Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris launched her 2020 presidential bid on Sunday with a scathing rebuke of President Donald Trump's policies, alleging that the US democracy was under attack like never before.
Recollecting the fighting spirit of her Indian mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who migrated to the US from Tamil Nadu for studies, Harris told a cheering crowd in her hometown of Oakland, California, that this was not going to be an easy election pitted against an incumbent like Trump.
"My mother used to say don't sit around and complain about things. Do something," the 54-year-old, said rebuke in her impressive speech that lasted for more than 30 minutes.
"With the fighting spirit I got from my mother, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States. And I will tell you, I'm running for president, because I love my country. I am running to be the president, of the people, by the people and for all people," Harris told the crowd estimated to be around 20,000, a few blocks away from where she was born.
Harris, announced her presidential candidacy last Monday on Martin Luther King Jr Day and, within days, has been voted on top of the list of Democratic leaders aspiring to defeat Trump in the November 2020 election.
So far four women have entered the race. Apart from Harris, the three others are Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii.
All of them have to pass through a grilling presidential primary beginning next January, the winner of which would be announced in the Democratic National Convention in July 2020. The nominee would challenge incumbent Trump in the presidential election in November that year.
Quoting the former presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, Harris said challenging an incumbent is not easy. "Of course, we know this is not going to be easy guys. We know what the doubters will say is that they always say, they'll say it's not your time. They'll say, wait your turn. They'll say, the odds are long. They'll say, it can't be done.... But, America's story has always been written by people who can see what can be unburdened by what has been... that's our story."
She alleged that racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and transphobia were real in this country. "They are age-old forms of hate with new fear. We need to speak their truth so that we can deal with it."
Alleging that too many black and brown Americans are being locked up for mass incarceration, she called for drastic repair of criminal justice system. "Let's also speak the truth that too many unarmed black men and women are killed in America."