(Image source from: www.thehill.com)
The first Indian origin United States Senator Kamala Harris has said she will be soon deciding on her 2020 presidential bid.
Harris, who believes that the American people are ready for a woman of color to hold the highest office in the country demurred on whether she will challenge President Donald Trump for the White House. She published a new memoir this week ahead of likely 2020 presidential run.
Harris, 54, is being seen as a possible strong contender to get Democratic presidential nomination to challenge Trump in the 2020 elections.
"I will make my decision soon, not at this very moment," Harris told CNN in an interview.
The Senator from California is currently on her book tour.
Her book 'The Truths We Hold: An American Journey' hit the bookstores on Wednesday. In her book, she says that she thinks that the country is ready for a president who is a woman of color. Her other book "Superheroes Are Everywhere" for children also hit the book stores simultaneously.
"I will say that we have to give the American people more credit. And we have to understand that the American public and the people of our country are smart people who will make decisions about who will be their leader based on who they believe is capable, who they believe has an honest desire to lead, to represent, to see them, to be a voice for them even if they have no power, and those are the kinds of people who we are as a country, she said.
In an interview with ABC, Harris said she has yet to decide if she will run in 2020, but was definitely certain on one point that the U.S. is absolutely ready for a woman of color to be president.
"I'm not saying that about myself, but I am saying that about the capacity of the American public, Harris said.
When asked if the "likability" challenge that so many women in leadership positions face still exists, Harris recalled a powerful lesson her mother taught her when she was younger.
"Despite a woman's role in the world, there are still certain myths of what a woman can and cannot do, Harris said, citing her mother.
"There are so many myths that we still are challenged with," she said. "But with each woman who gains success, I think there are a greater appreciation and understanding of the capacity and breadth and depth of who women are and what we can do," Harris said.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama described Harris as a trailblazer. In addition to the first Indian origin U.S. Senator, she served as the first woman attorney general of California and first African American to occupy that position.
She argued that the American people deserve better leadership than they are seeing under this President, stating that the shutdown over the issue of the border wall with Mexico has thrown lives into chaos.
A wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was one of Trump's signature campaign promises. Trump wants USD 5.7 billion to build the wall. Democrats are refusing to allocate the money, arguing that a wall would be costly and ineffective.
"It is a false choice to suggest that we're going to hold 800,000 federal workers and all of the services that they provide hostage for this president's vanity project," Harris said.
Comparing the President Trump's behavior to how her 11-year-old godson might have behaved with his toy train, Harris, on Wednesday night blasted Trump for his insistence on holding out for funding for his border wall before reopening the government.
"Any good parenting would tell you that you don't listen to those kinds of tantrums, and you don't reward that behavior," she said. Harris argued that Democrats should not cave to those sorts of tactics.
-Sowmya Sangam
