Washington: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made a maiden public appearance with his running mate Kamala Harris on Wednesday during which the Indian-American shredded Donald Trump’s White House record, saying that the president is not “up to the job.”
Biden, a 77-year-old white man, on Tuesday named 55-year-old Harris as his vice-presidential running mate, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party’s presidential ticket.
Jointly appearing in Wilmington, Delaware, to make their election case for the first time as running mates, Biden said his pick for the party’s vice presidential nominee is “smart, tough and a proven fighter for the country’s middle class”.
“She knows how to make the hard calls. She’s ready to do this job on day one. And we’re both ready to get to work rebuilding this nation and building a better,” he said.
The event was not open to the public due to coronavirus prevention needs. Both Biden and Harris walked on stage wearing masks to address a socially distanced group of masked journalists.
Harris said that once elected, the Biden administration will create millions of jobs, fight climate change and build an affordable care act among various other strong initiatives for the welfare of Americans.
Hitting hard on the three and half years of the Trump administration during her first appearance after being picked as the vice presidential nominee of the Democratic party on Tuesday, Harris presented a long list of missteps taken by the Trump government.
“This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn’t up for the job,” Harris said. “Our country ends in tatters and so does our reputation around the world.”
Harris said the case against President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence is “open and shut” as she mentioned a lot of sectors where the current administration has created a complete mess.
“Just look where they’ve gotten us. More than 16 million out of work, millions of kids who cannot go back to school, a crisis of poverty, of homelessness afflicting black, brown, and indigenous people the most, a crisis of hunger afflicting one in five mothers, who have children that are hungry, and tragically, more than 165,000 lives that have been cut short, many with loved ones who never got the chance to say goodbye,” she said.
“It didn’t have to be this way. Six years ago, in fact, we had a different health crisis. It was called Ebola. And we all remember that pandemic. But you know what happened then? Barack Obama and Joe Biden did their job. Only two people in the United States died, two,” Harris said.
That is what’s called leadership, she told the audience.
“But compare that to the moment we find ourselves in now. When other countries are following the science, Trump pushed miracle cures he saw on Fox News. While other countries were flattening the curve, he said the virus would just, poof, go away like a miracle,” she alleged.
She said it was due to the fault of the Trump administration that the US had to shut down various of its regions again while other countries were opening up.
Harris alleged that it is because of Trump’s failure to take it seriously from the start.
“His refusal to get testing up and running, his flip-flopping on social distancing and wearing masks, his delusional belief that he knows better than the experts. All of that is the reason that an American dies of COVID-19 every 80 seconds,” she said.
“It’s why countless businesses have had to shut their doors for good. It’s why there is complete chaos over when and how to reopen our schools… Trump is also the reason millions of Americans are now unemployed. He inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden,” she said.
“This election isn’t just about defeating Donald Trump or Mike Pence. It’s about building this country back better, and that’s exactly what Joe and I will do,” she said.
“As Biden-Harris Administration, we will create millions of jobs and fight climate change through a clean energy revolution, bring back critical supply chains so the future is made in America, build on the Affordable Care Act so everyone has the peace of mind that comes with health insurance, and finally offer caregivers the dignity, the respect, and the pay they deserve,” she said.
“We’ll protect a woman’s right to make her own decisions about her own body, root out systemic racism in our justice system, and pass a new Voting Rights Act, a John Lewis Voting Rights Act, that will ensure every voice is heard and every voice is counted,” Harris added.
She said the Biden-Harris administration will ensure equality for the people of America.
“The civil rights struggle is nothing new to Joe. It’s why he got into public service. It’s why he helped reauthorise the Voting Rights Act and restore unemployment discrimination–and employment discrimination laws. “And today, he takes his place in the ongoing story of America’s march toward equality and justice as only–as the only, as the only who has served alongside the first black president and has chosen the first black woman as his running mate,” Harris said.
Meanwhile, Biden raised USD 26 million for his presidential campaign in the 24 hours that followed his announcement on picking Harris to be his running mate.

Press Trust of India