By Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt
CHICAGO (Reuters) – President Joe Biden, forced to abandon his reelection bid, arrived in Chicago on Monday to urge fellow Democrats to unite behind Vice President Kamala Harris in the fight for the White House against Republican rival Donald Trump.
Democrats gathered for their national convention at United Center, home to Chicago’s basketball and hockey teams, while hundreds of protesters assembled at a nearby park to pressure the party to drop military support for Israel’s Gaza offensive.
Biden’s appearance to start the four-day event will serve as a symbolic passing of the torch to his No. 2 after he quit the race under pressure from top Democrats worried that the 81-year-old incumbent was too old to win or serve another four years.
Due to speak at 10:50 p.m. Eastern time (0250 GMT on Tuesday), Biden will portray the Republican former president as a threat to American democracy while touting the achievements of the Biden-Harris administration.
Sources said Harris, 59, was likely to join Biden on stage.
Harris will formally accept the nomination on Thursday night with a highly anticipated speech. If elected on Nov. 5, Harris would make U.S. history as the first female president.
Pro-Palestinian protests injected a note of uncertainty into what is otherwise likely to be a week of celebration while some on the party’s left flank remain angered over the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“The Democrats are the ones in power,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for a rally that drew hundreds of participants. “It’s their war. They’re responsible for it, they’re complicit and they can stop it.”
The protesters appeared unlikely to pressure Democrats to change. The party was due to vote on Monday on a 92-page policy platform that does not call for an arms embargo against Israel, a demand of pro-Palestinian groups. The United States approved $20 billion in additional arms sales to Israel on Tuesday.
Harris is heading into the convention riding a historic whirlwind: her campaign has broken records for fundraising, packed arenas with supporters, and turned opinion polls in some battleground states in Democrats’ favor.
Harris’ vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, was greeted with chants of “We’re not going back” on Monday when he met with groups of delegates.
One prominent backer, however, cautioned fellow Democrats not to get too optimistic. “Our numbers are much less rosy than what you’re seeing in public,” said Chauncey McLean, who heads Future Forward, a committee that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to help elect Harris.
Biden abandoned his reelection bid after his disastrous debate against Trump on June 27 prompted longtime allies, major donors and other party supporters to demand he step aside.
Polls a month ago showed Trump with a clear lead over Biden, but Harris has closed the gap both nationally and in many of the highly competitive states, including Pennsylvania, that will play a decisive role in the election.
“Democrats are fired up,” Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers told reporters. “We have a Republican candidate that is sitting there talking gibberish.”
Harris will call this week for raising the U.S. corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, her campaign said, which would partially undo one of Trump’s signature accomplishments during his 2017-2021 White House tenure.
TRUMP CALLS CHICAGO A ‘WAR ZONE’
Trump, meanwhile, plans to campaign this week in battleground states that are likely to determine the outcome of the election.
Some major allies and donors have been urging Trump to steer clear of racial and gender-based insults of Harris and focus his attacks instead on her policy record.
At a small business in southern Pennsylvania, he repeatedly referred to Harris as “Comrade Kamala” in an effort to paint her as a communist at an event to discuss economic policies.
Trump said he would block Nippon Steel’s planned purchase of U.S. Steel and rescind power plant pollution rules put in place by Biden’s administration.
On social media, he said he would reduce crime in cities like Chicago. “THIS IS A WAR ZONE, AND WILL BE HANDLED ACCORDINGLY,” he wrote on social media.
Democrats will also pay tribute on Monday night to their failed 2016 presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, who is expected to speak before Biden. Other speakers will include Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, and his daughter Ashley Biden.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu, Andrea Shalal, Bianca Flowers, Trevor Hunnicutt, Jeff Mason and Nandita Bose in Chicago; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh, Steve Holland, Nathan Layne and Gram Slattery; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Heather Timmons, Howard Goller and Jonathan Oatis)
