Joe Biden and Kamala Harris put LGBT+ rights front and centre in first public appearance since becoming running mates
Kamala Harris and Joe Biden were all smiles at the first public appearance together as running mates (Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post/Getty)
Joe Biden proudly praised Kamala Harris and her record on LGBT+ rights in their first public appearance together since he announced his running mate.
The Democratic presidential and vice-presidential nominees reaffirmed their support for the LGBT+ community as they gave a livestreamed speech in Delaware on Wednesday – their first day campaigning together.
Biden praised Harris’s considerable experience, including her record as attorney general of California, noting that she was a “pioneer in marriage equality” in the state.
“Kamala, you’ve been an honorary Biden for quite some time,” he said as he introduced her, mentioning her friendship with his son Beau.
“Kamala, as you all know, is smart, she’s tough, she’s experienced, she’s a proven fighter for the backbone of this country, the middle class, for all those who are struggling to get into the middle class,” Biden continued.
“Kamala knows how to govern; she knows how to make the hard calls. She’s ready to do this job on day one.”
In her speech Kamala Harris delivered a shout-out to all the essential workers who are keeping the nation going during the pandemic, as well as the activists who are fighting for civil rights: “The LGBT+ Americans who know that love is love” and those “who are saying that yes, Black lives matter”.
“To everyone keeping up this fight, you are doing something, you are doing something great,” she added.
Kamala Harris also took aim at Donald Trump and his handling of the pandemic, drawing direct comparisons between the two American lives lost to Ebola during Joe Biden and Barack Obama’s administration and the hundreds of thousands lost to coronavirus under Trump.
“[Trump] inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground,” she said.
“This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn’t up for the job. Our country ends in tatters and so does our reputation around the world.”
Watch the full speech below.
