Senator Kamala Harris uses MLK Day to announce US presidential run
- Harris made history in 2016 as the first black woman elected to the US Senate from California
- She timed her announcement for the US Martin Luther King Jnr Day holiday honouring the slain civil rights leader
Senator Kamala Harris announced Monday that she is seeking to become the first African American woman to hold the office of US president, joining an already-crowded field of Democrats lining up to take on Donald Trump.
“The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values. That’s why I’m running for president of the United States,” the senator from California said in a video posted on Twitter.
Harris joins Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and former housing secretary Julian Castro, among others, either in the race or exploring a run for the 2020 Democratic nomination.
Nearly 22 months before the 2020 election, the battle for the White House is already firming up, as Americans begin to assess who might be the opposition party nominee to challenge Trump for control of the White House.
Harris made the announcement on the national holiday honouring civil rights movement icon Martin Luther King Jnr, whom she said her mother met.
“I’m honoured to be able to make my announcement on the day that we commemorate him,” Harris told ABC’s Good Morning America.