Democrat Joe Biden and new running mate Kamala Harris make their first appearance together on Wednesday, eagerly awaited after the historic choice to place the black senator in contention to become the first female vice president of the United States if they defeat Donald Trump in November .
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“If Kamala Harris and I are elected, we will inherit multiple crises, a divided nation and a failed world,” the White House candidate tweeted Wednesday.
“That’s exactly what I chose her for: she’s ready to lead from day one” (of the presidency).
After months of a Biden campaign that played out largely on the internet because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the two will give their first speech together in Wilmington, Delaware where he lives, around 3:50 p.m. (local time). ).
Then they will participate in a fundraiser at the end of the day.
“America is in crisis and I know Joe Biden will get us out of it,” the 55-year-old California senator said in a campaign video.
The new team leaves with an advantage: Joe Biden, 77, ahead of Donald Trump, 74, by a comfortable margin in the average of national polls (+6.9 percentage points according to the average of the site RealClearPolitics) but also in several key states, which conduct elections by switching from one party to another in the United States.
Donald Trump’s attacks on Kamala Harris were not long in coming Tuesday: “The meanest, the most horrible, the most contemptuous of the entire US Senate.” And the Trump team continued to attack “Kamala the imposture” Wednesday, despite a notable silence from the stormy billionaire, yet little stingy with tweets.
“This choice shows that Biden and the Democratic Party have been stormed by the radical left,” said Vice President Mike Pence, who will face Kamala Harris in a debate in the fall.
“Given their promises of higher taxes, open borders, socialist-style health and abortion on demand, it’s no surprise he picked Senator Harris, she’s being lax on crime and refuses to put America first, ”he wrote.
Elected twice as attorney in San Francisco (2004-2011) then twice as attorney general of California (2011-2017), Kamala Harris is on the contrary criticized by some progressives for having taken too hard positions at that time.
She was the first woman, but also the first black person, to head the judiciary in the country’s most populous state. In January 2017, she was sworn in to the Senate in Washington, registering as the first woman to hail from South Asia and only the second black senator in American history.
“Raised to act”
“Hello, hello, hello, hello, sorry to have made you wait”: it is in a dynamic voice that Kamala Harris received Tuesday the videoconference call from Joe Biden, filmed by his campaign team.
” It does not matter. Ready to work? Joe Biden replied, telling him that he had chosen her to accompany him at the polls against the Republican president on November 3.
“Oh, my God, I am absolutely ready to work,” responds, after a brief silence, this Jamaican and Indian immigrant daughter.
“I was raised to take action. My mother knew she was raising two black girls who would be treated differently because of their appearance, ”said the senator on the video tweeted by the two Democrats.
While he had promised in March to choose a woman for his running mate, Joe Biden faced increased pressure to choose a black candidate since the death of George Floyd at the end of May.
Especially since the former vice-president owes his nomination in part to black voters who offered him a resounding victory in South Carolina during the primary.
Still, the candidate and his running mate experienced tense moments during the primary, when the latter had attacked him on his past positions in the face of segregation.
But the fact that he had chosen her in spite of this clash was hailed Wednesday among the Democrats, who saw it as a good sign on his ability to lead by also smoothing out disagreements.
By choosing her, said Barack Obama, “he demonstrated his good sense of judgment and his character”.