From rival to running mate: what ‘fearless fighter’ Kamala Harris brings to Joe Biden’s ticket
- Kamala Harris would become America’s first female and first black vice-president if Joe Biden is elected
- Harris, who at 55 is two decades Biden’s junior, could appeal to younger voters, women and black communities
As a US senator, Kamala Harris cemented her reputation as a tough questioner, her clashes with Attorney General Bill Barr and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh the stuff of Democratic legend.
Now progressives and moderates alike are hoping the senator from California brings that same fire to the Democratic ticket – and an eventual debate with Mike Pence.
Harris provides Biden several key attributes that could help him win the White House in November: political experience as a national candidate and holder of statewide office in the most populous state; a prosecutorial background to debate her rivals, and ability to generate enthusiasm as the first black and Asian-American woman on a major-party ticket.
“Today is a spark of hope and a watershed moment for black women and women of colour,” said Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, a group that urged Biden to choose a woman of colour as his running mate. “This is one step of a much larger fight for representation towards the multiracial democracy women of colour have dreamed of, fought for, and bled for, for generations.”
But Harris will also face a full-court press of negative framing from her Republican rivals. It started almost immediately after her name was announced Tuesday as Biden’s Democratic running mate, with President Donald Trump posting a video on Twitter calling Harris a “phoney” and highlighting her previous clash with the former vice-president.
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Who is Kamala Harris? Joe Biden’s vice-president pick