Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, has picked Senator Kamala Harris as his choice for vice president, making her the first Black woman and the first Asian American to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket in the United States.
The announcement on Tuesday capped a months-long search for a Democratic partner to challenge President Donald Trump in November.
Biden took to Twitter to make the announcement as he called Harris “a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants”.
He tweeted:
Back when Kamala was Attorney General, she worked closely with Beau. I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I’m proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 11, 2020
55-year-old Harris, who ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination against Biden, said she was “honored” to join the ticket and would “do what it takes” to help him win.
Biden could “unify the American people because he’s spent his life fighting for us”, she wrote on Twitter
.@JoeBiden can unify the American people because he’s spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he’ll build an America that lives up to our ideals.
I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 11, 2020
She’s served as a prosecutor for most of her professional life, and then moved on to the Senate where she’s been described as “progressive.”
According to the New York Times, Harris is the daughter of two immigrant parents: an Indian-American mother and a Jamaican father, making her the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to be nominated for national office by a major party in American History.
Before this, Harris was only the second Black woman ever elected to the US Senate.
In choosing Harris, Biden is acknowledging the vital role Black voters will play in his bid to defeat Trump. Four years ago, the first dip in Black voter turnout in 20 years contributed to Democrat Hillary Clinton‘s upset loss to Trump.
