Kamala Harris Vice-president gives pro-labour speech to teachers' union in Texas

Kamala Harris sought to bolster her pro-labour credentials yesterday, four days into her run for the US presidency, telling a convention of one of the country's biggest unions: "When unions are strong, America is strong."

- Michael Sainato , Nina Lakhani , Helen Sullivan

Addressing the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) convention in Houston, Texas - her fourth event in four days across four states the vice-president said: "Donald Trump and his extreme allies want to take our nation back to failed trickledown economic policies, back to union-busting, back to tax breaks for billionaires."

The campaign event came as reports emerged that Barack Obama was on the verge of publicly endorsing Harris as the presumptive Democratic nominee, after the pair spoke several times on the phone in recent days, according to NBC News.

The former president has privately expressed his support for Harris's candidacy and plans to endorse her soon, with talks under way about the pair appearing together on the campaign trail, the TV network reported, citing several unnamed people.

"He has been in regular contact with her and thinks she's been off to a great start," one of the sources told NBC.

During her keynote address in Houston, Harris continued her attack on Project 2025, a rightwing think thank's blueprint for a future Trump administration, calling it a "plan to return America to a dark past".