It’s a legal question expected to be handled in court, primarily because of different interpretations of Chesapeake’s city charter — seemingly the only charter for a major Hampton Roads city that puts the city in this novel position.

Multiple council members are challenging mayors this November elections in surrounding cities, like Virginia Beach and Portsmouth. Yet Chesapeake finds itself in this situation as it’s the only Hampton Roads city with a provision in the city charter that requires council members to formally resign from their council seat during their mayoral election bid instead of after. Carey’s council term is set to end Dec. 31. Chesapeake’s charter provision calls for a council resignation by June 30, though it was established when Chesapeake held city elections in May.

The ongoing legal question has spurred division among council members, some of whom are practicing a boycott of certain city business they don’t believe Carey should be part of, like closed sessions, as a result.

At a July 23 meeting, some residents said Carey was being penalized for an oversight issue in the charter, and called for council to make the appropriate changes in lieu of legal action. But that’s challenging in a Dillon’s Rule state like Virginia, where the General Assembly determines the scope of local governments’ power. That means when a city needs to update its charter, state legislators are the ones who can make it happen.

“No two local government situations are alike, and they’re often quite obscure provisions that are at issue,” said Richard Schragger, a law professor at the University of Virginia.

He added that in Chesapeake’s case, it can be tricky because even if the dates should have been changed, the charter also clearly states June 30.

“So then the question becomes, if there’s ambiguities in the interpretation of that provision, who makes that decision? And generally we end up in courts when that’s the case,” Schragger said.

For most Hampton Roads cities, council members who declare candidacy in a mayor’s race must formally resign their council position following the election or upon the start of the newly elected mayor’s term, according to the respective city charters. That includes Norfolk, Hampton, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.

In Virginia Beach, Councilman Chris Taylor, representing District 8, has joined a crowded field to challenge the sitting mayor. To do so, Taylor had to file a formal resignation letter effective after the election since his council term spans until 2026, which will necessitate a special election. His resignation will take effect Dec. 31, regardless of whether he wins or loses the mayoral race.

Sabrina Wooten is another Virginia Beach council member challenging the mayor, but her term ends at the end of the year.

Portsmouth’s charter lacks any resign-to-run requirement. The current vice mayor, Lisa Lucas-Burke, is challenging sitting Mayor Shannon Glover. There is no apparent provision in Newport News’ charter that addresses resign-to-rule stipulations, but a process for filling vacancies is included.

General Assembly action in 2021 shifted Chesapeake’s elections from May to November, but the accompanying provision for resignation was not altered, according to an opinion issued in May by Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. His opinion concluded that Carey was required to step down by June 30.

In March, Carey declared a bid to challenge Mayor Rick West. On July 9, a majority of council members directed the city attorney’s office to file a writ of mandamus with the Circuit Court asking a judge to compel Carey to resign from his position as he seeks election as mayor.

While it’s still unclear when the city will formally file the petition in Circuit Court, Carey said he was officially served last week by the city with a notice of intent to file. City Attorney Catherine Lindley previously said a “reasonable time” must lapse before filing with Circuit Court, though she has declined to specify what that timeframe will be.

Carey has previously called the move political and unethical.

“Citizens realize how foolish this endeavor is for council to waste taxpayer dollars to attack a political opponent,” he said in a phone interview Monday.

Carey was first elected to City Council in May 2020. He assumed his role July 1 when Chesapeake still held local elections in May instead of November. In Miyares’ opinion, he stated that though resignation would have the effect of shortening Carey’s term, it’s “due to his voluntary decision to seek election to the office of mayor, as was the case prior to the 2021 amendments for council members seeking to become mayor in middle of their otherwise four-year term.”

Around a dozen residents spoke at a July 23 meeting, mostly expressing frustration with division among council and the city money and resources that will be dedicated to litigating the issue. Others said he should stay in his seat through the end of his current term.

Resident Nancy Pettigrew and George Reed of the New Chesapeake Men for Progress argued that the intent of the charter change law wasn’t to result in a monthslong vacancy when a council member runs for mayor.

“Forcing Councilman Carey off the council at this point in the year will hamper the work that the City Council does,” Pettigrew said. “And in fact, we are already seeing that happen.”

