Vice President Kamala Harris said she intends to “earn and win” the Democratic nomination for president following President Joe Biden‘s decision to exit the race.
“With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else,” Harris wrote in a statement issued shortly after Biden withdrew.
“My intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she added.
Biden endorsed Harris to be the party’s presidential nominee minutes after he announced he was stepping down from the race. “I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” the president wrote.
In her statement, Harris praised Biden for his leadership, mentioning she got to know him through the president’s son, Beau Biden, who died in 2015 of brain cancer. “The qualities Beau revered in his father are the same qualities, the same values, I have seen every single day in Joe’s leadership as President: His honesty and integrity. His big heart and commitment to his faith and his family. And his love of country and the American people,” she wrote.
In the hours after Biden’s announcement, prominent Democrats came forward to endorse Harris, including Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as Sens. Patty Murray, Tim Kaine and Elizabeth Warren.
“We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her,” the Clintons wrote in a joint statement.
“We must beat Donald Trump — and I know Kamala Harris can win. I am behind Vice President Harris one-hundred percent — she is exactly the woman we need to prosecute the case against Donald Trump, save American democracy, lead the fight to restore abortion rights, and build an economy that puts working people — not billionaires — first,” wrote Murray, who serves as the president pro tempore of the Senate.
Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s 2016 vice presidential running mate, wrote, “I’m looking forward to working with my friend @KamalaHarris and a great ticket mate to keep Virginia blue so that we can continue to build on our progress.”
“We have many talented people in our party, but Vice President Harris is the person who was chosen by the voters to succeed Joe Biden if needed,” Warren said in a statement. “She can unite our party, take on Donald Trump, and win in November.”
The Democratic National Committee said it intends to “undertake a transparent and orderly process” to select a nominee.
“In the coming days, the Party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November,” the DNC said in a statement. “This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the Party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people.”
Notably, former President Barack Obama did not endorse Harris. Rather, he backs a “process” to choose the nominee. “We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead,” Obama said in a statement. “But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
On average in recent polls, Harris is just two points behind Trump nationally. That’s one point ahead of Biden, who trailed Trump by three points nationally. According to a recent poll by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, six out of 10 Democrats said they think Harris would do a good job as the Democratic nominee.
From Rolling Stone US
