Trump has left US 'in tatters'

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris have attacked "whining" President Donald Trump as an incompetent leader who has left the US "in tatters." The pair held their first campaign event together, a day after Biden unveiled Harris as his number two. President Trump hit back, saying Harris had "dropped like a rock" in her own presidential bid. Biden will face Trump, a Republican, in November's election. Wednesday's event at a school in Wilmington, Delaware, was not open to the public, with Biden, 77, citing coronavirus prevention needs. Both candidates walked on stage wearing masks to address a group of masked journalists. Biden noted that harris, a US senator from California, was the first woman of colour to serve as a presidential running mate for a major US party. Biden said: "The choice we make this November is going to decide the future of America for a very, very long time." He continued: "Donald Trump has already started his attacks, calling Kamala, quote, nasty, whining about how she is, quote, mean to his appointees. "It's not a surprise because whining is what Donald Trump does best, better than any president in American history. He also attacked Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, the unemployment rate and "his politics of racist rhetoric that appeals to division." Coming to the podium next, Harris said: "I am ready to get to work." The 55-year-old former prosecutor told reporters: "Everything we care about, our economy, our health, our children, the kind of country we live in, it's all on the line." Harris - the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica - continued: "America is crying out for leadership, yet we have a president who cares more about himself than the people who elected him. Biden will formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination at next week's convention, which will largely be a virtual event because of the pandemic. Meanwhile Trump will be nominated for a second four- year term in the White House by his fellow Republicans at their party convention a week later. - BBC.