Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris 1st black women, as his running mate

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has named Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate - the first black woman and Asian American in the role.

welcoming a former rival who sharply criticized him in the Democratic primaries but arose after ending her campaign as a vocal supporter of Mr Biden’s and a prominent advocate of racial-justice legislation after the killing of George Floyd in late May.

The senator from California and former state attorney general had also made a run at the Democratic presidential nomination. It is only the fourth time a woman has been on a major-party presidential ticket, and Harris, the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants.

Only two other women have been major-party vice-presidential nominees, Geraldine Ferraro for the Democrats in 1984 and Sarah Palin for the Republicans in 2008, and neither won.

In a tweet, Harris said she was “honoured” to join Biden on the Democratic ticket and pledged to “do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief”.

Trump told reporters after news of Harris' selection broke that she was "my number one draft pick" as a potential Biden running mate. Trump pointed to her criticism of Biden's past positions on busing to desegregate schools in a June 2019 Democratic debate.

"She was very disrespectful to Joe Biden and it's hard to pick somebody that's that disrespectful," Trump said.