Democratic senator Kamala Harris has officially launched her 2020 campaign, announcing she will run for president post in the 2020 presidential election against the United States president, the eighth candidate to join the race for the party’s nomination.
According to BBC news reports, Harris told ABC’s Good Morning America, “I love my country,” adding she would now “fight for the best of who we are”.
Harris, the vocal critic of the United States President Donald Trump, was described as a rising star of the party. The senator from California, who was elected in 2016, has previously served as attorney general of the state.
Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Tulsi Gabbard, John Delaney, and Julian Castro are among those who have also announced their intentions to run for president in 2020 election.
In a Twitter post, Harris wrote: “The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values. That’s why I’m running for president of the United States.”
I'm running for president. Let's do this together. Join us: https://t.co/9KwgFlgZHA pic.twitter.com/otf2ez7t1p
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 21, 2019
If securing the nomination, it would make Harris the first Indian-American or African-American woman to be a major nominee for the presidency.
On Monday, at her campaign event at an African American University in Washington, Harris accused Trump of holding American hostages by prolonging US federal shutdown.
"[Pres. Trump] is now holding the American people hostage over a vanity project that he calls a wall, while 800,000 people are trying to figure out how they're going to pay their rent," Harris says."It is completely irresponsible." https://t.co/xyVGrbiFz4 pic.twitter.com/RHzkYjTDDg
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 21, 2019
At her announcement, referring to Martin Luther King Jr Day, Harris said, “The thing about Dr. King that always inspires me is that he was aspirational.”
She added: “So today, the day we celebrate Dr. King, is a very special day for all of us as Americans and I’m honoured to be able to make my announcement on the day we commemorate him.”