By Charlene Aaron
Just one week before the Democratic National Convention, former Vice President Joe Biden tapped Kamala Harris to join him in his fight to defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential election.
Biden’s choice of Harris is historic. She is the first black female and the first Indian American on a presidential ticket.
Biden made the long-awaited announcement Tuesday via a Zoom call with Harris. He later tweeted, “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.”
Harris responded in a tweet saying, “I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-In-Chief.”
Democrats applauded the move. Former President Obama said in a statement, “Joe Biden nailed this decision.”
President Trump expressed surprise that Biden chose Harris. “She was very, very nasty to – one of the reasons it surprised me, she was very – she was probably nastier than even Pocahontas to Joe Biden. She was very disrespectful to Joe Biden,” the President said in a press conference Tuesday.
He also tweeted a political ad calling Biden “Slow Joe” and Harris a radical left “Phony.”
In a 2019 Democratic primary debate, Harris attacked Biden for his record on busing.
“It’s personal and I was actually – it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country,” argued Harris. “And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. And you know there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day, and that little girl was me.”
Biden eventually put Harris’ criticism behind him. The Associated Press recently caught a photo of his notes in which he wrote of Harris, “Do not hold grudges.”
Where Does Harris Stand on the Issues?
As far as policies go, Harris supports “Medicare for All”, the “Green New Deal”, and late-term abortion.
As attorney general of California, she fought to restrict religious freedom, filing a brief with the US Supreme Court against Hobby Lobby’s policy against contraception coverage in health insurance on religious grounds.
In the US Senate, she introduced a bill that would weaken religious freedom in the workplace.
And her strong support for police as a prosecutor could be a liability with progressive Democrats.
Harris was also in the news nearly two years ago for her questioning of Supreme Court nominee Bret Kavanaugh, which President Trump called “extraordinarily nasty” on Tuesday.
The Most Liberal US Senator in 2019
On the Left, leading Democrats like House Speaker Pelosi praised Biden’s choice of Harris, while the New York Times called Harris a “pragmatic moderate”.
Ratings services from across the political spectrum have consistently ranked Kamala Harris among the most liberal.
Govtrack rated her the most liberal senator in 2019, Progressive Punch lists her as the fourth most liberal, and the American Conservative Union ranked her as the second most liberal senator in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Democratic ticket will team up for the first time Wednesday, when Harris joins Biden for an event in Delaware.