‘She leaned into it when she ran for office,’ Vivek Ramaswamy criticises Kamala Harris for using her Indian identity

Indian-origin Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy has said that many Indian Americans in the US are offended as US Vice President Kamala Harris has "cast aside" her Indian identity.

Ramaswamy said that Kamala Harris relied on her Indian American identity when she ran for elections in California and uses a different identity when it is politically convenient on a national stage, according to a report by ANI.

"On a very personal level, my parents were immigrants to this country, legal immigrants from southern India, the very same part of India that her mother also immigrated from, the report quoted Vivek Ramaswamy while he was speaking to Fox News.

"I think it's a hard fact, it's just a fact whether you like it or not, that many Indian Americans in the United States are indeed somewhat offended by the way Kamala has suddenly cast aside the Indian American side of her identity," he said.

According to Ramaswamy, Harris relied on her Indian identity for the huge Asian American and Indian American population.

"She leaned into it when she ran for office in California, big Asian American and Indian American population. So, she wore that when it was convenient. She's wearing a different identity now when it's politically convenient on a national stage," he said.

Ramaswamy thinks that Harris' candidature lacks vision for the US.

"But if you ask me, that shouldn't be how this election is decided one way or another. It should be decided on our own identity as Americans and what our vision is for the future of the country. And the number one thing missing in Kamala Harris's candidacy is that she lacks that vision for the country. That's what we've got to focus on," he said.

Kamala Harris's ethnic identity is becoming an important issue in the US presidential election campaign. It came under further scrutiny after former US President Donald Trump launched a personal attack on his rival in the upcoming presidential polls, Vice President Kamala Harris, by claiming that she, after being of "Indian heritage" for years, "turned black" a few years ago, CNN reported.

He further claimed that Harris "all of a sudden, made a turn" in her identity and wants to be known as black.

Trump made the comments at a gathering of journalists in Chicago when an interviewer asked him why black voters should consider backing a candidate with his history of racist attacks on political rivals. He responded by questioning Harris' heritage.

"She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black. So I don't know, is she Indian or is she black?" CNN quoted him as saying.

Kamala Harris is of Indian origin. Her mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican; both immigrated to the United States. She is the first woman of colour and the first Asian American vice president. If Harris wins the upcoming polls, she will become the first woman president of the country.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has hit back at Donald Trump over his remarks against her and said the American people "deserve better."

She asserted that today the country faces a choice between two different visions, and alleged that Trump and his campaign aim to take the country “backward.”

"In this moment, we face a choice, between two very different visions for our nation. One focused on the future, the other focused on the past. And we in this room, are fighting for the future," Harris said while speaking at a Houston fundraiser.

"As we work to move our nation forward...there are those who are trying to take us backward. You might have seen their agenda, they call it Project 2025 and it is a 900-page agenda of extremism," Harris added.

(With inputs from ANI)