The California Senator is the first mixed race woman to be selected as a running mate for a major party candidate.
Former President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Joe Biden “nailed it” by choosing Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Obama took to social media to praise Biden’s pick, noting that choosing a vice president is “the first important decision a president makes.”
“When you’re in the Oval Office, weighing the toughest issues, and the choice you make will affect the lives and livelihoods of the entire country — you need someone with you who’s got the judgment and the character to make the right call,” Obama said in the Instagram statement.
Read More: Trump takes aim at Kamala Harris, calls her ‘nasty’ after VP announcement
“By choosing Kamala Harris as America’s next vice president he’s underscored his own judgement and character. Reality shows us that these attributes are not optional in a president,” he added. “They’re requirements of the job. And now Joe has an ideal partner to help him tackle the very real challenges America faces right now and in the years ahead.”
Obama, who served two terms in the White House with Biden as his vice president, said Harris “is more than prepared for the job.”
Harris is the first mixed race woman to be selected as a running mate for a major party candidate.
As theGrio previously reported, in March, the presumptive Democratic nominee pledged to pick a woman as his running mate during a one-on-one presidential debate with Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow,” Biden said at the time.
He added, “I would pick a woman to be my vice president.”
Read More: Joe Biden announces Kamala Harris as VP pick
Obama said that Harris has “spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake.”
As the daughter of immigrants, he described her life story as “one that I and so many others can see ourselves in.”
Harris’ mother Shyamala Gopalan, was a cancer researcher from India, and her father, Donald Harris, an economist from Jamaica. They migrated to the U.S. in the early 60’s and met at UC Berkeley while pursuing graduate degrees. They divorced when Harris was 7-years-old.
“[It’s] a story that says that no matter where you come from, what you look like, how you worship, or who you love, there’s a place for you here,” Obama said. “It’s a fundamentally American perspective, one that’s led us out of the hardest times before. And it’s a perspective we can all rally behind right now.”
“This is a good day for our country,” Obama concluded. “Now let’s go win this thing.”
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