Kamala Harris, shown campaigning this week, will be the first female vice president.
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This story is part of Elections 2020, CNET’s coverage of the run-up to voting in November.
With news that Joe Biden has won the race for US president, his running mate, Kamala Harris, made history. The vice president-elect will become the first woman ever elected to the position, as well as the first Black and first Asian American. One of the earliest to congratulate Harris was someone who knows VP duties well, at least on television: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who played Vice President (eventually President) Selina Meyer on HBO’s popular comedy Veep, which ended in 2019.
“‘Madam Vice President’ is no longer a fictional character,” Louis-Dreyfus tweeted.
Louis-Dreyfus was far from alone in her congratulations. The historic election had plenty of people on social media — from politicians to entertainers to everyday voters — responding with excitement.
“Y’all hear that?” wrote one Twitter user, alongside footage of Harris dancing exuberantly. “That’s the glass ceiling cracking.”
Dancing was a frequent topic of the Harris memes, with some referencing Louis-Dreyfus’ own infamous awkward dancing as Elaine on the hit sitcom Seinfeld.
By the way Julia, you need to release an Elaine dance clip to celebrate this momentous occasion, please 💙💙 pic.twitter.com/IdpdraMlkp
— 🇪🇸Sir Charles Dee 🇺🇸🧢 (@SirCharliedee) November 7, 2020
Other women inspired
One popular image, created by artist Bria Goeller and shirt company Good Trubble, showed Harris — the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father — striding, briefcase in hand, with the shadow of Ruby Bridges cast on a wall next to her. Ruby Bridges was, of course, the first African American child to desegregate her all-white grade school in Louisiana.
Many women celebrated Harris’ election as a historic first they were unsure would happen in their lifetimes. Wrote one, “I am crying with joy. As a 61-year-old woman, I was afraid I would never see this day. This means a lot!” Wrote another, “What a great day for my daughters and all the daughters of this country.”
I am crying with joy. As a 61-year-old woman, I was afraid I would never see this day. This means a lot!
— Julie Hanson Swanson (@JulesVerne1981) November 7, 2020
My daughter is dancing around the house singing “Kamala’s my BFF!” over and over.
I don’t think it’s possible to overstate how big this moment is for young girls everywhere.Thank you and congratulations @KamalaHarris!
— Barry Schapiro, MD, FAAOS (@bschapiroMD) November 7, 2020
Not personally a fan, but I’m glad she’ll pave the way to normalize women in high offices, women in power.
— CaptainMo 🇺🇸🇲🇽 (@mohearts2run) November 7, 2020
Husband Douglas Emhoff is celebrated too
And some also celebrated the first-ever second gentleman, Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff.
First Jewish second gentleman. We have broken the stained glass ceiling
— Steven Perlberg (@perlberg) November 7, 2020
First Second Gentleman in American history. We’re proud of you!
— 😷 (@moebym) November 7, 2020
Emhoff tweeted a photo of himself hugging his wife, and wrote, “So proud of you.”
‘We did it, Joe’
Video of Harris on the phone with Biden also quickly went viral.
“We did it, Joe,” Harris says in the video. “You’re going to be the next president of the United States.”