The ethnic identity of US Vice President Kamala Harris has become a focal point in the US presidential election campaign. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump makes racist remarks And Indian-origin Republican Vivek Ramaswami criticised him for making selective use of his Indian roots.
“Many Indian-Americans in the US are actually somewhat upset that Kamala has suddenly abandoned the Indian-American side of her identity,” Ramaswami said in an interview with Fox News.
Harris, a Democrat, launched her presidential campaign last month the us president Joe Biden has withdrawn his name from the White House race.She has long identified herself as both Black and Asian. She is the first Black and Asian-American person to serve as vice president.
Harris, a potential Democratic presidential nominee, is an Indian-American politician whose mother is Indian and father is Jamaican.
There is a small village in Thulasenthirapuram, Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is known as the ancestral home of the US Vice President Kamala Harris’s maternal grandparents.
Kamala Harris now has a different identity: Ramaswami
“My parents were immigrants to this country, legal immigrants from South India, the same part of India where his mother also immigrated from,” Vivek Ramaswamy said in an interview with Fox News.
Ramaswami also reminded that Kamala Harris had emphasised her Indian-American heritage when she first contested as a senator from California, but now she seems to be adopting “a different identity” on the national stage for political convenience.
He further said Harris’s focus on identity politics invites criticism.
“I don’t think we should rely on these ethnic identities at all. We’re Americans. And the problem is, when you’re Kamala Harris and you really get into your identity politics, you open the door for that type of criticism,” he said.
He also said that Harris’s candidacy lacks a clear vision for America.
“But if you ask me, this election should not be decided one way or the other. It should be decided on our own identity as Americans and our vision for the future of the country. And the biggest flaw in Kamala Harris’ candidacy is that she has no vision for the country. That’s what we have to focus on,” Ramaswami said.
The debate intensified when former President Donald Trump accused Harris of changing her racial identity for political gain, claiming she “turned black” a few years ago despite having long been of Indian descent.
If Harris wins the upcoming presidential election, which is going to be held on November 5, she will make history as the first female president of the United States.