Isn't just about ethnicity: What Bombay Boy Rushdie said about Kamala Harris

Acclaimed Mumbai-born writer Salman Rushdie has thrown his weight behind Democratic presidential frontrunner Kamala Harris, saying she was the only person capable of stopping Donald Trump from dragging the US towards authoritarianism.

Rushdie is the latest Indian-origin person of eminence to endorse Kamala Harris, a politician of Indian-Jamaican origin. She has won the endorsement of three of the five Indian-American Representatives.

“It's a critical moment. I'm a boy from Bombay and it's great to see an Indian woman running for the White House. And my wife is African-American, so we like the fact that a Black and Indian woman is running for the White House,” news agency PTI quoted Rushdie as saying.

The author extended his support to Kamala Harris at a virtual event, ‘South Asian Men for Harris’, attended by scores of leading names from the Indian-American community.

Kamala Harris is seeing her approval ratings soar and eminent people, including the Obamas, rally around her after US President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, facing scrutiny about his health.

Salman Rushdie, however, made it clear that it was about Kamala Harris the leader, and not just about the shared ethnicity.

“We would not be gathering in this way let's say for Usha Vance or Nikki Haley,” Rushdie said, referring to the Indian-American wife of Republican Vice-Presidential nominee JD Vance and the Indian-American former South Carolina governor.

He said something “very extraordinary, transformative has happened in American politics” in just under one week.

“The conversation has entirely changed with the arrival of Kamala Harris's candidacy and it's changed most joyfully, a way of optimism and positive, forward-thinking,” he added.

Kamala Harris officially declared her candidacy after Biden withdrew from the race for a second term on July 20. She is expected to be officially declared as the presidential candidate by the Democrats next month.

Rushdie underscored that the community had to make that work because “we can't allow the alternative to happen", he said, calling Trump a "hollow man".

"This hollow man without a single noble quality, trying to drag this country towards authoritarianism. That cannot happen," he said.

Rushdie voiced his confidence that Harris “is the person who can prevent it. And so I'm right in 1,000% in for her.”

He added that star power matters in America and one could argue that Trump’s celebrity status from being on TV for many years helped him get elected to the White House in 2016.

“Well, right now, he doesn't look like the star. He looks like the old, fat guy. Kamala looks like the superstar. And I think the charisma she brings to the campaign could be critical in the weeks ahead,” he said.

Rushdie also called on people across the US, including the writer community, to "use every power we have, whether it's speaking out, writing, arguing, we've got to win this argument. And writers are pretty good at arguing. So I think we're going to do our best".

Noting that the November 5 presidential election was just 100 days away, Rushdie said, “There's not a minute to lose", as he urged “aunties” and extended families to mobilise and come out and vote in large numbers for Harris.

In response to a question that there are sceptics in the country who believe that America would not elect a woman with Black and Indian heritage as President, Rushdie said this may well have been an argument even as recently as maybe a decade but the times have changed.

“I think the way in which women's leadership is viewed now is different. The way in which the race issue can be made a positive is a new thing. And so I think there's absolutely no reason why Kamala Harris should not win and actually win it quite handily,” Rushdie said.

Underlining that the tide was turning, Rushdie cited recent media polls that put Harris neck and neck with Trump, "which is a pretty big bounce from the last Biden poll". "And it's not even a week. We can do this. We just have to believe it,” he said.

The event, co-hosted by CEO and Co-founder of full-service digital agency Digimentors Sree Sreenivasan, featured prominent names including Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois, co-founder of South Asians for Harris Harini Krishnan and Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija.