'Surprised' Trump says Kamala Harris 'nasty' and 'disrespectful' to Biden

US President Donald Trump has said he is surprised that his Democratic party challenger for the presidential elections Joe Biden has named Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate despite knowing how nasty and disrespectful she has been to him.

Biden on Tuesday named Harris as his Vice-Presidential running mate, making history by selecting the first black woman to compete on a major party's presidential ticket.

Harris, 55, whose father is an African from Jamaica and mother an Indian, is currently the US Senator from California.

"We'll see how she works out. She did very, very poorly in the primaries as you know. She was expected to do well. She ended up at right around two per cent," Trump told reporters at a White House news conference.

"She had a lot of things happening and so I was a little surprised that he (Biden) picked her. I've been watching her for a long time, and I was a little surprised," Trump said soon after Biden announced that he has picked Harris as his running mate.

Responding to questions, Trump said that Harris has been nasty to Biden.

"As far as Kamala is concerned, she's a big tax raiser. She's a big slasher of funds for our military. And she's got a lot of difficult things that she's going to have to explain. Plus she was very, very nasty to--one of the reasons it surprised me--she was very--she was probably nastier than even Pocahontas to Joe Biden. She was very disrespectful to Joe Biden," Trump alleged.

"It's hard to pick somebody that's that disrespectful when she said things during the debates--during the Democrat primary debates that were horrible about sleepy Joe. And I would think that he wouldn't have picked," Trump said.

Leading Indian-American groups across the US have lauded the selection of Harris as the Vice Presidential candidate, saying it was a moment of pride and celebration for the entire community in America.

"What an electric moment for the Indian-American community! Indian-Americans are now truly a mainstream community in the national fabric, M R Rangaswami, an eminent Indian-American and the founder of Indiaspora, told PTI.

"On a personal note, it's great to have a woman on the ticket whose mother hails from my hometown of Chennai in India, Rangaswami said.

Welcoming the decision, IMPACT, the leading Indian-American advocacy group and PAC, said that it will raise $10 million for the campaign.

"Kamala Harris's story is the story of a changing, inclusive America. At a time of rapid change, she ties all our national threads together. The daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, Kamala Harris represents the future and promise of this country. Her candidacy is historic and inspiring, not only for Black Americans, but for millions of Asian American voters, the fastest growing voting bloc in the country, IMPACT's executive director Neil Makhija said.

"An estimated 1.3 million Indian-Americans are expected to vote in this year's election, including nearly 200,000 in Pennsylvania and 125,000 in Michigan, both must-win battleground states. IMPACT is gearing up to raise $10 million to fight for inclusive democracy and candidates who share our values like Senator Harris," Makhija said.