Joe Biden names Kamala Harris as running mate

Joe Biden has chosen Indian-origin Senator Kamala Devi Harris as his running mate, recognising the crucial role Black voters could play in his determined bid to defeat President Donald Trump in the US presidential election in November. By naming the 55-year-old lawyer and politician from California as his running mate, Biden made history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party's presidential ticket.

Harris, whose father is an African from Jamaica and mother an Indian, is currently the US Senator from California and has been described as a trailblazer by former President Barack Obama.

Biden made the announcement in a text message to his supporters, ending days of suspense about a week ahead of his virtual Democratic National Convention that would formally nominate him as the party's candidate for the November 3 Presidential election, challenging Trump, a Republican.

Biden said Harris will be the best partner for him to finally get the country back on track. He described her as "a fearless fighter for the little guy and one of the country's finest public servants".

He noted how she had worked closely with his late son, Beau, when she was California's Attorney General.

Harris later tweeted that Biden "can unify the American people because he's spent his life fighting for us. And as President, he will build an America that lives up to our ideals.

Biden pledged in March to name a woman on the ticket. He had faced mounting calls to pick a Black woman in recent months as the nation was hit by massive social unrest over police brutality against African Americans, a key voting bloc to the Democratic Party.

Joe Biden is running to restore the soul of the nation and unite the country to move us forward. Joe knows more about the importance of the Vice Presidency than just about anyone, and he is confident that Kamala Harris will be the best partner for him to finally get the country back on track, the Biden campaign said.

If elected she would be the first ever women to be the Vice President of the US and the first ever Indian-American and African Vice President of the country.

Explaining the reasons for selecting Harris as Biden's running mate, the Biden campaign alleged that since Donald Trump became President, he has made everything worse.

Harris is known for many firsts. She has been a County District Attorney; the District Attorney for San Francisco the first woman and first African-American and Indian-origin to be elected to the position.

She was also the first female African-American and Indian-origin to become California's Attorney General. Harris became the first Indian-origin and second African-American woman to join the Senate, winning the California seat vacated by Senator Barbara Boxer, who retired after 24 years.

Harris held the first event of her 2020 presidential campaign in Washington on the landmark campus of Howard University, from which Harris earned an undergraduate degree in 1986.