Schumer, Jeffries endorse Harris for president

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday endorsed Vice President Harris to be the Democratic nominee for president, further consolidating the party behind her bid for the White House. 

Schumer and Jeffries made their support official during a press conference steps from the Capitol. 

“Today is a great, great day for the Democratic Party and the country,” Schumer said to open the press conference. “We are brimming with excitement, enthusiasm, unity.” 

“Has given the party an opportunity to unite behind a new nominee, and boy oh boy are we enthusiastic,” Schumer said. “Now that the process has played out … we are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.” 

President Biden on Sunday stepped aside from the ticket and endorsed Harris as his replacement. In the days since, Democrats have quickly lined up behind her operation and have handed her enough delegates to become the party’s likely nominee for president. 

Dozens of Senate Democrats have endorsed her campaign, as have party heavy hitters, such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), former President Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Rep. James E Clyburn (D-S.C.).

Jeffries lauded Harris as being “ready, willing and able to lead us into the future” who will “fight” for voters across the country.

The announcement by the pair of Democratic leaders also brings the entirety of Senate and House leadership behind her bid.

Harris has seen a fundraising boom in the last 48 hours. According to her campaign, it raised more than $100 million between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. More than 1.1 million individual donors contributed in that time.

She is also headlining her first campaign in Wisconsin later Tuesday, and she will be joined by top Democrats from the Badger State.

Schumer repeatedly hailed Harris as having earned the support from a “bottom-up” process, despite voters having played little role in her ascending to the top of the ticket, a decision that is being cemented by delegates, lawmakers and party leaders. 

“The bottom line [is] it was a bottom-up process,” Schumer maintained. “People just rallied right to her side. The enthusiasm in this big, diverse, representative party was amazing. It was palpable. You could cut it with a knife.”

He also added that Biden made the “right decision” by stepping aside from the ticket.

Updated at 1:31 p.m. EDT