By Steve Holland and Trevor Hunnicutt
CHICAGO (Reuters) -President Joe Biden arrived in Chicago on Monday to cement the Democratic Party’s embrace of Vice President Kamala Harris as its leader in the fight for the White House against Republican Donald Trump.
While Democrats gathered for their national convention, thousands of protesters assembled at a nearby park to pressure delegates to drop the party’s military support for Israel’s Gaza offensive.
The pro-Palestinian protesters were fewer than the tens of thousands that organizers had predicted, but a splinter group left the main march and breached a security perimeter near the convention center, drawing riot police to the site.
Biden’s appearance to start the four-day event will serve as a symbolic passing of the torch to his No. 2 after he was pressured to quit the race by party leaders worried the 81-year-old incumbent was too old to win or serve another four years.
During a walkthrough of the convention center on Monday, Biden was asked if it was a bittersweet moment for him.
“It is a memorable moment,” he told reporters.
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.
Harris, 59, was likely to join Biden on stage, sources said.
Harris will formally accept the nomination on Thursday night before Democratic delegates, supporters and party faithful. If elected on Nov. 5, Harris would make U.S. history as the first female president.
A NOTE OF UNCERTAINTY
The pro-Palestinian protests injected a note of uncertainty into what is otherwise likely to be a week of celebration, with some on the party’s left flank angry 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 the “March on the DNC” rally that drew thousands of people. “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 riding a historic whirlwind into the convention: 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, popular 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.
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 and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Heather Timmons and Howard Goller)
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