Harris and Biden appear together for first time
and excoriate 'failure' Trump
Democratic pair say president has left America ‘in
tatters’
Biden introduces Harris as ‘the next vice-president of
the US’
Lauren
Gambino in Wilmington and agencies
@laurenegambino
Wed 12 Aug
2020 23.34 BSTFirst published on Wed 12 Aug 2020 21.30 BST
Joe Biden
and Kamala Harris accused Donald Trump of leaving the US “in tatters” by
failing to lead the country through the coronavirus pandemic and its economic
fallout, as they debuted the Democratic presidential ticket the party hopes
will defeat him in November’s election.
In their
first joint campaign event at a high school in Biden’s home town of Wilmington,
Delaware, on Wednesday, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and his
running mate vowed to lead the nation through three major national crises: the
pandemic, the struggling economy and a reckoning with systemic racism.
“My fellow
Americans, let me introduce to you for the first time your next vice-president
of the United States – Kamala Harris,” Biden said, in front of just a small
gathering of reporters. The usual cheers from supporters were missing due to
coronavirus precautions, which meant members of the public could not attend.
Biden
highlighted her career as a California senator and former prosecutor, and
hailed her – the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants – as the first
Black woman and first person of Asian descent to join a major party
presidential ticket.
“This
morning, all across the nation, little girls woke up, especially little Black
and brown girls, who so often feel overlooked and undervalued. Today, just
maybe, they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way,” Biden said.
“Her story
is America’s story. Different from mine in many particulars, but also not so
different in the essentials.”
The pair
soon began to excoriate the Trump administration. Taking the stage after Biden,
Harris accused Trump of myriad “failures in leadership” on coronavirus and
running a previously successful economy “straight into the ground”.
“I am
incredibly honored by this responsibility – and I am ready to get to work,” she
said, adding that Biden’s “empathy, his compassion, his sense of duty to care
for others … is why I’m so glad to be on this ticket.”
She said:
“America is crying out for leadership. Yet we have a president who cares more
about himself than the people who elected him. A president who is making every
challenge we face more difficult to solve.”
Pointing to
the crises that have gripped the country, Harris said: “This is what happens
when we elect a guy who just isn’t up for the job. Our country ends in tatters
and so does our reputation around the world.”
I am incredibly
honored by this responsibility – and I am ready to get to work
Kamala Harris
In another
election year, Biden and Harris might have appeared before a roaring crowd in a
diverse battleground state like Arizona or Georgia, raising their clasped hands
skyward in a projection of victory. But the event on Wednesday, like nearly
every aspect of the 2020 race, has been upended by the pandemic.
Despite a
thunderstorm, dozens of supporters arrived at the high school hoping to glimpse
the new presidential ticket. Most lived in Delaware and were longtime
supporters of the Bidens. Two women sat in lawn chairs holding a sign that said
“Delaware loves Biden-Harris”. Some wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts while
others wore the signature green and pink of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority,
which Harris joined as a college student at Howard University in Washington DC.
Dina
Griffin, who wore a pink dress with a matching blazer and a pin that said
“VOTE”, said she had hoped Biden would choose Harris but seeing an image of
them together for the first time after the announcement brought “tears of joy”.
“A lot of
people have lost hope and are feeling upset and depressed about the way this
country has gone in the last few years,” said Griffin. “So this moment is just
a renewed spark and hope that we can come together to heal our divisions.”
Like Clark
Benjamin, a retired educator and Delaware resident, most who turned out on
Wednesday had already voted for Biden many times over as senator and then as
the vice-president – and planned to do so again in 2020. Though Biden already
had her vote, Benjamin said choosing Harris added energy and dynamism to the
Democratic ticket.
“It’s
historic,” she said, explaining why she chose to spend her afternoon outside in
the summer humidity. “That’s why I had to be here.”
But the
choice, some said, also revealed something new about the candidate.
“It showed
that he was listening to the people who are speaking up around the world and
asking for equity, justice and fairness,” said Debbie Harrington, another
member of the AKA sorority, referring to the nationwide anti-racism protests
sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.
“His pick
said: I hear you. And not only did I hear you, I understand you and I’m going
to do something about it.”
In response
to the wave of protests this spring against racism and police brutality, Harris
emerged as a prominent voice on issues of racial justice. Her advocacy in favor
of criminal justice legislation has eased some concerns among progressives over
her record.
They
delivered the speech on the third anniversary of white supremacist violence in
Charlottesville, Virginia, an event that Biden said was, for him, a “call to
action”.
If they
prevail in November, Biden and Harris are likely to inherit a country still
reeling from the pandemic that the Trump administration has failed to contain.
Young protesters are demanding sweeping change to political and economic power
as well as a governing agenda that addresses systemic racism, the climate
crisis and economic inequality.
The
president’s campaign has launched a scattershot assault on Harris, attacking
her as “radical” and leftwing, even though progressives in her party view her
as more moderate. On Wednesday, Trump said he just saw a “moment” Biden and
Harris’s speeches, but attacked Harris personally, casting her previous criticism
of the former vice president as “insulting” and “horrible”.
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