Reactions to Harris Pick: Praise and an Advertising Slam

Here are some of the early reactions to onetime Vice President Joe Biden's selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate in the coming presidential race:

Biden

Biden, presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, picked Senator Harris of California as his running mate in part because she “is ready to lead” and “understands the pain that so many people in our nation are suffering.”

Biden says in an email to supporters that Harris can be the partner to help him deliver on his promises to make sustainable changes to the country, which he characterizes as damaged by President Donald Trump.

Referencing his time as vice president to Barack Obama, Biden says his pick of Harris reflects a “governing decision” rather than a political one, noting that they would inherit “a nation divided, and a world in disarray.”

Biden says he and Harris would be holding a fundraiser Wednesday “so she can get a chance to talk to some of the grassroots supporters who have powered this campaign.”

Duckworth

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth says she has “never been more confident” that Joe Biden is the leader the country needs after he announced Kamala Harris as his running mate.

Duckworth was among the women the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee considered as his vice presidential nominee. She said on Twitter she will work hard to elect Biden and Harris, a California senator and former state attorney general.

“I’m all in for the Biden-Harris ticket and hope you will join me in helping ensure that he and Kamala are able to defeat Donald Trump and restore the soul of America this November,” Duckworth says.

Obama

Former President Barack Obama is hailing his former vice president’s running mate selection, saying, “Joe Biden nailed this decision.”

“By choosing Senator Kamala Harris as America’s next vice president, he’s underscored his own judgment and character,” Obama adds.

Obama calls Harris an ”ideal partner to help him tackle the very real challenges America faces right now and in the years ahead.”

Gore

Climate activist Al Gore is praising Joe Biden’s choice of running mate as a victory for those who care about combating the climate crisis.

Gore said in a tweet that Kamala Harris “has made climate and environmental justice a top priority” in her political career, and he said she’d be a “strong advocate in the White House.”

Gore is a former vice president and 2000 Democratic presidential nominee who once served as a Tennessee senator alongside Biden. Gore already has endorsed Biden and has since worked with him on his climate plans.

Biden stops short of embracing some of the progressives' most aggressive timelines for eliminating carbon pollution from the U.S. economy, but Gore has praised Biden’s climate agenda as ambitious and necessary. And Gore says proposals to overhaul the energy grid and retrofit existing infrastructure and buildings will create millions of new jobs.

Trump

President Donald Trump’s campaign is blasting Joe Biden’s vice presidential pick, calling Sen. Kamala Harris “phony.”

In a statement, Trump adviser Katrina Pierson says Harris “will abandon her own morals, as well as try to bury her record as a prosecutor, in order to appease the anti-police extremists controlling the Democrat Party.”

Pierson says Harris has “gleefully embraced the left’s radical manifesto, calling for trillions of dollars in new taxes and backing Bernie Sanders’ government takeover of healthcare.”

Pierson calls Harris “proof that Joe Biden is an empty shell being filled with the extreme agenda of the radicals on the left.”

For weeks, Trump’s campaign promised an aggressive response against whomever was selected by Biden as his running mate.

Says Pierson, “At the ballot box, Americans will resoundingly reject the abysmal failures of Biden-Harris in favor of the America First strength of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.”