Reed cited a summary document about the 2021 law when it was passed, which states the terms of mayor, council and school board members should not be shortened as a result of shifting elections to November. It also states all those members elected at a May general election and whose terms end as of June 30 “shall continue in office until their successors have been elected at the November general election and have been qualified to serve.”

Another election-related bill passed that year amended that portion of state code and the clause Reed cited was removed.

“We ought to have a writ of mandamus to get our city attorney to configure our charter to meet the state law,” Reed said. “I say to you there must be a different agenda. You should explain that agenda to the public. Because it’s certainly not running good governance with transparency and accountability.”

Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com

Nichelle Stone, who was appointed last year to fill a vacated seat until the special election, had originally filed to complete the term. She was the only candidate. But Stone has vacated her seat and withdrawn from the race, leaving it open.

“I was very honored to be appointed,” Stone said in an interview on Monday. But she said she had to leave the position and withdraw from the race to spend more time with her family because of unexpected personal matters.

The special election will be held with the general election Nov. 5. Individuals interested in running must live and be registered to vote in the Ward 5 District. If no candidate files by the deadline, the seat will be listed on the ballot with a write-in option.

The winning candidate will serve the remainder of the unexpired termthrough the end of 2026.

Stone was appointed in November after Lauren Campsen resigned because of health reasons.

Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com

“I will do everything in my power to deliver Virginia for Vice President Harris,” state House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said in a statement. “Just as we did last year, when we flipped the House of Delegates, we will also reject the MAGA extremist Project 2025 agenda. We will win Virginia again, and elect the first woman President in the history of the United States.”

Biden ended his bid for reelection Sunday after his debate performance last month fueled divisions within the Democratic Party about whether it was time for the 81-year-old to pass the torch to a younger candidate. Biden quickly endorsed his vice president to take on former President Donald Trump, but Harris still has to formally secure the nomination from the around 4,700 Democratic convention delegates and superdelegates.

“The Party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward,” Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said Sunday. “Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people.”

More than 30 Democrats in Congress, and some major party donors, publicly called on Biden to step back as polls showed his numbers slipping against Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.

In a Monday statement, the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus credited Biden for rescuing the nation and economy from the “darkness” of the pandemic and facilitating historic investments in American infrastructure. The caucus praised his decision to step aside.

“President Biden took the selfless action of choosing to put the future of the country and the good of the American people before any personal desire,” the statement reads. “We extend our deepest thanks to President Biden for his lifetime of service and extraordinary leadership.”

All 21 members of the caucus endorsed Harris for the presidency, including Majority Leader Scott Surovell and President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas of Portsmouth.

“Please know that I and other leaders are already hard at work ensuring that Virginia’s votes at the convention will strongly back Kamala for President,” Lucas said.

The Democratic National Convention will kick off Aug. 19 in Chicago.

Harris has also received the seal of approval from Virginia U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, both Democrats.

“While there has to be an orderly process and the decision ultimately rests in the hands of the DNC delegates, I believe Vice President Harris has the experience, energy, and resolve to lead our nation,” Warner said in a statement.

Warner had sought to assemble a group of Democratic senators to push Biden to exit the race, as previously reported by The Washington Post. 

Harris is a former prosecutor and U.S. Senator from California. She is the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.

Editorial: Virginia voters will need to hear from VP Harris on the issues

The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus announced Monday that all of its members serving as a delegate at the upcoming convention have pledged to support Harris. Several of those members are from Hampton Roads, including Scott, Lucas, Sen. Mamie Locke and Dels. Alex Askew, Jeion Ward and Michael Feggans.

The caucus praised Harris as a champion of civil rights, environmental protections and reproductive health care.

While Locke is among those endorsing Harris, the Hampton senator has also repeatedly taken to social media to scold Democrats at the national level who showed a “sheer disregard” for Biden during discussions about his bid for reelection.

“The leadership of this party has been so disrespectful to an individual who has done so much for them and this country,” she wrote this week.

Meanwhile, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said it doesn’t matter which Democrat is on the ballot.

“Make no mistake,” he wrote Sunday on social media. “Whether its border czar Kamala Harris or someone else, it’s the Biden/Harris Administration’s weak leadership and resulting chaos around the world and here at home that is on the ballot this November.”

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com

The full text of President Biden’s letter to the nation:

Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

July 21, 2024

My Fellow Americans,

Over the past three and a half years, we have made great progress as a Nation.

Today, America has the strongest economy in the world. We’ve made historic investments in rebuilding our Nation, in lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, and in expanding affordable health care to a record number of Americans. We’ve provided critically needed care to a million veterans exposed to toxic substances. Passed the first gun safety law in 30 years. Appointed the first African American woman to the Supreme Court. And passed the most significant climate legislation in the history of the world. American has never been better positioned to lead than we are today.

I know none of this could have been done without you, the American people. Together, we overcame a once in a century pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We’ve protected and preserved our Democracy. And we’ve revitalized and strengthened our alliances around the world.

It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.

I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.

For now, let me express my deepest gratitude to all who have worked so hard to see me reelected. I want to thank Vice President Kamala Harris for being an extraordinary partner in all this work. And let me express my heartfelt appreciation to the American people for the faith and trust you have placed in me.

I believe today what I always have: that there is noting America can’t do — when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.

Joe Biden

But in response to questions from journalists over the last few weeks, the embattled Democratic president has given some clues as to what could make him step aside — especially as the calls from his own party to end his candidacy continue unabated.

Here are the things Biden has cited — some serious, others not — that would make him reconsider his run:

Divine intervention

It was a defiant answer that indicated Biden had no intention whatsoever of dropping out.

During an ABC News interview that marked the first major test of his fitness for office, anchor George Stephanopoulos asked the 81-year-old Biden whether he had convinced himself that only he could defeat his Republican opponent, Donald Trump.

“I have convinced myself of two things,” Biden said. “I’m the most qualified person to beat him, and I know how to get things done.”

Stephanopoulos pressed a little further: “If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand down?”

“It depends,” Biden responded. “I mean, if the Lord Almighty comes out and tells me that, I might do that.”

Cold, hard data

No politician ever wants to lose — and it seems Biden would be willing to exit if he had numerical proof that that’s what would happen.

In a news conference at the close of the NATO summit in Washington last week, Biden was asked whether he would step aside if aides showed him that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a stronger opponent than he would be against Trump.

Biden’s initial response was “no,” but then he elaborated.

“Unless they came back and said, ‘there’s no way you can win.’ Me,” he said. “No one is saying that. No poll says that.”

The limited polling available suggests a competitive race with several months before the election. Several polls of voters give Trump a slight advantage, while others show neither candidate with an advantage.

A fateful accident

Biden wasn’t directly asked the hypothetical, but he threw in a new scenario anyway.

As Speedy Morman, a host on the entertainment network Complex, was wrapping up his interview with Biden last week in Detroit, he had one more closing question for the president: “We will 1,000 percent — in your words — see you on the ballot this November?”

Quipped Biden: “Unless I get hit by a train, yeah.”

Morman responded: “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, for your safety’s concern.”

A not-yet-diagnosed medical ailment

Biden spoke with BET journalist Ed Gordon for an interview set to air Wednesday night. During the conversation, Gordon asked Biden if there were any factors that would make him reevaluate his candidacy.

He didn’t repeat the other reasons that he had previously listed — but rather surfaced a new one.

“If I had some medical condition that emerged,” Biden told Gordon. “If doctors came to me and said, ‘you got this problem, that problem.’”

The health of Biden, the oldest person to be U.S. president, has been scrutinized well before his catastrophic debate performance.

After his latest physical in February, presidential doctor Kevin O’Connor said Biden “remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.” A neurological exam, taken more than a month prior, showed no signs of a stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease, according to O’Connor. The physician also said a cognitive exam was unnecessary.

—-

Associated Press writer Amelia Thomson-Deveaux contributed to this report.

The poll was conducted between June 24 and July 3, meaning it captured some sentiment following the June 28 presidential debate but occurred before a gunman attempted to assassinate Trump on Saturday at a campaign rally.

When respondents were asked whom they would vote for if the election were held today, 39% said Trump compared with 36% who selected Biden. The difference is less than the margin of error for the poll. But the results reflect a shift toward Trump since the school’s previous survey released in January, which showed Biden leading Trump 42% to 39%.

There was a notable dip in support for Biden among Black Virginians.

“I think the results show that Virginia is truly a ‘battleground state’ for the presidency,” former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder said in a news release. “The drop by 20 points (to 46%) of Black Virginians since December, where 67% supported Biden, should be concerning relative to turnout affecting congressional races, in particular in competitive districts 7 and 2.”

The poll surveyed a representative sample of 809 adults. Over half of respondents (53%) said they were less likely to vote for Trump due to his recent conviction of 34 felony counts of falsification of business records, while others (31%) were more likely to support him following the conviction.

For the remaining candidates, 9% of those surveyed said they would vote for Robert Kennedy Jr., 2% for Jill Stein and 1% for Cornel West.

The poll found little change in Biden’s overall approval rating since the January survey, with 36% approving his job performance and 58% disapproving. Approval was extremely polarized, with 69% of Democrats supporting Biden’s performance and 25% disapproving, as opposed to 8% of Republicans approving and 90% disapproving.

The poll further found Sen. Tim Kaine, a Democrat, holds a strong lead over Republican challenger Hung Cao. Nearly half of Virginians (49%) indicated they would vote for Kaine, with 38% supporting Cao.

Those surveyed identified the most important issues as the rising cost of living (31%), women’s reproductive rights (23%) and immigration (12%). Women were more likely to view reproductive rights as the most important issue (34%) compared with men (12%).

Half of Virginians (50%) approve of Gov. Glenn Youngkin job performance, with 34% disapproving. This is a 4-point drop in approval and a 3-point increase in disapproval from the poll released in January.

The poll’s news release states telephone interviews were used to survey Virginians. Design weights are often employed in telephone survey research to reduce bias and correct differences in the probability of selection due to non-response and non-coverage. This sample was weighted to match Virginia’s adult population, which was the primary sampling unit.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Secret Service is investigating how a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania, in a devastating failure of one of the agency’s core duties.

The FBI on Sunday identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.

The gunman, who officials said was killed by Secret Service personnel, fired multiple shots at the stage from an “elevated position outside of the rally venue,” the agency said.

An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos taken at the Trump rally, as well as satellite imagery of the site, shows the shooter was able to get astonishingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking. A video posted to social media and geolocated by the AP shows Crooks’ body lying motionless on the roof of a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Show grounds, where Trump’s rally was held. A different image shows Crooks wearing a gray T-shirt with a black American flag on the right arm, and a bloody wound to his head.

The roof was fewer than 150 meters (164 yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent marksman could reasonably hit a human-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is a distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a human-sized silhouette to qualify with the M16 assault rifle in basic training. The AR-style rifle, like that of the gunman at the Trump rally, is the semiautomatic civilian version of the military M16.

President Joe Biden said Sunday he has directed an independent review of the security at the rally.

Biden said he also directed the U.S. Secret Service to review all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee. Audrey Gibson-Cicchino, the Secret Service’s coordinator for the convention, told reporters later the agency was satisfied with what she called its comprehensive planning for the Republican convention.

Biden urged Americans not to make assumptions about the motive of the shooter. He said investigators are working swiftly to investigate the attack.

“Unity is the most elusive goal of all,” he said, but “nothing is more important than that right now.”

Calls for an investigation came from all sides.

Rep. Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday raising questions about the shooting and demanding information about the former president’s Secret Service protection.

“The seriousness of this security failure and chilling moment in our nation’s history cannot be understated,” Green wrote.

The Secret Service did not have a speaker at a news conference Saturday night where FBI and Pennsylvania State Police officials briefed reporters on the shooting investigation. FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said it was “surprising” that the gunman was able to fire at the stage before he was killed.

Members of the Secret Service’s counter-sniper team and counterassault team were at the rally, according to two law enforcement officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss details of the investigation.

