Joe Biden chooses Senator Kamala Harris as running mate
Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden has chosen Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate heading into November's presidential election.
Harris, a California Democrat, was elected to the Senate in 2016 before announcing a presidential run last year. As she struggled to gain traction in public opinion polls, she ended her presidential campaign early in 2020 before the first primary contest in Iowa.
"I have the great honor to announce that I've picked Kamala Harris - a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants - as my running mate," Biden wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
If elected in November, Harris would become the first African American and the first woman to serve as vice president.
Harris has a leftwing voting record in the Senate, ranking among the most liberal members.
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Early in 2020, she co-sponsored a bill seeking to deny the Trump administration funds to take military action against Iran.
The senator has lauded Israel repeatedly in the past, but last year she voted against a bill that encourages states to restrict the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
In June, she released a letter to President Donald Trump voicing opposition to Israel's plans to annex parts of the West Bank.
"The bonds between the United States, California and Israel are unbreakable. Preventing annexation and other unilateral moves by either party is critical to our mutual interest in Israel’s security and long-term prospects for a just and lasting peace," she said.
The senator has spoken out against Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses and voted to end Washington's support for Riyadh's war in Yemen.
"Saudi Arabia must be held accountable for Jamal Khashoggi's murder and for its human rights abuses in Yemen. The last thing we should do is sell them billions in weapons," she wrote on Twitter last year.
Harris had served as California's attorney general before running for the Senate.
The Trump campaign was quick to denounce Biden's VP pick, branding her as a "phony". The campaign cited a heated exchange between Harris and Biden on the Democratic debate stage last year when the senator questioned the former vice president's record on racial equality.
"Not long ago, Kamala Harris called Joe Biden a racist and asked for an apology she never received," the Trump campaign said in a statement. "Clearly, Phony Kamala will abandon her own morals, as well as try to bury her record as a prosecutor, in order to appease the anti-police extremists."
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