Kamala Harris endorses Biden for US president, eyeing VP role

Former 2020 presidential candidate, Senator Kamala Harris, is endorsing her one-time rival, Joe Biden, for president of the United States. She expressed this in a video posted on Twitter on March 8.

“I believe in Joe. I really believe in him and I have known him for a long time. One of those things that we need right now, is we need a leader who really does care about the people. And could therefore unify the people. And I believe Joe can do that,” said Harris.

Her endorsement of Biden is said to be a notable one, as Harris has previously criticized Biden on various issues during presidential debates.

Previous clashes

Harris, who is the senator of California, did not see eye to eye with Biden when it came to issues such as school busing, integration and race during the campaign trail.

“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me,” Harris said in reply to Biden in June. Harris said that she was hurt during the debate, as she recollected her experience in the busing initiative for school desegregation in the1970s.

Her remark came after Biden described his pleasant working relationship with segregationist senators, namely James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman E. Talmadge of Georgia, who were opposed to busing. Biden then said he was not opposed to busing as a whole and that he had only opposed busing ordered by the US Department of Education.

Biden also referred to himself as a public defender and not a prosecutor, hinting at Harris’s long record as prosecutor. Harris served as San Francisco’s district attorney and later California’s attorney general from 2004 – 2015. Harris reportedly did not hold police and prosecutors accountable for alleged misconduct during her tenure as prosecutor.

Eyeing vice presidency

After the endorsement announcement was made, many are speculating that Harris has made the move in the hope to be picked as Biden’s running mate. Biden had previously pledged about nominating a black female vice president and named Harris as the perfect pick.

Harris reportedly ended her presidential run due to financial reasons, unable to raise advertising funds needed for the Iowa caucus. Reports also revealed that there was an alleged ongoing internal conflict in her campaign team, which contributed to her dropout.

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