Biden, Harris vow to fight for ‘soul of the nation.’
Running mates project unity, bash Trump record
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden made his first joint appearance Wednesday with running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, highlighting their shared values and her legislative history.
Biden began by saying the campaign set a single-day record for online fundraising after he announced Harris as his running mate. “I think I know why,” he said, turning around to look at her.
Biden said Harris was a tough legislator who fought big banks and energy companies as attorney general. As the child of immigrants from Jamaica and India, she is an inspiration to young girls of color, Biden said.
“Today just maybe they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way as the stuff of vice president and president,” Biden said in his speech.
“This is a moment of real consequence for America,” Harris said. She argued the case against President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, saying mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic left an American dying every 80 seconds, 16 million people out of work and millions of children unable to return to school.
“The case against Donald Trump and Mike Pence is open and shut,” Harris said. “Just look where they’ve gotten us.”
Harris said her parents met while marching for justice in Oakland, where they would take her along on protests strapped in her baby stroller. “I devoted my life to making real the words carved into the United State Supreme Court: Equal justice under law,” Harris said.
Biden repeated the message from when he declared his candidacy with video footage of white nationalists protesting in Charlottesville, Virginia. He recalled his father telling him, “Silence is complicity.” At that moment, hearing Trump say that there were “very fine people” on both sides of the protest, Biden decided to run to unseat him.
“I knew we were in a battle for the soul of the nation,” Biden said. “I’m proud to have Sen. Harris at my side in that battle.”
As Biden spoke, Harris sat off to the side, looking at him and nodding in agreement.
“I wish we were able to talk to the folks outside, but we’re keeping our social distancing and playing by the rules,” Biden said.
The former campaign rivals took the stage shortly before 5 p.m. EDT at a high school near Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware. The pair spoke for about a combined half-hour and took no questions. They were joined by their spouses after completing their statements and then left the gym.
Biden said 16 million people remain out of work because of the economic collapse stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. But he said Trump hasn’t met with congressional leaders to negotiate another stimulus bill, even as he faces leaving office with the worst jobs record in American history.
“Donald Trump is on the golf course,” Biden said. “