Vice President Kamala Harris has secured enough delegates to earn the Democratic Party’s nomination as presidential candidate.
In a statement she said: “Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee, and as a daughter of California, I am proud that my home state’s delegation helped put our campaign over the top. I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.
“I am grateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who has already put their faith in me, and I look forward to taking our case directly to the American people.”
According to an Associated Press tally, Ms Harris had 2,214 delegates, well beyond the simple majority needed to clinch the nomination on the first ballot.
The survey is unofficial, as Democratic delegates are free to vote for the candidate of their choice and she will not be the official candidate until what is known as the roll call is completed, whether virtually or in person at the Democratic Party Convention from 19 August in Chicago.
It follows a ringing endorsement from Joe Biden who vowed he is “going to be working like hell” in his final months as US president to campaign for Ms Harris to be his successor.
He was speaking in a phone call to staff at the campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, in his first public comments since he announced at the weekend he would be quitting the 2024 White House race and endorsing his vice president.
Ms Harris also addressed the workers in Delaware, where she hit out at Republican Donald Trump.
The vice president, 59, is the only declared Democratic candidate so far to be the party’s nominee ahead of November’s election against 78-year-old Mr Trump.
Mr Biden will return to the White House later today from his home in Delaware where he has been recovering from COVID.
The 81-year-old leader said on Sunday he was no longer standing for re-election after weeks of pressure from within his own party amid concerns about his health and fitness to serve another four years in office.
Mr Biden told supporters on Monday: “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be out there on the campaign with her, with Kamala. I’m going to be working like hell. Both as a sitting president, getting legislation passed, as well as campaigning.”
Mr Biden added that even though “I won’t be on the ticket… I’m still going to be fully, fully engaged”.
“I’ve got six months left of my presidency, I’m determined to get as much done as I possibly can. Both foreign policy and domestic policy.”
On supporting Ms Harris, he said: “I’ll be doing whatever Kamala wants me or needs me to do… We’re still fighting in this fight together.”
He hit out at Mr Trump, saying he was “still a danger to the communities, a danger to the nation”.
Ms Harris then began by saying “I love you, Joe” while the president stayed on the line.
She said: “Over the next 106 days we are going to take our case to the American people and we are going to win.”
Ms Harris said Mr Biden created millions of jobs and “got the COVID pandemic under control”.
She also said Mr Biden “stood up” for democracy at home and abroad.
Discussing her time as a state prosecutor, she said she “took on perpetrators of all kinds”.
She added: “I know Donald Trump’s type, and in this campaign I will proudly put my record against his.”
Ms Harris said: “Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency.”
She also pledged an “assault weapons ban” and said she would fight for “reproductive freedom”.
