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Kamala Harris's Friendship With Joe Biden's Late Son Beau "Mattered a Lot" in His VP Decision

Kamala Harris's Friendship With Joe Biden's Late Son Beau "Mattered a Lot" in His VP Decision

From Town & Country

Long before Kamala Harris signed on to become Joe Biden's running mate, the Senator from California had a close relationship with the Biden family. She was friends with Joe Biden's older son Beau, having worked with him when they were both serving as attorneys general of their respective states during the 2010s, and they stayed friends until Beau's death from cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.

Here, a look back at their friendship, and how it ultimately impacted Biden's decision to choose Harris as his VP.

Both Harris and Biden served as attorney general at the same time.

Harris was sworn in as the first Black, first Indian, and first woman to serve as California's attorney general in 2011, and she held the position until 2017, when she was sworn in as a U.S. Senator. For his part, Beau Biden was elected attorney general of Delaware in 2006. He was reelected in 2010, but did not seek a third term in 2014.

Photo credit: Mark Wilson - Getty Images
Photo credit: Mark Wilson - Getty Images

At some points, they talked every day.

In her 2019 memoir The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, Harris spoke of her friendship with Beau during the housing crisis, when all 50 state attorneys general participated in national banking investigation. She was feeling pressure to accept a settlement from the banks that she felt was inadequate. “We hadn’t even finished the investigation, so we didn’t know what crimes we might uncover!” she wrote.

Biden had her back. "There were periods, when I was taking heat, when Beau and I talked every day, sometimes multiple times a day," she explained.

“That’s really where the two of them started to bond,” Doug Gansler, Beau's friend and the former attorney general Maryland told The Daily Beast. “She was sort of an instant rock star, as Beau was. They were destined to get together and collaborate.”

They remained friends until Beau's death in 2015.

"Over the weekend, I attended the memorial service for my dear friend Beau Biden. It was a moving tribute to Beau, who cared so deeply for his family, the people of Delaware, and our country," Harris wrote in an Instagram post after his passing. "I feel fortunate to have known Beau as a friend and to have had the opportunity to work closely with him as Attorneys General. My heart and prayers go out to his family, which he loved so passionately." (Beau was survived by his wife and two young children.)

In 2016, not long after Beau's death, Harris referenced her late friend while introducing Biden at the California Democrats Convention.

"Joe has given so much to our country and on top of everything he has accomplished he gave us my dear friend Beau Biden," she said. "In fact it is through my friendship with Beau that I truly came to know Joe Biden, not just as a leader but as a person. So California Democrats I say from my personal experience that the Biden family truly represents our nation's highest ideals—a powerful belief in the nobility of public service."

And in the years following Beau's death, she has, on occasion, continued to memorialize him on social media.

People were surprised Harris was critical of Biden during the Democratic primary debates because of her relationship with Beau.

Harris and Biden are on the same ticket now, but when they were both vying for the top spot, the two politicians sparred during one of the Democratic primary debates. Harris's criticism of Biden came as a surprise to many, including the former Vice President.

“I was prepared for them to come after me, but I wasn’t prepared for the person coming at me the way she came at me,” Biden said. “She knew Beau. She knows me.”

Friends of the Biden family were surprised as well. “I don’t pretend to know what’s in the vice president’s head — I wasn’t surprised that someone came after him,” a close friend of Beau’s told the Washington Post. “But I turned to my wife and said, ‘Beau’s flipping in his grave.’ ”

But clearly they found a way to make up.

Photo credit: Drew Angerer - Getty Images
Photo credit: Drew Angerer - Getty Images

Biden has suggested that Harris's friendship with Beau impacted his VP decision.

He said as much at their first joint campaign event in Delaware this August.

"I came first to know who Kamala was through our son, Beau Biden. They were friends. They served as attorneys general at the same time. They took on the same big fights together, Kamala in California, Beau here in Delaware," Biden said. "Big fights that helped change the entire country. I know how much Beau respected Kamala and her work, and that mattered a lot to me, to be honest with you, as I made this decision."

Biden has referenced his son's relationship with Harris on multiple platforms. In addition to the speech in Delaware, he spoke of their closeness on Twitter immediately after announcing his VP pick.

"Back when Kamala was attorney general, she worked closely with Beau. I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I'm proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign."

He also repeated that language almost word for word in an email to supporters.

Harris paid tribute to Beau during her first appearance on the Biden ticket.

"Ever since I received Joe’s call, I've been thinking about the first Biden I really came to know — Joe’s son, Beau," Harris said during an August speech in Wilmington, her first joint appearance with Biden since he named her his vice presidential pick.

"In the midst of the Great Recession, Beau and I spoke on the phone practically every day, sometimes multiple times a day, working together to win back billions of dollars for homeowners from the biggest banks in the nation that were foreclosing on people’s homes," Harris remembered.

"Let me just tell you about Beau Biden. I learned quickly that Beau was the kind of guy who inspired people to be a better version of themselves. He really was the best of us. And when I would ask him, 'Where did you get that? Where did this come from?' He’d always talk about his dad. I will tell you the love that they shared was incredible to watch. It was the most beautiful display of the love between a father and a son."

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