Biden fundraiser with Harris raises $3.5 million

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign raised $3.5 million in a fundraiser co-hosted with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a top contender to be the former vice president’s running mate this November. 

The hefty haul was fueled by contributions from 1,400 donors Tuesday, a boost for a presidential candidate who is precluded from holding in-person events due to the coronavirus.

Tuesday’s fundraiser marked the second-largest take so far this cycle for Biden, who raised $4 million at one event earlier this month.

The virtual fundraisers represent some of the few opportunities Biden has to appear with potential vice presidential picks in front of an audience.

Biden’s ultimate choice for a running mate was not discussed during the fundraiser, according a pool report of the event, though Harris is known to be undergoing vetting for the role.

“He is someone who whether one on one or speaking to the nation always has a sense of how people are experiencing this world, and what their needs are,”,” Harris, a former presidential contender herself, said of Biden.

Biden has already vowed to pick a woman as his No. 2 and said he hopes to unveil his running mate by Aug. 1, though pressure has risen for him to pick a black woman in light of protests sweeping the country against police brutality and systemic racism.

Harris, the second black woman ever elected to the Senate, has been a high-profile advocate for police reform since the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis. However, her past work as a prosecutor has irked some of the progressive activists Biden is currently courting.

“Our nation is reeling in anguish and anger over the brutal killing of George Floyd or the systemic racism that still infects every part of our society — as Kamala knows better than anybody. At the same time, we’re facing the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression,” Biden said.

Hauls like the one garnered Tuesday will be critical for Biden heading into the general election against President Trump, whose campaign has amassed a behemoth war chest that dwarfs the former vice president’s.