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After months of speculation, Joe Biden has announced that Kamala Harris is officially his running mate for the 2020 presidential election.
“I have the great honor 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,” he wrote on Twitter. “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.”
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In a statement that Axios ran, Biden explained his choice further, saying:
I need someone working alongside me who is smart, tough, and ready to lead. Kamala is that person. I need someone who understands the pain that so many people in our nation are suffering. Whether they’ve lost their job, their business, a loved one to this virus. This president says he “doesn’t want to be distracted by it”. He doesn’t understand that taking care of the people of this nation—all the people—isn’t a distraction, it’s the job. Kamala understands that.
I need someone who understands that we are in a battle for the soul of this nation. And that if we’re going to get through these crises—we need to come together and unite for a better America. Kamala gets that.
It was previously reported that Biden would announce his vice presidential pick shortly before the 2020 Democratic National Convention, where Biden is presumed to become the official Democratic candidate for president. But long before Biden’s announcement, the former vice president made it clear he would pick a woman to join his ticket, and recently he’s been pressured to specifically pick a woman of color.
Some of the other names that appeared on the shortlist included Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Karen Bass, Rep. Val Demings, and former National Security Advisor Susan Rice.
Harris has already made history in her political career and does so again today. She became the first Black woman to represent California in the U.S. Senate in 2017. She also ran for president during the 2020 election but dropped out in December 2019. Harris is now the first Black woman to be on a major-party presidential ticket in the U.S., and if Biden wins the election, she will become the nation’s first Black female vice president.
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