Reporters and media pundits around the country appeared to cheer at the news that former Vice President Joe Biden picked Democratic California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Biden made the announcement Tuesday on Twitter and the duo made their first public appearance as a team Wednesday in Delaware. Following the announcement, some reporters and media pundits appeared to openly praise the decision as the 2020 election heats up.
“For anyone who didn’t watch the @KamalaHarris speech live today (I blame my children as usual). Take 20 minutes. So worth it. It was all the feels,” CNN contributor Jen Psaki tweeted after Harris spoke in Delaware.
Washington Post’s “conservative opinion writer” Jennifer Rubin repeatedly praised the decision to have Harris as Biden’s running mate. In one tweet, Rubin suggested that Harris “should do a press conference every day at the same time as Trump’s and just rip him apart.”
“Trump beaten by Obama’s VP and an African American/Asian American woman of immigrants means the writers room got carried away,” she added in another. “(Oh! And she’s married to a Jewish guy! Stop. Enough. Ya killing me.)”
What you notice following @KamalaHarris on trail is that like @JoeBiden she will get to eye level with kids, embrace grieving mothers, buck up young people, reassure high schoolers afraid of shootings. She is the empathetic bookend to Biden.
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) August 11, 2020
There is tremendous excitement because of who Harris is (bold, exciting, whip smart), the historic nature of the pick AND that she will almost certainly win the job. She will be the highest woman official in US history. @SpeakerPelosi would gladly cede the perch
— Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) August 11, 2020
Jeff Zeleny, CNN’s senior White House correspondent, also gushed over Harris, explaining that her speech was so moving that it was as if she was “saying them from the mountaintop.”
“For senator Harris, it’s an entirely different platform for her,” he said. “It’s as though she was saying them from the mountaintop, as opposed to, you know, just a high school gymnasium there. And I think that the ease in which they work together is very apparent. This is why he picked her.”
“She was chosen to be a governing partner. That is a role she plays incredibly well.”
Video: CNN’s Jeff Zeleny marvels at Kamala Harris’s speech, saying it was full of “optimism” and “possibilities” as if she were “saying them from the mountaintop as opposed to, you know, just a high school gymnasium.” pic.twitter.com/eXJmfJPPiw
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 12, 2020
Nia-Malika Henderson, a senior political reporter for CNN, also praised Harris over her Wednesday speech. She complimented Harris for having “one of the finest performances” she has seen, describing her as “incredibly warm and funny and light.” Harris also has “tremendous range” and has a “complete package,” according to Henderson.
SUPERCUT: CNN really, really, really, really liked Kamala Harris’s “beautiful,” “conversational” “fantastic,” and “warm” speech that sounded like it was delivered “from the mountaintop” pic.twitter.com/yexkQ6H1tx
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 13, 2020
Harris even won over social media activist Shaun King, who noted in 2018 that he was “99% sure” he would not support Biden and Harris. Both, according to King, “helped build & advance mass incarceration.” (RELATED: Kamala Harris Was Tough On Crime, Often Sided With Police Unions As California Prosecutor)
“I am incredibly proud to see a brilliant Black woman, and HBCU grad, chosen as a Vice Presidential nominee,” King tweeted Tuesday.
That’s it for me.
I am incredibly proud to see a brilliant Black woman, and HBCU grad, chosen as a Vice Presidential nominee.
I’ve done political work my whole life. It’s rarely things dreams are made of.
Kamala Harris is the most progressive VP nominee in American history.
— Shaun King (@shaunking) August 11, 2020
Politico’s Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman also couldn’t help expressing their excitement for the Harris pick in Wednesday’s newsletter. The duo praised Harris for being everything Biden “falls short” on, dubbing her “the rare progressive many moderates like.”
“Unlike other ascendent national politicians, Harris is unafraid to mix it up with reporters, eager — OK, maybe just willing — to stop in the Capitol to chat with the vulturous press corps,” the newsletter reads.
I mean… these guys literally have to check their enthusiasm in real time… pic.twitter.com/0mkq3CqaNG
— Christopher Bedford (@CBedfordDC) August 12, 2020
Following the announcement, some in the media pushed the narrative that Harris is not actually a progressive, The Federalist pointed out, despite her voting record indicating otherwise. The New York Times pushed Harris as “a pragmatic moderate” while the Associate Press claimed she sports a “relatively centrist record,” among other examples.