Biden, 81, to address the nation on his decision to end 2024 bid as polls show Kamala Harris and Trump locked in a tight battle

The vice president has taken the lead nationally over her Republican rival after winning enough delegates to be named the Democratic nominee at the party’s convention in Chicago next month.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Harris ahead of Trump by 2 points in a head-to-head general election race, as she takes over the campaign in place of the ailing 81-year-old Biden.

This follows a series of other polls conducted after Biden suspended his campaign.

Trump had a narrow lead over Harris in polls, but speculation arose that Biden would not be on the list of candidates.

Democratic presidential candidate in the making Kamala Harris is celebrated in her parental home in the southeast India with prayers.

Harris’ grandfather is from Painganadu-Thulasendrapuram village in Tamil Nadu state. On Monday, residents of the area held a special prayer service at the Dharma Sastha temple.

These services will continue until November 5, election day. ‘We are very happy that PV Gopalan’s granddaughter Kamala Harris is likely to be the US presidential candidate,’ said a local resident told The Deccan Herald.

‘We have organised special poojas to pray that she gets the nomination and eventually wins the Donald Trump‘, they added. A pooja is a Hindu worship ritual.

There are no relatives left in the area, the temple priest said The Hindu, confirming that the last of her family left “several decades ago.”

Members of Congress are expected to demand answers from FBI Director Chris Wray about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

This comes just days after former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle was forced to resign after she referred the matter to the FBI during another congressional hearing earlier this week.

Now it’s Wray’s turn and it’s unlikely to go smoothly.

The Judiciary Committee hearing is expected to focus on both the shooting at the protest in Butler, Pennsylvania, and the “continued politicization” of the FBI.

The 81-year-old has not been seen since his shock announcement on Sunday that he was pulling out of the race, a fact that has sparked wild conspiracy theories.

The last time he appeared was last Wednesday — when he slowly exited Air Force One in Dover to go into isolation after being diagnosed with COVID. Only his voice was heard during a phone call to his old campaign office on Monday.

On Tuesday, he stepped out of his SUV wearing a mask, told reporters he was “fine” and then slowly walked to the steps of Air Force One to return to Washington, D.C., for the first time since his 2024 candidacy ended.

“Watch and listen. Why don’t you wait and listen to what I say,” he said when asked what his message would be during his speech on Wednesday night.

But when asked why he was dropping out of the presidential race, Biden laughed and walked away, donning his aviator sunglasses and climbing into the Beast.

By Emily Goodin, Senior White House Correspondent

Air Force One was flying so fast that I was shaking in my seat.

Now we joined him on a crazy return journey of Las Vegas to the Bidens’ Rehoboth Beach outing in Delaware.

Moments after I fastened my seat belt, the massive engines of the presidential Boeing 747 began to roar.

The flight attendants, dressed in their special blue uniforms, staggered through the aisles as the nose of the plane pointed upward.

Tables shook. Reporters held up their water glasses so they wouldn’t spill.

But the most disturbing thing was that we had no idea what was going on.

For security reasons, there was no Wi-Fi on Air Force One and we were cut off from the outside world.