1 of 4 | Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff buy a shirt that reads, "Madam Vice President" on it at the Downtown Holiday Market on small business Saturday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, her husband Doug Emhoff and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser visited an outdoor market in the nation's capital to participate in Small Business Saturday.
The trio toured the newly opened D.C. Holiday Market, a socially distant, outdoor market in downtown Washington, D.C. where they spent about 25 minutes visiting booths and browsing goods.
"Had a wonderful time getting some Small Business Saturday Shopping done with @DouglasEmhoff this morning at the outdoor @dtwnholidaymkt. Thank you @MurielBowser, and everyone who supported small businesses not just in our communities but all over the country today," Harris wrote on Twitter.
Harris and Emhoff purchased puzzles from the New York Puzzle Company and a print of different types of cheeses from Marcella Kriebel Art and Illustration, according to pool reports.
Harris also laughed after finding a T-shirt at the Pop-Up Collaborative: Made in D.C. booth that read "Madam Vice President" and Emhoff purchased the shirt for her.
The vice president-elect also briefly answered questions stressing the importance of patronizing small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We want to support our small businesses they are always really an essential part of the lifeblood of the community, part of the civic social fabric of the community. And sadly since COVID started, one in four small businesses in our country has closed," Harris said. "We know that we're going to get beyond this virus and we want to make sure that we sustain these small businesses to help them through this moment, so they can continue to do what they do, which is really about being not only business leaders, but they are civic leaders."
Harris also spoke about how she and President-elect Joe Biden are preparing for the transition of power by "focusing on experts" as they are set to receive their first classified intelligence briefings on Monday.
"We've been meeting with everyone from labor leaders to the heads of Fortune 500 companies," she said.