Her Indian mother would be ‘really, extremely proud’, says Democratic VP nominee.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris says her India born mother would be “extremely proud” of her historic nomination and would expect her to “beat” President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
“I think she’d be really, extremely proud,” she told CNN in an interview Sunday remembering her mother, who died of cancer in 2009. “And she would say, beat Trump.”
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Chennai born Shyamala Gopalan came to the US at the age of 19 to become a cancer researcher at University of California, Berkeley. She later married Jamaica born Economics professor Donald Harris.
“My mother was a scientist. She had two goals in her life, to raise her two daughters and end breast cancer,” Harris said of Gopalan.
“She was one of – all five feet of her, one of the strongest, most loving, and toughest people you have ever met. And she raised us to live a life of service.”
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“And she would look at the suffering right now, she would look at the denial of science right now, and it would piss her off. Excuse my language,” Harris said.
“But she always encouraged us to go for it. She encouraged me to never listen to no, except if she said it, you know?” Harris said.
Asked if her mother would be surprised that her daughter was the first woman of color on the national ticket of a major political party, the Indian American senator said: “I don’t think – I don’t think she would. I think she would be immensely proud”.
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Harris also opened up about her family in the interview with CNN, including her relationship with her husband, Doug Emhoff and her step-children, Cole and Ella.
”We have a very modern family,” Harris told CNN. “If everyone approaches it in the way that there’s plenty of love to share, then it works. And we have plenty of love to share within our extended family.”