Sen. Kamala Harris weaved her personal story into a broader narrative of why she and Joe Biden should form the country’s next administration over President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
Harris alluded to her relationship with Biden’s late son Beau, whom she knew when she was California attorney general and he was Delaware’s top law enforcement officer, before the California Democrat opened up about her own family during her maiden speech as the presumptive 2020 Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Recommended Stories
“Family is everything to me too. And I cannot wait for America to get to know my husband Doug and our amazing kids, Cole and Ella,” she said Wednesday, referring to her stepchildren.
“Whether I’m cheering in the bleachers at a swim meet, or setting up a college room dorm, or helping my goddaughter prepare for her school debate, or building Legos with my godson, or hugging my two baby nieces, or cooking dinner, Sunday dinner, my family means everything to me,” she added. “I’ve had a lot of titles of my career. And certainly, vice president will be great. But ‘Momala’ will always be the one that means the most.”
During her own 10-month 2020 White House bid, Harris told Elle magazine for a Mother’s Day edition that Doug Emhoff’s children from his first marriage to Kerstin started calling her “Momala” within 18 months of them dating. Harris, 55, married Emhoff, also 55, in 2014.
Harris, during her address, touted Biden and his credentials ahead of their “battle for the soul of the nation” against the incumbents. But she repackaged Biden’s campaign slogan, urging Democrats to organize “a new coalition of conscience” before the Nov. 3 general election.
San Francisco’s former district attorney prosecuted the case against the current administration as well. She slammed their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic fallout, and how Trump “pushed miracle cures he saw on Fox News.”
“The case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut,” she said. “He inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground.”
Biden also criticized Trump and Pence but ended his remarks on a hopeful note.
“One of the reasons I chose Kamala is because we both believe you can define America in one simple word: possibilities,” he said.
Biden, the apparent 2020 Democratic standard-bearer, two-term vice president, and 36-year Delaware senator, announced he picked Harris as his running mate this week after a monthslong search. Their announcement rollout is capped with a Wednesday night “grassroots” fundraiser.
