It's over.

• Why it matters: Because it never began.

The Democratic establishment, with breathtaking speed, pushed Joe Biden out of the race. Now, Kamala Harris is locked in, Axios' Hans Nichols writes.

• This show of overwhelming force reflects the party's feral approach to survival in 2024 — and fear of a second Trump presidency.

With Biden officially sidelined, relief — and money — coursed through the Democratic Party yesterday. Donors roared approval by directing more than $100 million to Harris' team since Sunday afternoon.

• ⏰ At 9:45 p.m. ET — 32 hours after Biden's shock announcement — AP declared Harris has secured the support of enough delegates to become the Democratic nominee (well more than the 1,976 she'll need on a first ballot).

🔬 Zoom in: Harris' deftly choreographed rollout involved hundreds of calls by Harris' team to senators, House members and governors.

• Just 30 hours after Biden announced he was dropping his run for reelection, 186 Democratic House members, 43 senators and 23 governors had endorsed Harris.
• Another 23 lawmakers — including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats — hadn't endorsed Harris but had released encouraging statements.

That push to gain commitments from a majority of the nearly 4,000 Democratic delegates across the nation quickly became a formality.

• Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi gave Harris, a fellow Californian, a boost last evening when she led her state's nearly 500 delegates to unanimously endorse Harris.

🎨 The big picture: More than 333 million people live in America. But one man controls the Republican Party. And a few dozen top Democrats urgently redirected its nomination process.

• After Biden's disastrous debate performance on June 27, it took three agonizing weeks for him to bow out.

A few elected Democrats talked about a deliberate nominating process that wouldn't be decided until the party's convention a month from now in Chicago.

• Now, Democrats just need to finish the paperwork — and prepare for the pageantry of Harris' coronation in Chicago, beginning Aug. 19.

🔮 What's next: Harris is heading to the Milwaukee area today for her first rally since Biden stepped aside.

• State-by-state delegate tally ... Share this story.

Democrats' rapid consolidation behind Vice President Harris has set the stage for an election of astonishing contrasts, beginning with age — the very issue that drove President Biden from the race, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.

• Why it matters: Never before has a party's biggest vulnerability been so suddenly neutralized — then weaponized. At age 78, Trump is now the oldest presidential nominee in U.S. history, and the candidate known for mixing up names.

State of play: Beyond the age question, Democrats are salivating at the obvious contrasts between Trump and Harris.

1. Trump is a 78-year-old white male with a white male running mate half his age in Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio). Harris is the first Black, Asian American and woman vice president in U.S. history.
2. Trump is a convicted felon who has been found liable for sexual abuse. Harris prosecuted alleged sexual abusers as district attorney and later served as California's attorney general.
3. Trump has boasted about appointing three justices who helped the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade. Harris has made abortion rights her signature issue.

Keep reading.

Amid the craziest news cycle in recent memory, AI-generated deepfakes have yet to become the huge truth catastrophe that experts warned would be coming, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.

• Why it matters: Media outlets and tech platforms have gotten better at spotting and debunking AI misinformation quickly.

Most falsehoods that go viral during breaking news are still created not through doctored media, but through manipulated context, such as the wrong caption describing when a photo was taken.

• In the wake of the Trump assassination attempt, many mainstream news outlets quickly posted fact checks debunking the validity of a doctored image that appeared to show Secret Service agents smiling while lifting Trump to his feet.

Keep reading ... Get Axios Media Trends.

The Harris campaign — newly rebranded, still based in Wilmington, Delaware — has embraced the potential of memes to break through with a younger, perpetually online demographic, Axios' Ivana Saric writes.

• Why it matters: These might not entirely make sense. But trust us, this is a real trend.

1. 🌴 Coconut tree: One particularly viral clip from 2023 featured Harris telling a story about her mother asking: "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?" before adding: "You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you."

• Countless posts involving coconuts have followed.

2. 🎤 "brat": British pop star Charli XCX — whose new album "brat" is one of the hottest of the summer — posted: "kamala IS brat" just hours after Biden dropped out of the race Sunday.

• The Harris campaign's X account quickly embraced the lime-hued aesthetic of the cover art.

3. 🔵 Venn diagrams: Harris' professed love for the chart is giving social media meme fodder. Her campaign account's first post after changing from "Biden HQ" to "Kamala HQ" was of a Venn diagram.

• Keep reading.

President Biden pledged to spend his remaining six months in office trying to end the Israel-Hamas war and bringing home the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, Axios' Barak Ravid and Andrew Solender write.

• "We are on the verge of getting that," he said.

Why it matters: Biden, who called into Vice President Harris' first meeting with her campaign staff yesterday, will meet later this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss efforts to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.

👓 Between the lines: Weeks of political upheaval punctuated by Biden's explosive decision not to seek re-election have placed Netanyahu's address to Congress tomorrow far back in many Democrats' minds.

• Some lawmakers believe this dynamic has reduced the potency of the speech as a way for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to expose and inflame Democrats' divisions on Israel.

Scoop: The U.S., Israel and the UAE held a secret meeting in Abu Dhabi to discuss plans for Gaza after the war ends, two Israeli officials told Barak.

These "Behind the Curtain" columns by Mike and Jim took you inside (and ahead of) the action over the epic three weeks since the June 27 debate:

1. June 29: "Biden oligarchy will decide fate."
2. June 30: "What scares Democrats most."
3. July 1: "Biden's salvation plan."
4. July 2: "Trump's imperial presidency in waiting."
5. July 3: "Democratic rage at Biden rises."
6. July 4: "Kamala Harris' epic edge."
7. July 5: "Trump's Kamala Harris plan."
8. July 6: "Biden's credibility crisis."
9. July 7: "Unbendable Biden vs. breaking-point Dems."
10. July 8: "Trump's dream regime."
11. July 9: "Dems who could decide Biden fate."
12. July 10: "Trump's new 2024 plan."
13. July 11: "Mad media vs. beat-up Biden."
14. July 12: "Committee to Unelect the President."
15. July 13: "The boys vs. girls election."
16. July 14: "America plays with fire."
17. July 15: "'Getting shot in the face changes a man.'"
18. July 16: "Why J.D."
19. July 18: "Top Dems now believe Biden will exit."
20. July 22: "The chaos campaign."

Axios' Ina Fried — taking a short break from Axios AI+ — sends us this postcard from Paris, where she's spending the next couple of weeks covering the Olympics:

As Paris gets ready for the games, French President Emanuel Macron welcomed journalists to the Élysée Palace — the presidential residence.

• He joked that the opening ceremonies — which will take place on the River Seine, not in a stadium — started out as a "crazy and not very serious idea."
• "But we decided that it was the right moment to deliver ... and make it real." How it will work.

A baguette in the shape of the Olympic rings is displayed at the presidential palace. Ina tells me that sadly nobody got a bite, including her.

• Keep reading.

When the Olympics take place in the "fashion capital of the world," expect the uniforms to be fit for a runway, Axios' Kelly Tyko writes.

• Why it matters: The world will be watching the summer games in Paris for sports — and fashion — starting with the opening ceremony on Friday.

Ralph Lauren is providing Team USA's outfit for the fifth-straight Summer Games.

• Athletes will wear navy wool blazers for the opening ceremony and moto-style white denim jackets for the closing, all made in American factories.

The Canadian team will wear Lululemon uniforms and Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean is dressing Haiti's athletes, AP reports.

• Italian athletes will wear Emporio Armani uniforms.
• South Korean athletes will wear North Face-branded uniforms.

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