set to preside over Congress and count the electoral votes that will make either her — or Donald Trump — the 47th president of the United States.

And like her predecessor Mike Pence, who resisted enormous pressure from Trump to upend the 2020 election results, Harris says she won’t interfere.

Harris believes that her role in the Jan. 6 joint session of Congress is purely ceremonial — to simply tally up the electoral votes certified by the states — according to spokesperson Kirsten Allen. Though she has long praised Pence’s actions, and Democrats have widely repudiated Trump’s pressure campaign on his vice president, it’s the first time Harris’ team has made that explicit commitment in the run-up to the 2024 election.

Harris’ advisers pointed this week to 2022 legislation signed by President Joe Biden affirming the vice president’s “ministerial” role in the process.

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Vice President Kamala Harris is moving into the lead role of selling the U.S. economy to voters just as the pitch is getting easier to make.

The government said Thursday that GDP increased at an annualized pace of 2.8 percent from April through June, far better than expected, even as a key measure of inflation has dropped below 3 percent.

That means the economy has stayed resilient without further stoking price spikes, leaving open a path for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting rates in September — a process that could lead to lower borrowing costs on everything from cars to homes.

“Overall, it’s a strong economy, and if you look at the different political forecasting models, the fundamentals are on the side of Harris,” said Jason Furman, a professor at Harvard University who previously served as chief economist to President Barack Obama.

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Former President Barack Obama plans to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, according to two people familiar with his plans.

That endorsement could come as soon as Thursday, according to one of the people granted anonymity to speak about an endorsement that is not yet public.

Obama, the first Black president, remains one of the most popular figures in the Democratic party even though more than a decade has passed since he was last elected. He lent his support to Biden during fundraisers, which were among some of the biggest blockbuster events of his campaign. He's also a draw during campaign events.

His backing could help activate and sustain energy — and fundraising — for Harris' campaign. And he’s likely to get on the campaign trail for Harris once she is officially the presumptive nominee.

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In most respects, President Joseph R. Biden is a thoroughly conventional president — a leader deeply respectful of precedent, a man whose style and values are shaped by living through more than half of the 20th century even as he ends his career navigating the disruptive politics of the 21st.

By contrast, the great foil of his presidency — predecessor Donald Trump — is in style and contempt for precedent the most radical person ever to hold the office.

Biden’s Oval Office address Wednesday night, however, underlined a paradox. There is one way that Trump represents continuity and Biden is the anomaly. This paradox is also the reason Biden won’t be his party’s nominee for a second term.

For most of American history — certainly since the start of the 20th century — the presidency has taken much of its power from the ability of its occupants to communicate. In other words, to use the singular power of the Oval Office to command the attention of the nation — more or less at will, on any topic or occasion — and shape the thoughts and mood of the country through the power of words and image. There is no better place to wage a national argument.

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Former President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that Democrats calling him a “threat to democracy” could have led a 20-year-old gunman to try to assassinate him, though the FBI has not unveiled a motive behind the July 13 shooting.

“Such a distressed sick world but you know what could be caused when they call you a threat to democracy,” Trump told a crowd of supporters in North Carolina. “You never know what causes it. I'm a threat to them. They're a threat to democracy. They're a threat. They're a threat to our country period.”

The calls to label Trump a “threat to democracy” began after rioters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but especially ramped up when President Joe Biden decided to run for reelection last year and made it a key talking point while on the campaign trail.

Ever since Biden stepped aside from the 2024 race, Republicans, particularly vice presidential nominee JD Vance, have used the term against Democrats, asserting that the party is a threat to democracy because Democrats pressured Biden to withdraw.

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Speaking for the first time about his historic decision to end his reelection bid, President Joe Biden said that “saving our democracy” was “more important than any title.”

During an Oval Office address, Biden told the country that his painstaking choice to step aside, which only came after weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats, was made with the good of his party and country in mind.

“I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term. But nothing — nothing — can come in the way of saving our democracy, and that includes personal ambition,” Biden said. “The best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That is the best way to unite our nation.”

Magnanimous and optimistic in tone as he spoke from behind the Resolute Desk, Biden spoke both to history and the present moment, attempting to push back on critics who say he must resign the office now and to salvage a legacy that could be deeply tarnished by the events of the last month.

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Vice President Kamala Harris rallied members of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. on Wednesday, urging some of her staunchest supporters to “make history” in one of her first events as the Democrats’ all-but-assured nominee — and underscoring her connection with a critical voting bloc.

Her rousing speech amounted to a hometown reception. Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority since her days at Howard University, which is also part of the “Divine Nine.” The group represents historically Black sororities and fraternities, a ready-made coalition of supporters who the vice president called on “to energize, to organize and to mobilize” against former President Donald Trump.

The organizations collectively represent a significant well of support for Harris, both personally and politically.

“When we organize, mountains move,” Harris said. “When we mobilize, nations change. And when we vote, we make history.”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Capitol Hill on Wednesday with a rallying cry meant to appeal to Democrats and Republicans alike, but he showed little inclination toward a rethink of his much-criticized approach to the months-long conflict in Gaza.

Speaking to a joint meeting of Congress, the lightning rod prime minister offered words of praise to both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — while expressing outright defiance toward those critical of his approach to combating Hamas and suggesting he’ll continue to trust his instincts as he forges ahead.

