Sen. Kamala Harris made her first pitch to become the country’s next vice president, taking a dig at critics who called her ambitious and President Trump.
“I am incredibly honored by this responsibility, and I’m ready to get to work. I’m ready to get to work,” the California Democrat said Wednesday. “This is a moment of real consequence for America. Everything we care about: our economy, our health, the kind of country we live in — it’s all on the line.”
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She added, “I’m so proud to stand with you, and I do so mindful of all the heroic and ambitious women before me.”
The senator echoed Joe Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, and evoked the memory of his late son Beau Biden. Harris and the younger Biden served as attorneys general at the same time, she for California and he for Delaware.
Wednesday’s event, hosted by Alexis I. duPont High School in Wilmington, Delaware, marks Harris’s inaugural appearance as Biden’s running mate, a historic pick as the first minority woman to feature on a major party’s presidential ticket. After a monthslong search, she was revealed as the two-term vice president and 36-year Delaware senator’s No. 2 on Tuesday and will feature alongside him at a grassroots digital fundraiser Wednesday night.
Biden, wearing blue and white like Harris, reflected on the seriousness of the selection process, thanking the 10 other women who were considered. He mentioned, too, Trump “whining” that Harris was “nasty” this week for her grilling of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“I have no doubt that I picked the right person to join me as the next vice president of the United States of America,” he said, touting their fundraising numbers over the past two days.
Biden continued, “Kamala is smart, she’s tough, she’s experienced, she’s a proven fighter for the backbone of this country: the middle class. She knows how to govern, she knows how to make the hard calls. She’s ready to do the work on day one.”
He underscored her accomplishments during her six years as California’s attorney general before she was elected to represent the nation’s largest state in the U.S. Senate in 2016. He highlighted her immigrant background and how she’s already inspired girls of color.
“Her story is America’s story,” Biden said. “Different from mine in many particulars but also not so different in many of the essentials.”
Former second lady Jill Biden and entertainment lawyer Douglas Emhoff accompanied their spouses in the gym.
“Folks. Here we go!” Emhoff tweeted before taking the stage.
Folks. Here we go! @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris pic.twitter.com/gwSyumPXQo
— Douglas Emhoff (@douglasemhoff) August 12, 2020
Like the tail end of the primary campaigns, the rally was hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Only a few supporters and reporters were invited to attend. Ironically, the pair were last on the trail in Michigan in March before that state’s contests and the outbreak’s peak. There, Harris endorsed Biden. At that gathering, Biden referred to himself as a “bridge” to future Democratic leaders, alluding to Harris, among others.
“The days of Donald Trump’s divisiveness are soon going to be over,” he said at the time.
Wednesday’s event fell on the third anniversary of Charlottesville’s deadly unrest as well. Three years ago, Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a white supremacist drove his car through a crowd of counterprotesters in central Virginia. Biden repeated how Trump’s response to the tragedy was his main reason for seeking the White House.
Over 200 fans gathered outside the school’s gym to greet the duo, including women wearing Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s colors of green and pink. Harris was a member of the group when she was an undergraduate student at Howard University in the 1980s. One backer held a handmade sign saying, “Representation matters Kamala.”
