Tag: Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris sworn in as vice president

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In a historic inauguration, Kamala Harris was sworn in on Wednesday as the vice president of the United States.

Why it matters: Harris is the first woman, Black American and Indian American to serve as vice president in U.S. history. In addition to serving as Biden’s No. 2, she will act as a critical tie-breaking vote in the 50-50 Senate.

Details: Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina Supreme Court justice, administered the oath of office to Harris using a bible once belonging to Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court justice. Continue reading.

Pence Finally Concedes Biden Victory In Call To Harris

More than two months after President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, nine days after a deadly attack by supporters of Donald Trump on the U.S. Capitol that claimed five lives, and two days after Trump became the first White House occupant in history to be impeached twice, Vice President Mike Pence finally called Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her win.

The New York Times noted that Pence was “filling a leadership role all but abdicated by President Trump” when he called Harris Friday morning.

On Thursday, Pence, seemingly acting as de facto president, tweeted that he would oversee a peaceful inauguration and transition of power: “The American people can be confident that we’re going to ensure that we’ll have a safe Inauguration in a matter consistent with our history & traditions. We have confidence our Law Enforcement will protect our Capitol and the Great people of this Nation next week.” Trump has still not publicly acknowledged he lost the election on Nov. 3. Continue reading.

Mitch McConnell congratulates Joe Biden, Kamala Harris for election win

WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recognized former Vice President Joe Biden as the president-elect for the first time Tuesday, one day after the Democratic ticket sealed an Electoral College victory. 

“The Electoral College has spoken,” McConnell said during a speech on the Senate floor in which he also praised President Donald Trump’s accomplishments. McConnell said he wanted to “congratulate President-elect Joe Biden” and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

“The President-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He has devoted himself to public service for many years,” McConnell said of Biden. 

Time’s Person of the Year is Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, a ticket that ‘represents something historic’

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Nearly every president elected since the 1930s has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year, often just weeks after they won a race for the White House.

On Thursday evening, the publication announced that President-elect Joe Biden continues the trend — with a twist. He is the first to receive the title alongside his running-mate, Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris.

“The Biden-Harris ticket represents something historic,” the magazine’s editor in chief, Edward Felsenthal, said in a video announcing the pick. “Person of the Year is not just about the year that was but about where we’re headed.” Continue reading.

The Memo: Harris moves signal broad role as VP

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Vice President-elect Kamala Harris garnered her own share of the news spotlight Thursday, announcing senior members of her White House team, including Tina Flournoy — currently a key aide to former President Clinton — as her chief of staff.

Harris’s first joint interview with President-elect Joe Biden since winning the election is also scheduled to be broadcast prime-time Thursday on CNN.

The contours of the role Harris will carve out for herself are still becoming clear. Continue reading.

Trump declines to say whether he has confidence in Barr; Harris names chief of staff

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President Trump declined Thursday to say whether he retains confidence in Attorney General William P. Barr, who this week undercut the president by saying he had not seen any evidence of fraud on a scale that would alter the election results.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to take up a challenge to the presidential election filed by Trump’s campaign, a new blow to his floundering efforts to overturn the election.

Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris named Tina Flournoy as her chief of staff and selected other key aides Thursday as the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden forged ahead with its transition to power. View the post here.

Biden says it’s a good thing his ‘colleague’ Kamala Harris is still on the Senate Intelligence Committee

But warns ‘more people may die’ if Trump administration doesn’t coordinate on vaccine

President-elect Joe Biden said Monday that perhaps it was less of a concern that he was not getting top secret intelligence as part of the stalled presidential transition because his vice president-elect is still on the Intelligence Committee.

“The good news here is my colleague is still on the Intelligence Committee, so she gets the intelligence briefings I don’t any more,” Biden said in Wilmington, Del., after a meeting with business executives and labor leaders focused on the economy and the COVID-19 pandemic response. “I am hopeful that the president will be mildly more enlightened before we get to January 20.”

Biden’s penchant for Senate-speak aside, his remarks point to the curious reality of the moment: Vice president-elect Kamala Harris may know more about emerging threats to America than the next commander-in-chief. Continue reading.

George W. Bush Congratulates Biden And Harris, Calls Election ‘Fundamentally Fair’

The 43rd president called Joe Biden a “good man” and offered him “prayers for his success.”

Former President George W. Bush on Sunday congratulated President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory and said Americans can have confidence that the election was “fundamentally fair.”

Bush, a two-term Republican president, called Biden a “good man” despite their “political differences.”

“I just talked to the President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden,” Bush said in a statement. “I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night. I also called Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her historic election to the vice presidency.” Continue reading.

Kamala Harris, daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, elected nation’s first female vice president

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A vice president-elect stepped forward on Saturday, and, for the first time in American history, she was not a man.

Kamala Devi Harris, a daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, is set to become the highest-ranking woman in the nation’s 244-year existence, as well as a high-profile representation of the country’s increasingly diverse composition.

Harris’s victory comes 55 years after the Voting Rights Act abolished laws that disenfranchised Black Americans, 36 years after the first woman ran on a presidential ticket and four years after Democrats were devastated by the defeat of Hillary Clinton, the only woman to win the presidential nomination of a major party. Continue reading.

DFL Party Statement on the Election of Joe Biden to be the 46th President of the United States

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Yesterday, DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement on the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to be the next President and Vice President of the United States of America:

“This is a great day for the United States of America. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris ran a campaign appealing to the best in America and our nation responded by casting more ballots for Biden and Harris than any other presidential ticket in history. When all is said and done, this will be one of the most decisive wins – both in popular vote and in the electoral college – for any presidential ticket. When given the choice, voters opted for hope over fear, unity over division, and love over hate.

“Now that this long presidential election is over, it is time for our nation to come together as one people to address the common challenges we face. I look forward to the work that President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will do to bring an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, build an economy that puts working people first, and tackle systemic injustice. 

“Today’s victory belongs not just to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, but to the American people. I eagerly await the day Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in and moral leadership is restored to the White House. After four long years, America’s allies abroad will have a president they can trust, our children at home will have a role model in the Oval Office, and Americans will have a President of the United States who unifies this country around our shared promise and dreams for the future. Our better days are truly ahead.”