Foreign Desk Report
NEW YORK: US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has picked Senator Kamala Devi Harris, the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, as his running mate for the November election, a historic decision that elevates the first Black woman to run for vice president at a moment when this country is grappling with its racial past and future.
“I have the great honour to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants as my running mate,” Biden tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.
Sen Kamala Harris, who early on was a Biden opponent for the nomination, will join the former vice president in delivering remarks Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware, as they kick off their joint campaign. The New York Times reported Tuesday that that an event was being set up at Hotel DuPont’s famous ballroom. Senator Harris wrote in a tweet shortly after the announcement that Biden “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,” she tweeted. “I’m honoured to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.” Amid nationwide protests for racial justice and a reform of policing, Ms. Harris served five years as attorney general in California and as a prosecutor in San Francisco.
In the Senate, Ms. Harris bolstered her reputation as a shrewd debater and questioner of administration officials such as Attorney General William Barr. But during a June 2019 Democratic debate, when Ms. Harris was still running for the nomination, she challenged Biden over his remarks about working with segregationist senators.
Harris described herself as part of the second class to integrate her school as a child after mandatory school busing, which forced Biden to apologize for his earlier comments.
Ms. Harris ended her own presidential bid in December 2019. Biden said “of course” he would consider Harris as a running mate.
