Actress Mindy Kaling speaks during the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Andrew Harnick/Getty Images Hide caption
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Actress Mindy Kaling jokes about “exposing” Kamala Harris as an Indian Actress Mindy Kaling spoke at the Democratic National Convention and shared an anecdote about her and Vice President Harris’ similar Indian backgrounds.
“I’m a very well-known Gen Z actress that you may know from The Office, The Mindy Project, or as the woman who bravely exposed Kamala Harris as Indian in her Instagram cooking videos,” Kaling joked.
Kaling recalled that she first met Harris at a cooking demonstration several years ago, when she was a senator from California.
“We hit it off immediately and shared our love for each other’s mothers, who both lost theirs to cancer,” Kaling said. “Our mothers were both immigrants who came to America from India and dedicated their lives to serving others.”
Kaling’s mother was an obstetrician-gynecologist and Harris’ mother was a scientist in the field of cancer research.
Kaling said she immediately felt that Harris’ mother had passed on to her the same spirit of dedication to humanity and service to others that had guided her life.
“But what I remember most about the vice president is that Kamala Harris is a great cook,” Kaling said. “She was a much better cook than I was, folks. But she also knew my family was watching, so she gently corrected my sloppy dosas while still complimenting me along the way.”
Kaling’s comments come after former President Donald Trump launched a racist attack on Harris, who claimed she “accidentally became black” over the past few years. Harris attended Howard University, a historically black college, and has frequently spoken about her identity as a black and South Asian woman.
Trump and his allies have also repeatedly mispronounced Harris’ name, “Kamala,” which means “lotus flower” in Sanskrit.
See Kaling’s full statement below.