“When we stand together, something very simple happens: we win, they lose,” he said.

Netanyahu heaped blame on the Islamist regime in Iran for many of the perils his country faces, sharply criticized U.S. protesters opposing the war, and spoke of a future Gaza that is “demilitarized and deradicalized.” He called for ongoing support from the United States, saying that Israel is on the frontlines of a battle against terrorism that affects American citizens.

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President Joe Biden is expected to exert more pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday in an attempt to secure an elusive deal to bring a cease-fire to Gaza — and help shape his political legacy and the campaign he just left.

Freed of the political shackles of having to seek reelection, Biden will look to take a tougher tone with Netanyahu — with whom he has frequently clashed — to reach an agreement with Hamas to free the group’s hostages and end the fighting that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, according to three administration officials granted anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations.

“I'll be working very closely with the Israelis and with the Palestinians to try to work out how we can get the Gaza war to end and the Middle East peace and get all those hostages home,” Biden said in a call to campaign staffers Monday. “I think we're on the verge of being able to do that.”

Netanyahu’s visit has been fraught since Republican lawmakers extended the invitation more than a month ago, with dozens of congressional Democrats skipping his speech before a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday. But now the Israeli leader has arrived in a capital in tumult.

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Not only will Joe Biden not be a two-term president — now he needs to convince the American public that he’s up to the job for another six months.

Indeed, the speech Biden gives on Wednesday evening to announce the coming end of his political career also has to salvage it. Amid growing questions over his age and acuity, senior Republicans have called on Biden to resign or for the 25th Amendment to be invoked to remove him from office. Democrats have bristled at the notion, even as they’ve also been forced to acknowledge he’s lost more than a few steps after their pressure campaign to push him off the ticket.

It’s one of the most important addresses Biden will ever give, and it will differ significantly from other speeches where a politician faced a potential end of the line. Richard Nixon deployed financial candor and a bit of levity in his “Checkers” speech after a fundraising controversy threatened his place on the GOP ticket in 1952. Lyndon Johnson upended the 1968 campaign with his announcement that he wouldn’t seek office again, but he had the element of surprise and didn’t reveal his startling decision until the very end of his address.

Biden has some very serious, and difficult, questions to answer. After all the praise from his party and commentators — a mixture of admiration and relief — the president needs to be clear and candid not just about why he made the decision to step aside, but why believes he is fit to remain as president through the end of his term.

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ALBANY, New York — The New York State Democratic Committee is trying something new this year — working to elect Democrats in New York.

After a brutal showing in 2022, top Democrats like Gov. Kathy Hochul promised the party machinery would launch an unprecedented coordinated campaign to elect party members up and down the ballot in 2024. That would be a key to Democratic efforts to retake the House in a state that is home to at least half a dozen battleground districts.

Similar guarantees have been made in the past and resulted in expenditures that weren’t much more than rounding errors in competitive races. But four months out from Election Day, there’s now at least some evidence that the state party is more actively involved in this November’s races than in those from yesteryear.

The party will soon announce that the coordinated campaign with entities like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has already hired 60 field staffers and fellows and plans to soon have 100 on the ground. It is also in the process of opening up 30 field offices in competitive congressional districts.

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So much for the new Donald Trump.

The former president is back, after a brief pause, to the insults and personal attacks that characterized his last two presidential campaigns — less than two weeks after the attempted assassination that allies and aides insisted had left him a changed man.

Facing a new top-of-the-ticket opponent in Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump returned this week to the rhetoric for which he’s known.

He called Harris “dumb as a Rock,” “crazy,” “nuts” and “Laughing Kamala,” in reference to the jovial memes of the vice president that have dominated social media in recent days. He even repurposed an old insult of President Joe Biden, labeling his new opponent “Lyin’ Kamala.”

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Almost as soon as President Joe Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, America’s internet warriors got to work, cranking out meme after meme of the Veep.

The Kamala for President memes crafted by Black Twitter, Gen Zers on TikTok and other denizens of the internet are closely tied to pop culture and viral social media trends, showcasing her quirky interests — Venn diagrams! — funny phrases and “girlboss” moments.

These memes and videos are largely served up by Gen Z — a critical bloc of voters that’s been lukewarm on Biden given concerns about his age and his support for Israel.

Many of the memes serve a purpose: to propel her to the White House. As @Ritz_Th posted on X: “we absolutely MUST meme this woman into the presidency.”

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It’s Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first full day in Washington this week, and his arrival has been mostly met with eye rolls and shoulder shrugs on Capitol Hill.

Netanyahu will address Congress Wednesday afternoon, a monumental event that would normally take up the political oxygen in Washington in the weeks leading up. An appearance by a controversial far-right leader, widely chastised internationally for his handling of Israel’s devastating war against Hamas militants in Gaza, has all the ingredients ripe for attention.

But it appears Netanyahu has had very little to do in Washington during his visit so far. Some aides on both sides of the aisle needed to be reminded that the leader was even in town.

“I had someone ask me what I thought Netanyahu would say in his speech and I had to stop and think for a minute to realize that was this week. I had completely forgotten it was happening,” said a senior House aide.

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