Political attacks on Harris reflect bias

Kamala Harris is used to political attacks on her race and gender in the United States.

The 59-year-old, who is both South Asian and black, faced a slew of questions and comments from the right wing in 2019 when she first ran for president.

In the days after she became the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee, attacks on her racial identity and gender have increased.

Harris was born in California; her parents immigrated from India and Jamaica and later became naturalized US citizens. She became the US' first woman vice-president in 2020 and would become the first woman president if she is elected in November.

Political analysts suggest that the focus on Harris' race and gender has exposed how divisive US politics can be for women who seek the highest office, eight years after Hillary Clinton's failed presidential bid.

Harris' Republican opponent, former president Donald Trump, drew gasps from an audience at the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago on Wednesday by questioning her racial identity.

"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 black. So, I don't know, is she Indian or is she black?" he told Rachel Scott, an ABC News correspondent.

Harris quickly responded that Trump was putting on "the same old show, the divisiveness and the disrespect".

Republican criticism

She has also faced criticism from several Republicans who branded her a "DEI hire". The phrase refers to diversity, equity and inclusion policies of recent years that stem from executive orders in the 1960s by presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.

US Representative Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, said of Harris in an interview with CNN last month: "Biden said first off, he's going to hire a black female for vice-president. He just skipped over, what about white females, what about any other group, when you go down that route you take mediocrity and that's what they have right now. One hundred percent she is a DEI hire."

In 2020, Trump questioned whether she met citizenship requirements, as he had previously questioned where Barack Obama, the country's first black president, was born. Trump said he had "heard" that Harris wasn't born in the US because her parents were born abroad, and so she "doesn't meet the requirements to be vice-president", a claim that was debunked.

US Representative Harriet Hageman of Wyoming said in a video clip that Harris was "intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel".

While many Republicans have criticized Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and the chair of the House GOP campaign arm, Richard Hudson of North Carolina, urged their party to focus on her policies.

belindarobinson@chinadailyusa.com