Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday picked Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate - a historic decision as it makes her the first Black woman and the first Asian-American woman to be selected as the vice presidential nominee of a major party. Kamala Harris, 55, is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants. According to CNN, her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in Chennai and immigrated to the US for a doctoral programme.
Ms Harris is the first South Asian-American woman and second Black woman in history to serve in the US Senate, reports CNBC. She is only the fourth woman in US history to be chosen for one of the presidential tickets. Celebrity reactions to her historic vice presidential candidacy lit up social media on Tuesday after Joe Biden's announcement, made in a text and tweet.
Indian-American actors welcomed Ms Harris' candidacy.
Priyanka Chopra deemed it a "proud moment for all women. All women of colour, all Black women, and all South Asian women."
"Congratulations Kamala Harris on becoming the first Black woman and FIRST PERSON of Indian descent to compete on a major U.S. party's presidential ticket," she wrote in posts shared on Twitter and Instagram.
Mindy Kaling, whose show 'Never Have I Ever' was praised for representing the lives of Indian-Americans, also called it a "thrilling" announcement.
"Was there ever more of an exciting day? For our entire country of course, but especially for my Black and Indian sisters, many of us who have gone our entire lives thinking that someone who looks like us may never hold high office," wrote Ms Kaling.
Chef and TV host Padma Lakshmi hailed Kamala Harris as a "formidable choice", writing: "Om Shanti! Finally some representation in the White House... Kamala Harris is a formidable choice, smarter than Trump, Pence & the current cabinet combined."
Take a look at some other celebrity reactions:
@KamalaHarris @JoeBiden I'm thrilled! I have no joke to tweet. Simply thrilled. Let's do this!
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) August 11, 2020
Yes We Kam!
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) August 11, 2020
Real actual tears of joy over here in the Hart household https://t.co/FuwDcuWOte
— P!nk (@Pink) August 11, 2020
The decision to pick Kamala Harris as his running mate is a huge one for Mr Biden as he aims to build a broad coalition of voters to oust Trump from the White House. "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, 77, said on Twitter.
Taking to Twitter shortly after the announcement, Harris said she was "honored" to join Biden as nominee for vice president, and would "do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief."
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