US Congressman Ro Khanna campaigns for Joe Biden in South Carolina

Ro Khanna is campaigning for US President Joe Biden.

Washington:

Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna is campaigning for US President Joe Biden in South Carolina, the home state of Indian-American Republican presidential candidate Nikki Harley.

“Proud to be campaigning with President Biden in South Carolina,” Khanna posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Columbia, South Carolina, where Biden is based, is a battleground state for the next stage of the Democratic and Republican primaries. The Democratic primary is on February 3rd, while the Republican primary is on February 24th.

“He’s excited to defend what he and the Democrats have delivered,” Khanna said in endorsing Biden, the only Democratic candidate caught up in the controversy. Former President Donald Trump and Haley are the two Republican candidates vying for the Republican ticket in South Carolina.

The poll showed Trump leading with 52% support, while Haley trailed far behind with 21.8%. However, Haley insisted she expected a strong performance on February 23 in her home state. Khanna lashed out at Haley at the Nation’s First Dinner in Columbia, South Carolina.

“Perhaps if ‘Hailey’ had heard some civil rights history over the years, she would be more open to sharing her story as a first-generation American,” Khanna said.

“Look, as an Indian-American, my parents, my dad came here in the late 1960s, and Nikki Haley’s dad came here. You know what? Before 1965, either It’s unlikely that Nikki Haley’s father or my father would have come here. Dads were allowed into this country because this country doesn’t allow Indian immigrants, Chinese immigrants, or even Asian immigrants.

“It’s because people like Jim Clyburn were in jail. It’s because people like Eleanor Norton organized the March on Washington. It’s because John Lewis was in Edmund Pettus We were beaten on the bridge before this country passed the Immigration Act of 1965, allowing Nikki Haley and my parents to come to the United States,” he said.

“It’s because of people like Mr. Clyde or Mr. Lewis or Ms. Norton that I can stand on this stage as a member of Congress and Nikki Haley can hold the highest office in the land. Let’s not forget history. .You see history is personal and it is personal for me because my grandfather Amarnath Vidyalankar spent four years in jail with Gandhi during the Indian independence movement ,”He said.

“Gandhi’s movement of nonviolent active resistance, the pursuit of truth, inspired Rustin. It inspired Lawson, and it inspired Dr. King, who took his Bible and Gandhi’s readers with him wherever he went. Let this What is clear is that the civil rights movement opened doors not just for black Americans, but for every person of color in America,” he said.

“Why obsess over history?” he asked. “When my parents, Nikki Haley, and their Indian-American parents came here, they couldn’t get hired by Harvard or Stanford or Yale. Guess who hired them? HBCUs . That’s why so many Indian trainers are working there. Let me tell you why history is important because if you don’t understand history, you can’t make progress in the future,” he said.

“If you don’t understand the moral debt we owe, the deep moral debt we owe to the civil rights movement, you can’t understand your future obligations and responsibilities. I feel the weight of that debt on behalf of Silicon Valley, the $10 trillion wealth that I’m in regions, Apple, Google, Intel, Nvidia, Open AI. Do you know what the truth is? There are many Indian Americans now becoming technology leaders, but too few blacks and Latinos are involved in the generation of modern wealth, ” said Khanna.

He told MSNBC he will travel to states such as Michigan and Nevada to defend President Biden.

“We need this president to be re-elected. The president has already contributed to the economy, providing $7 billion in historic HBCU funding, high-speed internet, support for small businesses and student loan forgiveness. If Trump is elected, the country It will go backwards,” he said.

Khanna said in an interview with CNN on Monday that Biden’s speech in South Carolina did provide a stark contrast to Donald Trump. “It’s very valid to say that he’s done something for working-class and middle-class Americans. Donald Trump’s economy, unemployment, just tax cuts for the very wealthy,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)