The heavily armed counterassault team, whose Secret Service code name is “Hawkeye,” is responsible for eliminating threats so that other agents can shield and take away the person they are protecting. The counter-sniper team, known by the code name “Hercules,” uses long-range binoculars and is equipped with sniper rifles to deal with long-range threats.

Mayorkas said his department and the Secret Service are working with law enforcement to investigate the shooting. Maintaining the security of presidential candidates and their campaign events is one of the department’s “most vital priorities,” he said.

“We condemn this violence in the strongest possible terms and commend the Secret Service for their swift action today,” Mayorkas said. “We are engaged with President Biden, former President Trump and their campaigns, and are taking every possible measure to ensure their safety and security.“

Green also noted reports that the Secret Service had rebuffed requests from the Trump campaign for additional security. A spokesman for the Secret Service, Anthony Guglielmi, said on X Sunday that those allegations were “absolutely false” and that they had added resources and technology as the campaign’s travel increased.

Green said he would be talking with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Sunday.

Former top Secret Service agents told The AP that Crooks should never have been allowed to gain access to the roof, and the agency will have to figure out how that happened. They said such a lapse could have been caused by officers neglecting their posts or a flaw in the event’s security plan.

The agency is “going to have to go through the security plan and interview a number of people from the director on down” to figure out what went wrong, said Stephen Colo, who retired in 2003 as an assistant director after a 27-year career in the service.

Colo said presidential candidates and former presidents don’t typically get the same level of protection as the sitting president. In fact, Colo said he was surprised that the agency had staffed the event with a counter-sniper team. Such a valuable resource — there are not many of those highly trained agents — is usually reserved for the president. Candidates don’t usually get such teams.

Timothy McCarthy, a former agent who retired from the agency in 1994, said the Secret Service “better be doing a deep dive into what happened there and doing whatever it takes to figure it out” because the gunman should not have been able to occupy such a vantage point.

“How did that person get up on that building?” said McCarthy, 75, who in 1981 took a bullet when President Ronald Reagan was shot outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. “How did that happen? I mean, that’s the key to the entire thing. And what measures were put in place to prevent it?”

James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who is the House Oversight Committee chairman, said he contacted the Secret Service for a briefing and called on Cheatle to appear for a hearing. Comer said his committee will send a formal invitation soon.

“Political violence in all forms is un-American and unacceptable. There are many questions and Americans demand answers,” Comer said in a statement.

U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, called for investigating “security failures” at the rally.

“The federal government must constantly learn from security failures in order to avoid repeating them, especially when those failures have implications for the nation,” Torres said.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, posted on X that he and his staff are in contact with security planning coordinators ahead of the Republican National Convention set to begin Monday in Milwaukee. “We cannot be a country that accepts political violence of any kind — that is not who we are as Americans,” Evers said.

The FBI said it will lead the investigation into the shooting, working with the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department “will bring every available resource to bear to this investigation.”

“My heart is with the former President, those injured, and the family of the spectator killed in this horrific attack,” Garland said in a statement. “We will not tolerate violence of any kind, and violence like this is an attack on our democracy.”

Associated Press writers Del Quentin Wilber, Colleen Long and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

A divided and tense vote Tuesday tasked the City Attorney’s office with filing a writ of mandamus with the Circuit Court, which is a judicial order that requires a government official to comply with the law. In this case, it’s Section 3.02 of the city’s charter, which states that any sitting member of council who decides to run for mayor is eligible to do so but shall resign by June 30 of the election year.

The vote passed 5-3, with Mayor Rick West abstaining. Robert Ike and Ella Ward joined Carey in voting against the measure put forth by council member Amanda Newins, who said it was about “transparency” and the “integrity of the council.” She likened Carey to being “a private citizen” acting as a council member.

“I think most of us assumed Mr. Carey was going to do the right thing and resign before June 30 but now we’re all in a very uncomfortable position,” Newins said. “And people say you have to have courage over comfort. And that’s what this is.”

In March, Carey declared a bid to challenge West — even switching parties to do so. Though local elections in Chesapeake are nonpartisan, Carey has the support of the Democratic Party, while West has been endorsed by the local GOP.

