Good morning. Kamala Harris hopes a new burst of momentum, money and memes will carry her to the White House – more on that below, along with a Canadian competitor to OpenAI and the buzziest sport at the Olympics. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Jasper National Park visitors and residents have been ordered to evacuate as a wildfire approaches
- Canada should ban out-of-pocket fees charged by primary-care providers, medical association says
- A Canadian was killed by Israeli soldiers after an attempted stabbing attack
Sign up for Morning Update:
Reading this online? Get our redesigned flagship newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.
Subscribe now
Kamala Harris on the White House South Lawn yesterday.Susan Walsh/The Associated Press
U.S. Politics
Reversal of fortune
Yesterday, at her first public appearance since Joe Biden exited the U.S. presidential race, Kamala Harris stuck to warm boosterism on the White House South Lawn. She praised Biden’s integrity and big heart. She attested to his record of fighting for Americans. She pivoted to the event’s purpose, celebrating college athletes, then tucked this line into her address to the champs: “You all know what it means to commit and persevere – and you know what it is to count on teammates during the course of a long season.”
The Vice-President is eager to get off the bench. On Sunday, she called more than 100 Democratic officials to consolidate support for her candidacy. A day later, pretty much every potential challenger to Harris’s nomination had offered up their endorsement. With the Democratic presidential field all but cleared, some politicians began auditioning for the now-vacant No. 2 spot on the ticket. She heads to Wisconsin today for her first rally. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear used a TV appearance to troll the Republican VP nominee, saying: “I want the American people to know what a Kentuckian is and what they look like, because let me just tell you that J.D. Vance ain’t from here.”
So Harris has major Democratic backing, including from initial holdouts such as Nancy Pelosi. She has major Democratic bucks – US$81-million in grassroots donations over 24 hours – and enough pledged delegates to expect to clinch the nomination, according to an Associated Press tally. She even has the memes (we’ll get to that later). But can she wrestle back the momentum from Trump?
Trump on trial
Smart money is on a single phrase to dominate Harris’s short presidential campaign: She can “prosecute the case against Donald Trump.” While Harris is a former district attorney and attorney-general, Trump is a convicted felon facing charges on attempting to overturn an election. An attack ad from Harris’s 2020 primary run resurfaced this weekend to make that point. “He’s a world leader in temper tantrums; she never loses her cool,” it begins. “She prosecuted sex predators; he is one.” (Expect Harris to hammer Trump’s attacks on reproductive rights more forcefully than Biden seemed prepared to do.)
Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday.Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Harris brings some baggage of her own. Appointed early in her vice-presidency to handle the southern border, she’s open to Republican attacks on immigration. She’s also struggled to translate policies into the kind of digestible sound bites or soaring American rhetoric that voters can expect. Hillary Clinton told The Atlantic earlier this year that Harris was not a “performance” politician. That isn’t a problem Trump has.
It’s worth asking, though: Will it even matter? Biden and Trump are historically unpopular candidates, and the 2024 election cycle has mostly been governed by an oh-yikes-anyone-but-these-guys apathy. Yes, Harris will have to run on Biden’s record, which could be tricky in a change election. But the disillusionment in the Democratic Party had far less to do with his policies than with his age. Even though Harris would make history as president, just being a 59-year-old not-Biden could – in the eyes of voters – prove change enough.
A viral campaign
If you don’t count yourself among the terminally online, then a) kudos and b) you might not be familiar with the recent Kamala memes. First came the coconuts: In a 2023 speech that’s been shared a whole bunch lately, Harris quotes her late mother, the scientist Shyamala Gopalan Harris. “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” she asks, then laughs heartily, then turns sombre. “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”
I cannot explain why this clip is everywhere, except that it was initially posted ironically but has since become a genuine rallying cry for Gen Zs who prefer a kooky aunt in charge. It’s easier to unpack the business with British pop phenom Charli XCX, who tweeted “kamala IS brat” right after Biden dropped out. Brat is the singer’s latest album. Brat is also a colour (slime) and a state of mind (messy but confident). Harris HQ’s social media instantly adopted the aesthetic, hoping to ride those green vibes all the way to the White House.
The Shot
‘We’re not doing science experiments. We’re building a product.’
Cohere co-founder Nick Frosst.Christopher Katsarov /The Globe and Mail
Generative AI is big, so Canadian startup Cohere keeps getting bigger, raising US$500-million in its latest funding round to bring its valuation to US$5.5-billion. Read more about the company’s plans here.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: City staff in Toronto are trying to train pigeons to take birth control in order to rein in their fowl proliferation.
Abroad: The U.S. economy has boomed under President Biden, but those numbers aren’t connecting with voters who are smarting from years of steep inflation.
Border collies: After considerable pushback from the Canadian government, veterinarians, disability advocates and pet owners, the U.S. is relaxing its requirements for dogs crossing the border.
Break dancing: Actually, don’t call it break dancing – the newest Olympic sport is known as breaking, and Canadian Phil Kim is a serious contender for gold in Paris. He shows you everything you need to know ahead of its debut in Paris.