Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Wednesday tapped Senator Kamala Harris of California as his choice for vice president, his campaign told supporters in a text message.
Ms Harris, 55, becomes the first black woman on a major presidential ticket in US history and providing him with a partner well suited to go on the attack against Republican President Donald Trump.
“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaMs Harris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Mr Biden said on Twitter.
Ms Harris responded on Twitter, saying she is honoured to be by Mr Biden's side.
With social unrest over racial injustice and police brutality against Black Americans rocking the country for months, Mr Biden had been under increasing pressure to select a woman of colour as his running mate.
She is also the first Asian-American on a major presidential ticket.
Former Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with Sen. Kamala Harris in July 2019, before the second of two Democratic presidential primary debates. Source: AAP
President Barack Obama tweeting, "Joe Biden nailed this decision ... she's spent her career defending our Constitution and fighting for folks who need a fair shake."
In choosing Ms Harris, a senator from California who made her own run for the White House before ending it and endorsing Mr Biden, he gains a deeply experienced politician already battle-tested by the rigours of the 2020 presidential campaign as they head into the final stretch of the 3 November election.
A move supported by Democrats.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday says he was surprised Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden chose Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate because she had been disrespectful to the former vice president during the debates.
Trump said Harris had been "very, very nasty" to Biden during the primaries.
"One of the reasons that it surprised me, she was probably nastier than even Pocahontas to Joe Biden," he told reporters on Tuesday.
"She was very disrespectful to Joe Biden and it's hard to pick somebody that that's disrespectful."
Mr Trump has said that some men may feel "insulted" by his Democratic rival Joe Biden's commitment to choose a woman as his vice presidential candidate.
"He roped himself into a certain group of people," Mr Trump told Fox Sports Radio in an early morning phone-in interview.
"Some people would say men are insulted by that and some people would say it is fine."
Ms Harris, who became only the Senate’s second Black woman in its history when she was elected in 2016, will be relied on to help drive the African-American vote – the Democratic Party’s most loyal constituency. Four years ago, the first dip in Black voter turnout in 20 years contributed to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s upset loss to Trump.
Mr Biden, whose foundering campaign was rescued by Black voters in South Carolina’s primary in February, needs their strong support against Trump. It will be crucial in battleground states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that Trump won by the slimmest margins in 2016 but where opinion polls now show him trailing his Democratic rival.
The Black vote is also central to Mr Biden’s hopes of winning Southern states Georgia and Florida that Trump carried four years ago but that opinion polls indicate will be competitive this year.
Mr Biden served as vice president for eight years under President Barack Obama, the first Black US president.
Who is Kamala Harris?
Ms Harris, 55, a former prosecutor and state attorney general in California, is well known for her sometimes aggressive questioning style in the Senate, most notably of Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
As a presidential candidate, she also took Mr Biden to task in a nationally televised debate over his past stances on mandatory bussing for students as a means to desegregate schools.
US Senator Kamala Harris addresses supporters during her own presidential campaign in 2019. Source: AAP
Some Biden advisers have told Reuters the attacks made them question whether she would be a trusted working partner because of her political ambitions.
While that exchange failed to boost her White House hopes, the Mr Biden campaign will now look for her to train her prosecutorial fire on Mr Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
Ms Harris is scheduled to debate Pence on 7 October in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The choice of a running mate has added significance for Mr Biden, who will turn 78 in November and be the oldest person to become president if he is elected.
