Washington:Indian Americans are likely to vote in the US presidential elections based on what the candidates have done for them and not on the basis of their heritage or race, a newly formed body representing Asian communities has said, claiming that Republican candidate Donald Trump has a better track record than his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris, 59, is the first-ever presidential candidate of Indian heritage on the top of a Democratic presidential ticket which has generated a lot of excitement among members of the Indian-American community in the US. They number about five million.
Co-founder of Asians Make America Great Again (MAGA) Holly Ham told PTI, "I think Indian Americans really look, and not just heritage because someone is on the ticket, but what has that person done? Do they espouse the same values?"
"What has Kamala Harris done for Indians and Asian Indians? What about education rights? She supported, I believe, Proposition 47 in California, and that was to support racial quotas for universities in California. That's a big issue," she said.
While Indian Americans live primarily in Democratic bastions like New York, California and Illinois, and Texas, a Republican stronghold, but in some of the key battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina, they can be the margin of victory in a closely contested race.
Asians MAGA, formed by some grassroots Asian American leaders, is a national alliance -- independent expenditure political action committee -- that aims at mobilising Asian American conservatives and moderates across multiple ethnic groups -- Chinese, Indian, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipinos -- to help President Trump win the 2024 election.
It is co-founded by Asian community leaders who have proven records fighting for equal education rights and other conservative causes. Many of them escaped communist regimes and are scared by the ongoing Marxist take-over of America, the group said.
"President Trump has always been about meritocracy. I know he's worked hard, his administration has worked hard. He believes in the hard work, dedication and commitment of Americans. What gets us ahead is hard work and meritocracy. Not because we can check a box and it is our heritage and not because of the color of our skin, the shape of our eyes or that heritage that becomes a racial quota," Holly said.
Holly, who served in the Trump administration, said under President Trump, America had great relationships, especially with India.
These are the alliances that need to be strengthened. But under (President Joe) Biden and (Vice President) Harris, we seem weak. There are three wars now that would not have happened under President Trump. The relationships that were one strong with President Trump seemed fractured. Definitely not strength. We want to continue by building that," she said.
Trump is at the end of the day, a people person, right? When you shake hands, he's going to look you in the eye. He is a people lover and he's a people person. When the stakes are at their highest, I know that he will be that people person. But he also knows that protecting our priorities and our safety and our security and our prosperity is going to be top of mind, Holly said.
Asians MAGA, Holly said, is targeting swing states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona. We are targeting Asian-American voters in those states. Our website actually is being translated in multiple languages, she said.
According to Asians MAGA, with 39 per cent of new immigrant Asians supporting the Republican Party and 29 per cent of Asian voters as independent, Asian votes in swing states could become a decisive factor in the 2024 Presidential Election. AsiansMAGA has started multiple Asian language campaigns to effectively address the key concerns of Asian American communities.
"A Harris-Walz Administration will expand their failing policies from California and Minnesota to the entire nation, further harming Americans. We call upon all Asian Americans to elect President Trump on and before November 6. This is the only way to make America great again, and to restore the American Dream for all Americans!" said AsiansMAGA President Mike Zhao in a statement.
