What do people think of Kamala Harris as Biden’s VP pick? Here’s what initial polls say

The majority of people in initial polls had a favorable view of California Sen. Kamala Harris as Joe Biden’s vice presidential running mate.

In a poll by Politico/Morning Consult released on Wednesday, 53 percent of registered voters, including 86 percent of liberals, 84 percent of Democrats and 48 percent of independents, approved of Harris.

Biden announced Harris as his pick on Tuesday after committing to choose a woman as his running mate.

The Politico/Morning Consult poll also found 49 percent of voters said Biden’s choice wouldn’t affect their vote. His choice was more likely to have a “major impact” for Black Americans at 43 percent.

The poll includes 1,990 registered voters and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.

Two other surveys by Reuters/Ipsos and ABC/Ipsos show a favorable view of Harris.

In the Reuters survey, 60 percent of Americans, including 87 percent of Democrats and 37 percent of Republicans, said it was a “major milestone” that Harris was nominated for vice president.

If elected, Harris would be the first Black woman and Asian American vice president.

Sixty percent of women said they approved of Harris while 53 percent said the same about Biden, according to the Reuters poll. A majority of white women at 52 percent voted for President Trump in 2016 compared to 43 percent who voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to CNN exit polls.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll includes responses from 1,000 adults, including 419 Democrats and 389 Republicans. Its credibility interval is 3 percentage points.

In the ABC survey, 47 percent of registered voters said Harris as Biden’s choice was “excellent or good.”

The ABC/Ipsos poll was conducted Aug. 11-12 with 1,044 adults, including 930 registered voters. The margin of error is 3.3 percentage points.

Harris was district attorney in San Francisco and California’s attorney general, and she was criticized for her marijuana convictions and for having parents of truant students — the majority black — arrested, according to NBC News.

Trump said Harris was his “No. 1 draft pick” during a White House news conference, CNBC reported. He also called her “nasty,” “most horrible,” and the “meanest.”

Trump’s campaign said Harris had a “radical agenda” but also said she was a “phony” for appearing to be a progressive when she’s a moderate, according to the publication.

Harris criticized Trump in her first speech as Biden’s running mate on Wednesday, slamming the president for his response to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic crisis, CNN reported.

“He inherited the longest economic expansion in history from Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And then, like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground,” she said.

“This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn’t up for the job,” Harris added. “Our country ends in tatters and so does our reputation around the world.”