Kamala Harris has been selected as Joe Biden’s running mate.
Democratic US presidential hopeful Joe Biden has selected US Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. She is the first black woman to serve in the role.
Harris, 55, was once in the running for the to be the Democratic candidate, but dropped out in December. She is a former attorney-general in California, and has advocated for police reform and joined anti-racism protests. Biden announced her position on Tuesday.
Biden faces President Donald Trump at the US elections on 3 November. Trump’s running mate is still the incumbent Mike Pence.
Harris’ selection comes as little surprise. With the United States in the midst of a reckoning over its history of racial injustice, Biden had increasingly been pressed to select a woman of colour. Harris, who became the Senate’s second black woman in its history when she was elected in 2016, was always at the top of the list.
But Harris did anything but keep a low profile while Biden was making up his mind. Instead, she emerged as a fierce advocate for police reform and social justice – in the Senate, in the streets, and on the airwaves, sparring with Republicans on the Senate floor and offering fiery critiques of Trump.
