Joe Biden latest news: Top Democrats and Hollywood stars back Kamala Harris to take on Donald Trump in race for White House

Ms Harris finds herself in a strong position for the Democratic nominee on Monday given endorsements from President Biden and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

But it is by no means certain she will lead the Democrats on Election Day

Full scale internal Democratic election processes cannot take place as Biden has already been chosen as the candidate, so contenders will have to put themselves forward at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.

Let's take a look at who they could be:

Gretchen Whitmer, 52

Governor of Michigan

Rose to prominence during the Pandemic by criticising Trump's handling of the crisis – then shot on to front pages when a plot was hatched by extremist Trump supporters to kidnap her.

Advocates greater gun control and cleaner energy, the very opposite of Trumpism.

Michelle Obama, 60

Wife of former president Barack Obama

A graduate of Princeton and Harvard, she is known to the world because while working as a young lawyer was a colleague of future president Mr Obama. They have been married 32 years, and have two daughters.

She impressed many as First Lady – and her 2018 memoir, Becoming, has sold 11. 5m copies. Has not suggested she would stand.

Gavin Newsom, 56

Governor of California

Rated for his telegenic looks – but likely to face problems over the current condition of the 'Golden State'. California faces budget problems, and distinctly un-telegenic images of crime, drug and homelessness problems in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Josh Shapiro, 51

Governor of Pennsylvania

An impressive speaker who has won praise for his governorship of what is a key swing state – and, remarkably, one poll suggested more than a third of Trump supporters locally like him. Less well-known nationwide, he is a conservative Jew who keeps the Sabbath and follows a kosher diet.

Pete Buttigieg, 42

US Transport Secretary

He certainly defies the trend for elderly presidential candidates – and would also be the first openly gay man to occupy the White House. Graduated from Harvard, and was also, like former Democrat president Bill Clinton, a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. Served in Afghanistan as an lieutenant in the US Navy reserve.

‌George Clooney, 63

Oscar-winning film star

Known to millions around the world as a heart-throb film star, who has won an acting Oscar for his supporting role in Syriana, and another for co-producing Argo, he is also a leading Democrat supporter and fundraiser. Married to glamorous British human rights lawyer Amal. Has not suggested he would stand.

Early polls showmixed signals for Kamala Harris if she were to secure the Democratic nominee with some overall positives but potential flaws in the key swing states.

In swing states, areas of the US that could be won by either the Democratic or Republican candidate, and even states that have turned reliably blue in recent elections, Harris out-polls Joe Biden even when losing.

She's within one point - 48-47 - of Trump in Pennsylvania, besting Biden, who was losing 48-45 to Trump.

In Virginia, she leads Trump by five points over Biden, who only leads Trump by four percentage points.

However, those polls were conducted before the assassination attempt on former President Trump and before Biden dropped out.

In a poll conducted from July 9-18 surveying 1,000 Georgians, Trump leads Harris by a 51-46 count, however Harris polled better than Biden among all voters, black voters and Democrats.

The British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has spoken about Joe Biden's decision to exit the presidential race and not seek re-election to the White House.

Speaking at the Farnborough International Airshow, Sir Keir said:

See the video below:

Donald Trump claimed that Joe Biden's positive COVID test was phony, demanded he resign and issued an ultimatum to likely new opponent Kamala Harris.

Trump made a series of posts to his Truth Social account attempting to destroy the narrative around Biden's decision, including the positive COVID-19 test that left the president at home the past few days.

The former president added that he believes Biden is 'going to wake up and forget that he dropped out of the race today!'

For more read below:

A slew of Hollywood A-listers have backed Kamala Harris to take on Donald Trump for the presidency since she was endorsed by President Biden.

Victory would mark the historic achievement of being the first woman to be elected US President.

To see who is backing her on November 5, see the video below:

President Biden's decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race leaves Democrats scrambling to replace him with less than four months to go before Election Day.

What follows will be an unprecedented chain of events with Kamala Harris the favorite but by no means certain to become the party's nominee.

The Democratic National Convention runs from August 19 to 22 in Chicago and Biden had been expected to formally accept the nomination there.

What are the nominating rules?

The Democratic party does have rules in place which determine what happens should the president step aside before being formally nominated.

While Biden had the necessary delegates his formal nomination was set to take place during a virtual roll call before the convention. The latest guidance is that it would happen in the first two weeks of August, but not before August 1.

Because Biden exited the race before officially becoming the nominee the more than 3,900 pledged delegates get to cast their ballots in an open convention for whichever candidate they want.

Every alternative to Biden whose name had been floated prior to him dropping out of the race insisted they were backing Biden. It's not clear who would jump in the race aside from Harris with his departure.

If a candidate wins the majority of pledged delegates on the first ballot, they become the party nominee.

If no candidate gets a majority, then the nearly 740 so-called 'superdelegates', also known as automatic delegates, get to vote as well. They include a mix of party members and elected officials.

Voting continues until a candidate gets a majority of delegates.

Our reporters Emily Goodin and Nikki Schwab have the inside track on the decision that 'completely blindsided' the White House as Joe Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday.

The 81-year-old president was isolating with COVID at his $3.4 million holiday home in Delaware, when aides showed him data that convinced him he was no longer able to beat Donald Trump.

Read their story here:

Hello and welcome to MailOnline's live coverage after President Joe Biden sensationally dropped out of the race to take on Donald Trump for the US presidency in November.

President Biden has endorsed his Vice-President Kamala Harris to lead the party against the Republicans while senior Democrats including Bill and Hillary Clinton have shown their support for who could be the first female commander-in-chief.

We will bring you all the latest news and reaction as world leaders have their say on President Biden's bombshell decision.