Watch the Exact Moment Joe Biden Asked Kamala Harris to Be His Running Mate
Joe Biden has officially chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate for the 2020 election, and it’s rightfully all anyone can talk about.
After declaring his intention to choose a woman for vice president all the way back in March, the Democratic presidential candidate finally announced his pick on August 11, tweeting, “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.”
Now, after allowing the news to sink in for one day (not to mention giving Maya Rudolf plenty of time to prepare for her inevitable guest spots on the next season of SNL), Biden has shared the exact moment he asked Harris to join him on the ticket.
“@KamalaHarris is the daughter of proud immigrants—a mother from India and a father from Jamaica—who raised her to take action,” he tweeted on August 12. “That’s exactly what this moment calls for: action. And we hope you’ll take action with us.”
In the video attached, a briefly masked Biden hops on a video conference call with the U.S. Senator. “You ready to go to work?” Biden asks right away.
After a pause, seemingly as the weight of his words sink in, Harris responds. “Oh, my God. I am so ready to go to work,” she says before Biden asks for her official answer. “The answer is absolutely yes, Joe,” she replies. “I am ready to go to work. I am ready to do this with you, for you. I’m just deeply honored and I’m very excited.”
Cut between their personal conversation, the video also includes a poignant speech from Harris, which you can read in full below.
“I was raised to take action. My mother knew she was raising two Black daughters who would be treated differently because of the way they looked. Growing up, whenever I got upset about something, my mother would look me in the eye and ask: ‘So what are you going to do about it?’
“That's why when I saw a broken justice system, I became a lawyer to try to fix it. It’s why during the foreclosure crisis, I took on the big banks as California’s attorney General. It’s why as United States Senator, I have fought to represent people like my mother. People who politicians often overlook or don’t take seriously.
“Right now America needs action. In the middle of a pandemic, the president is trying to rip away health care. While small businesses close, he’s given breaks to his wealthy donors. And when the people cried out for support, he tear-gassed them. America is in crisis, and I know Joe Biden will lead us out of it. He’s a man of faith, decency, and character. He raised his family that way. I saw it firsthand with my good friend, Beau. As Joe says, we’re in a battle for a soul of this nation, but together it’s a battle we can win. We just have to take action.”
Originally Appeared on Glamour
