Joe Biden welcomed Kamala Harris as family to his campaign as they appeared togethr for the first time as running mates Wednesday afternoon in Wilmington, Delaware.
‘I have no doubt that I picked the right person to join me as the next vice president of the United States,’ Biden said. ‘She’s smart, she’s tough, she’s experienced, she’s a proven fighter for the backbone of this country, the middle class and all those who are struggling to get into the middle class.’
He said that Harris and her family were now ‘honorary Bidens,’ and welcomed her husband Douglas Emhoff to the campaign trail, saying he would be making history, too, as ‘America’s first second gentleman.’
The joint appearance came about 24 hours after Biden’s campaign tweeted to supporters that his pick would be Harris, a former 2020 rival and California senator, who was friends with his late son Beau.
When Harris took the lectern she spoke at length about her friendship with Beau and how she came to know Joe Biden.
‘Ever since I received Joe’s call I’ve been thinking, yes, about the first Biden that I really came to know and that, of course, is Joe’s beloved son, one of his beloved son’s, Beau,’ Harris said. ‘He really was the best of us.’
‘And Joe and I, yes we are cut from the same cloth,’ she said of her new running mate, who was seated in the chair behind her. ‘My family means everything to me.’
‘And I’ve had a lot of titles over my career, and certainly vice president will be great, but “Mamala” will always be the one that means the most,’ Harris added.
Joe Biden (left) welcomed his wife Jill Biden (center left) and Kamala Harris’ (center right) husband Douglas Emhoff to take the stage at the end of the candidates’ remarks, but the two couples kept their social distance due to the coronavirus pandemic
Both Biden and Harris hammered President Trump.
‘You all knew it was coming, you could have set your watches to it, Donald Trump has already started his attacks calling Kamala “nasty,” whining about how she’s “mean” to his appointees,’ Biden said. ‘It’s no surprise because whining is what Donald Trump does best, better than any other president in American history.’
‘Is anyone surprised that Donald Trump has a problem with a strong woman or strong women across the board?’ Biden added.
Biden knocked Trump for golfing instead of meeting with Congressional leadership to come up with a deal to bring the country more coronavirus relief.
‘He doesn’t have time it appears,’ Biden said of Trump.
He gave him grief for comments he made about Charlottesville, pointing out that ugly incident happened three years ago to the day.
‘Remember what it felt like to see those neo-Nazis?’ Biden scoffed, after long saying he decided to run for president in 2020 after seeing Trump’s reaction.
Biden also blasted Trump for the ‘coddling of terrorists and thugs around the world.’
Harris blasted Trump for ‘running the economy into the ground.’ And mishandling the coronavirus pandemic. ‘It didn’t have to be this way,’ she noted.
‘We don’t have to accept the failed government of Donald Trump and Mike Pence,’ Harris said, noting that the election was just 83 days away.
The event took place at a high school on the outskirts of Biden’s adopted hometown of Wilmington, Delaware and only a small group of reporters were allowed in, with supporters, instead, gathering outside due to COVID-19 concerns.
Biden said he regretted not being able to greet the group as he entered the high school. He and Harris entered the auditorium wearing masks.
As he left, he told reporters that in-person campaigning would ‘depend on the science.’
He had invited Jill Biden and Emhoff to join them at the front of the gynasium, but the two couples tried to stay six feet apart, again showing they took the coronavirus seriously.
The pick marked the first time a black woman has ever appeared on a presidential ticket.
‘This morning all across the nation, little girls woke up – especially little black and brown girls – who so often feel overlooked and undervalues in their communities, but today, today just maybe they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way: as the stuff of presidents and vice presidents,’ Biden said in Wilmington.
Harris will also be the third woman to ever be nominated as vice president.
Biden promised at the March Democratic debate that he would choose a female vice president.
‘Over the past several weeks, I’ve had the incredible privilege of meeting and spending a good deal of time with a group of talented women leaders, all of them qualified to be president,’ Biden said.
He thanked all the female Democrats his campaign vetted.
After attacking Biden for his record on racial relations during the Democrats’ first primary debate, in June 2019, she announced her support of the ex-veep on March 8, 2020 and appeared alongside him in Michigan the next day.
It marked one of the last in-person campaign events Biden attended before moving his campaign almost completely into his Delaware basement to ride out the coronavirus crisis.
Harris had dropped her own bid for the White House in December 2019 citing fundraising issues.
Fundraising jumped through the roof on the heels of the announcement with ActBlue, the main donation platform for the Democratic Party, reporting that $10.8 million in donations came through between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday.
The Biden campaign has yet to release an official tally but in Wilmington the former vice president boasted, ‘We had our best grassroots fundraising day of the campaign – more than double our previous record.’
‘And in doing so we set a single day record for online political fundraising, and I think I know why,’ he said, glancing at the running mate who was seated behind him.
On Wednesday, the Biden campaign rolled out its first full-length ad introducing Harris as the vice presidential nominee.
The opening and closing of the spot included footage of Biden making the ask.
‘You ready to go to work?’ asks the Califiornia senator.
‘Oh my God. I am so ready to go to work,’ Harris said, the brief sound of surprise in her voice.
Harris was spotted in an SUV with her husband Douglas Emhoff Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C., leaving their home.
Besides their joint appearance at the Delaware high school, Biden and Harris are scheduled to address supporters on a fundraising Zoom tonight.
Later this week, Harris is slated to speak at an event marking the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, on the same day as the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle.
The Democratic National Convention kicks off Monday but has been converted into a virtual format when the party deemed it was too dangerous to have the party’s stars travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the planned host city.
Harris will address the convention Wednesday night and formally accept the party’s nomination.
Biden will speak Thursday night.