Joe Biden Selects Kamala Harris As His Running Mate For 2020 Presidential Election
Joe Biden has selected Sen. Kamala Harris as his pick running mate in the 2020 presidential election. The presumptive Democratic nominee announced his selection Tuesday afternoon via Twitter, calling it a “great honor” to reveal her as his selection for vice president.
“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,” he added.
Harris, a senator from California, would be the first woman in history to serve as vice president if the Democratic Party is successful in winning the election in November.
Only twice in U.S. history has a candidate from a major party selected a woman as his running mate: in 1984, Democratic nominee Walter Mondale selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, and in 2008, Republican nominee John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his. Neither man won in their bids for the White House.
The former vice president had said months ago that he would be selecting a woman as his running mate. At the time, Harris’ was among the names reportedly being discussed, along with Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, and Gretchen Whitmer, among others.
By late spring, as the George Floyd protests were raging, pressure began mounting for Biden to select a woman of color as his running mate, as NPR News reported. Harris fits that bill: her mother is South Asian, and her father is Black.
Indeed, issues of race had affected Kamala when she was a young child. As she famously said during a June 2019 Democratic presidential debate, Harris famously took Biden to task after he said that he maintained a “civil” relationship with segregationist senators, including those who opposed integrating public schools through busing.
“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day. That little girl was me,” Harris said.
There was a little girl in California who was bussed to school. That little girl was me. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/XKm2xP1MDH
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 28, 2019
In fact, Biden was reportedly “stung” by the comments, which he regarded as a personal attack. And, as The Inquisitr later reported, rumors began to circulate that there was bad blood between the two politicians, and that Biden’s team was keen for the former vice president not to hitch his wagon to Harris.
Now that the pick is official, however, Democrats are coming out in praise of the decision.
For example, Susan Rice, whose name was once being discussed as a possible pick, called Harris “a tenacious and trailblazing leader who will make a great partner on the campaign trail.”