Though the charter provision calls for a resignation by June 30, it was established when Chesapeake held elections in May. General Assembly action in 2021 shifted the city’s elections to November, but the accompanying provision for resignation was not altered, according to an opinion issued in May by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. His opinion concluded that Carey was required to step down by June 30.

Carey’s term is slated to end Dec. 31. Miyares’ opinion states that though resignation would have the effect of shortening Carey’s term, it’s “due to his voluntary decision to seek election to the office of mayor, as was the case prior to the 2021 amendments for council members seeking to become mayor in middle of their otherwise four-year term.”

Opinions from the state’s attorney general provide analysis and interpretation of current law, but do not establish new law.

“Because the shortening, instead, is one caused by the council member’s own independent action, the recently mandated transition to November elections does not negate the effect of the resignation requirement contained in § 3.02(c) of the city charter,” the opinion said.

Only West and Carey filed to run for mayor. It’s unclear whether a judge’s ruling would force Carey to resign to remain in the mayor’s race or if he would be deemed ineligible for the ballot.

Before Newins’ motion passed, Ike was unsuccessful in an attempt to defer the vote to next week. Ike, who characterized Newins’ reasoning for her motion as “smoke and mirrors,” said he wanted the city to advertise a public hearing and hear from the public before taking any action.

“We understand the legislators messed it up,” Ike said. “They changed one part of the law but didn’t change the other. In all fairness, he should be able to stay until Dec. 31.”

Ike also noted Miyares’ opinion was not as a binding ruling.

Ward, meanwhile, said General Assembly members, including House Speaker Don Scott, have opined that Carey should be able stay in his current position and that the charter change should have extended to that provision.

Following the November election, the new Chesapeake City Council would be seated Jan. 1.

Natalie Anderson, 757-732-1133, natalie.anderson@virginiamedia.com

MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is getting back on the campaign trail Tuesday, rallying voters in his home state at his flagship golf resort in a celebratory mood as Democrats face tough calls over President Joe Biden’s reelection chances.

Trump is nearing a deadline to announce his running mate but appears in no rush as much of the attention is still centered on questions about Biden’s ability to govern for another four-year term. Some Democrats have started calling for Biden to step down as their presumptive nominee following his dismal debate performance last month.

Both Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, are at least two decades older than most American presidents have been, according to the Pew Research Center, which said the median age for all U.S. presidents on their first inauguration is 55 years old. But that has not stopped Trump from arguing he is stronger than Biden, who repeatedly stumbled, paused and could not complete sentences at times during the June 27 debate. Trump was criticized by Democrats for making false statements during the debate about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and suggesting immigrants entering the U.S. illegally were taking so-called “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs.”

In an interview Monday with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity, Trump said he thought Biden “might very well stay in” the race. “Nobody to wants to give that up that way,” Trump added. “He is going to feel badly about himself for a long time. It’s hard to give it up that way, the way where they’re trying to force him out.”

In the Miami suburb of Doral, Trump will underscore his strong support in a former battleground state that has now shifted toward the GOP. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Miami native and one of the contenders for the vice presidential post, will be attending the rally along with other Florida politicians.

Kevin Cabrera, a Miami-Dade County commissioner who was Florida state director for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign and is set to speak at the rally, said to expect an “overwhelming show of unity.”

“The rally will display our unified front, showcasing a stark contrast to the Democrats, who are lost and fighting with each other over Biden’s health and ability to continue,” Cabrera said.

The presumptive GOP nominee will also touch on Biden’s handling of immigration and the economy, highlighting the rise in home prices and goods. Trump will also talk about how Florida is affected by the increasing arrivals of immigrants as the final destination for many people illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

The leadership crisis among Democrats has perhaps given Trump a reason to wait for his VP announcement so as to not draw attention away from Biden’s woes. Senior advisers and key allies say they still don’t know whom Trump will choose as his running mate, and many believe the choice is still in flux.

Speaking on MSNBC Monday, Biden criticized Trump for not having held events since the debate and suggested he had been “riding around in his golf cart.”

The committee, according to two people briefed on the language, agreed on the text, “We believe that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees that no person can be denied life or liberty without due process and that the states are, therefore, free to pass laws protecting those rights.”

