By Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Veronica Rocha, Fernando Alfonso III and Mike Hayes, CNN
Former Vice President Joe Biden said he asked Kamala Harris to always tell him the truth and "to be the last voice in the room."
Here's what Biden said:
"When I agreed to serve as President Obama's running mate, he asked me a number of questions most important, he said to me, he asked me what I wanted most ... I told him I wanted to be the last person in the room before he made important decisions. That's what I asked Kamala. I asked Kamala to be the last voice in the room."
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris both walked out together for their first campaign event wearing masks.
As Biden spoke during the event in Delaware, the senator from California sat in a chair at a distance.
Their spouses are also wearing masks and reporters in the room appear to be sitting apart from each other.
As the US continues to struggle through the coronavirus pandemic, former Vice President Joe Biden offered words of solace for the more than 5 million Americans who have contracted the disease.
"The Joe Biden and Kamala Harris administration will have a comprehensive plan to meet the challenge of Covid-19 and turn the corner on this pandemic, masking, clear science-based guidance, dramatically scaling up testing, getting states and local governments the resources they need to open the schools and businesses safely. We can do this," Biden said at a campaign event, the first with him and Sen. Kamala Harris, his pick for vice president.
Biden said the country needs "a president and a vice president willing to lead and take responsibility."
Former Vice President Joe Biden said during his opening remarks that his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris' story is "America's story."
He said she is "a child of immigrants" who "knows personally how immigrant families enrich our country as well as the challenges of what it means to grow up Black and Indian-American in the United States of America."
He continued: "And this morning, all across the nation, little girls woke up, especially little Black and brown girls that feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities, but today — today just maybe they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way as president and vice presidents."
Former Vice President Joe Biden used his opening remarks at a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware, to praise Sen. Kamala Harris who he called "the right person" for the role of vice president.
Biden called this upcoming presidential election a "serious moment for our nation."
"I had a great choice but I have no doubt that I picked the right person to join me as the next vice president of the United States of America and that's senator Kamala Harris," Biden said. "Kamala, as you all know, is smart, she's tough, she's experienced, she's a proven fighter for the backbone of this country. The middle class. For all those who are struggling to get into the middle class. Kamala knows how to govern, she knows how to make the hard calls. She's ready to do this job on day one."
Wat
h:
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, walked out together today for their first campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware.
Joe Biden's wife, Jill Biden, and Kamala Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, shared their excitement moments before today's campaign event.
Harris' husband tweeted a photo of Biden and Harris at tonight's venue.
Jill Biden shared a photo of herself with Harris' husband both wearing masks.
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and running mate California Sen. Kamala Harris will soon speak together at Dupont High School in Wilmington, Delaware, at their first campaign event. Their speech is expected to begin at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Inside the venue, the press can be seen sitting socially distant.
From CNN's Eric Bradner
Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, are set to make their first appearance together soon in Delaware.
The speech comes the day after Biden chose Harris after a months-long vice presidential vetting process, making her the first Black woman and first person of Indian descent to be tapped for a major political party's ticket.
Their spouses, Jill Biden and Doug Emhoff, will also attend the speech in Wilmington, Jill Biden spokesperson Michael LaRosa said.
After the speech, Biden and Harris are set to appear together at an online fundraiser for "grassroots" small-dollar donors.
In a tweet that could preview their message, Biden tweeted Wednesday morning that if he and Harris win, "we're going to inherit multiple crises, a nation divided, and a world in disarray. We won't have a minute to waste."
"That's exactly why I picked her: She's ready to lead on day one," he tweeted.
An unconventional campaign: Whether and how the two can hit the campaign trail, together or separately, remains to be seen.
Next week's Democratic National Convention would ordinarily kick off a frenetic two-and-a-half month sprint to the Nov. 3 election, but the coronavirus pandemic has effectively sidelined Biden from campaigning.
He spent July delivering weekly speeches detailing planks of his economic agenda.
The last time Biden held a campaign rally — March 9 in Detroit, on the eve of the Michigan primary — Harris appeared with him on stage, as the 77-year-old former vice president called himself a "bridge" to a new generation of Democratic leaders.
