"American people deserve better": Kamala Harris hits back at Trump after remarks on her racial identity

WASHINGTON DC: US Vice President, Kamala Harris, hit back at her presidential rival and former President Donald Trump over the latter's remarks against her racial identity 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."

Harris was speaking at a Houston fundraiser on Wednesday (local time), hours after Trump claimed that Harris, after being of "Indian heritage" for years, "turned black" a few years ago.

"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," she told the donors.

"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.

Speaking on Project 2025, Harris claimed that it would raise taxes on the middle class, and cut taxes on billionaires, and would end the Department of Education.

Attacking Trump further, the Vice President said, "We are not going back. We all remember what those four years were like, and today we got yet another reminder. This afternoon, Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, and it was the same old show, the divisiveness and the disrespect. Let me just say, the American people deserve better."

She added: "The American people deserve a leader who does tell the truth, who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that differences don't divide us, they are an essential source of our strength."

Trump made the comments at a gathering of black 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.

Trump 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.

"I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went - she became a Black person," he said. "I think somebody should look into that too."

Speaking further, Kamala Harris said that "we are the underdogs in this race," reiterating that there are under 100 days until the November election.

"Let's level set," she said. "We are the underdogs in this race. We have work to do ... good hard work."

"We are not fighting against something. We are fighting for something," Harris said. "We know how much is at stake."

Kamala Harris is of Indian origin. Her mother was Indian and her father is Jamaican; both immigrated to the United States. She was born in Oakland, California, and attended a historically black university, Howard University, in Washington.

Notably, Trump has made similar comments in the past as well. For years, he pushed the "birther" conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States, according to CNN.

Kamala Harris is of Indian origin. Her mother was Indian and her father is Jamaican; both immigrated to the United States. She was born in Oakland, California, and attended a historically black university, Howard University, in Washington.

She is the first female, first Black and first Asian American vice president. Also, if she wins the upcoming polls, she will become the first woman president of the country.

The White House was quick to denounce Trump's comments, calling it "insulting" and said only VP Kamala Harris can speak for herself on the matter.

Kamala Harris' husband and the Second Gentleman of the US, Doug Emhoff, also reacted to Trump's remarks, saying that the former president was "a worse version of an already horrible person" with his remarks, The Washington Post reported.

"The insults, the BS - it's horrible, it's terrible, it shows a lack of character - but it's a distraction," Emhoff said at a campaign fundraiser in Maine. "It's about what's at stake in this election."

Last week, President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and nominated his deputy, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic nominee for the race.

Harris' takeover has re-energised the Democratic campaign that had faltered following Biden's performance in the presidential debate against Trump, leaving the party in doubt about Biden's chances of defeating Trump or his ability to continue in the White House if he had won.

Harris rapidly consolidated support among Democrats in the hours after Biden stepped aside, and she raised more than USD 200 million in her first week as a presidential candidate.