Who is Kamala Harris? VP, former lawyer and Biden's favoured successor

Transcript

00:00After weeks of speculation, Joe Biden has officially stepped down from the presidential race

00:05and he's come out saying he backs Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place.

00:09The VP has responded saying she's honoured to have the president's endorsement and her

00:12intention is to earn and win this nomination. So who is Kamala Harris? The vice president,

00:18former lawyer and favoured Biden's successor. Born and raised in California to a Jamaican father

00:23and Indian mother, the now 59-year-old graduated from law school and began working as a deputy

00:28district attorney. In 2004, she became the first female district attorney for San Francisco and

00:33eventually was elected as Attorney General of California. Harris made her way into government

00:38in 2016 when she won the US Senate race. She ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in the

00:432020 election but had to pull out due to lack of funding. Joe Biden then selected her as his

00:48running mate in August 2021. This made her the first black female or person of South Asian descent

00:53to serve as a running mate for the two major parties and only the third female running mate

00:57for the two major parties in American history. Since Biden has stepped down, Harris has been

01:02endorsed by many members of her party as well as major celebrities to take his place on the ticket.

01:07She has remained loyal to Biden throughout his campaign and previously had not entertained

01:11questions about a presidential bid, merely saying she was ready if necessary.