Two anti-abortion activist leaders spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party deliberations.

The move comes as Trump imposes his priorities on the committee as he seeks to steer clear of strict abortion language, even while taking credit for setting up the 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court. Trump appointed three of the six justices who voted in the majority to overturn the 1973 abortion rights precedent.

The abortion language was first reported by The New York Times.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, SBA Pro-Life America president, praised the committee for reaffirming “its commitment to protect unborn life through the 14th Amendment.”

Dannenfelser stopped short of endorsing the document’s reflection of Trump’s view that the matter rests entirely with states. “Under this amendment, it is Congress that enacts and enforces it’s provisions.”

The platform is a statement of first principles traditionally written by party activists. Trump’s campaign wants the group drafting this year’s platform to produce a shorter document that excludes statements favored by many conservatives but are potentially unpopular with the broader electorate.

The platform committee begins its meeting Monday, a week before the start of the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin where Trump is scheduled to accept his third straight nomination for president.

Trump has faced months of Democratic criticism over abortion as President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has highlighted that Trump nominated half of the Supreme Court majority that struck down the nationwide right to abortion in 2022. But among the vocal abortion opponents on the platform committee, some say the aspiration of a federal ban on abortion after a certain stage in pregnancy must remain a party principle, even if it’s not an immediately attainable policy or one that necessarily helps the Trump campaign in November.

“I see that as problematic. We still need these principles clearly stated. Some of these battles are not over,” said Iowa state Rep. Brad Sherman, a platform committee member who supported Trump’s winning Iowa caucus campaign in January and also supports a federal limit on abortion.

While the abortion statement is likely to be the most contested provision in the platform, there may also be disputes over Trump’s preference for tariffs and his isolationist approach to foreign policy and U.S. involvement in global conflicts, particularly in helping Ukraine as it battles Russia.

Conservative activists who are accustomed to having a seat at the table fumed over what they said was a secretive process for selecting committee members and the meeting taking place behind closed doors.

“For 40 years, the Republican Party and the GOP platform have massively benefitted from an open and transparent process,” said Tim Chapman, the incoming president of Advancing American Freedom, a foundation headed by Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump’s campaign has sought to reshape the Republican National Committee into a campaign vessel. It signaled in a memo last month from senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles that “textbook-long platforms … are scrutinized and intentionally misrepresented by our political opponents.”

Trump ally Russ Vought is serving as the policy director of the Republican Party’s platform writing committee while also leading the effort to draft the 180-day agenda for Project 2025, a sweeping proposal for remaking government that Trump said Friday he knew “nothing about” despite having several former aides involved.

Trump had supported federal legislation in 2018 that would have banned abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, though the measure fell short of the necessary support in the Senate.

However, after the 2022 midterm elections, Trump blamed Republicans who held strict anti-abortion positions for the party’s failure to secure a larger House majority. He has since been critical of the most stringent abortion bans in individual states.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in June 2023 found that about two-thirds of Americans think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. The poll also found that 6 in 10 Americans think Congress should pass a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.

Biden’s campaign has criticized Republicans for making the platform committee meetings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, closed to the news media and reminded voters of Trump’s onetime support for a 20-week abortion ban.

Tamara Scott, who is one of Iowa’s two Republican National Committee members and also a platform committee member, said Trump could campaign on the position he holds and also embrace the platform to reflect a longer-term goal of a federal limit.

“It’s our vision. It’s our foundational principles. It’s who we are as a party,” Scott said. “I agree a platform must be clear and concise but it must convey our core principles.”

To several on the committee, that means maintaining support for an “amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to children before birth,” the passage first included in 1984.

Trump was urged to keep that language in the platform, according to a letter signed by leaders of groups opposed to abortion, including Dannenfelser, Ralph Reed, Faith and Freedom Coalition founder and chairman; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council.

That passage, once removed, would be difficult to restore in future platforms, Dannenfelser said.

“The conversation about the platform is about the future. It’s about presidential campaigns 10 years from now, and Senate campaigns and House campaigns, Republican campaigns everywhere,” Dannenfelser said. “It’s not just about this election. And that’s why it matters.”

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux contributed from Washington.