In what can be called a historic, US Presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday has named Indian American politician Kamala Harris as his vice presidential pick. Kamala from California is all set to history while she is the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to be nominated for national office by a major party.
I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 11, 2020
It ha become obvious that 2020 presidential candidate Joe wants to hit the bull’s eye appealing to a broad coalition of voters, particularly women who have been leaning away from Donald Trump.
Followed by the announcement, Indians flooded the internet with queries about this Indo-American politician who is stamped as a ‘fearless fighter’ by his fellow politicians. Who is Kamala Harrison and what’s with her Indian roots..?
Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California to Immigrant parents who rose to be eminent people in their respective fields. Kamala’s mother Shyamala Gopalan is a Tamilian breast cancer researcher who immigrated to the United States from India in the 1960s.
Her father, Donald Harris, is an eminent economist who is also an immigrant from Jamaica. What can be noted is that, Kamala’s maternal grandfather TV Gopalan was one of the original Independence fighters in India which influenced her a lot.
Harris herself was a presidential aspirant until last year before she dropped out of the race because of a lack of financial support. Interestingly, Harris had clashed with Biden during her run for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination against the latter.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Tuesday called Kamala Harris the “most horrible” member of the US Senate and said he was “surprised” Joe Biden had picked her as his vice-presidential candidate.