Democrats rally to defend US senator from far-right attacks

WASHINGTON: Democrats vying to become the party’s candidate in 2020 presidential elections have rallied behind US senator Kamala Harris against social media claims she is not an "American Black".

Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican descent, drew national attention after a rock-solid performance in Thursday’s Democratic Party debate that shot her into the top tier of contenders. The senator was attacked online by social media users, some of them known for being far-right.

One Twitter account with 90,000 followers, under the name Ali Alexander, sent a tweet on Thursday that read: "Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves. She’s not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That’s fine. She’s not an American Black. Period."

The US president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., retweeted the message, then deleted it. Former Vice President Joe Biden slammed the attack on Harris and said it has parallels with the "birtherism" movement that has questioned the citizenship of former US president Barack Obama.

"It’s disgusting and we have to call it out when we see it. Racism has no place in America," he added in a tweet. So-called "birthers" claim Obama was born overseas and allege his birth certificate is a fake.

The US constitution says the country’s presidency is open to natural-born citizens only. Biden’s comments were supported by other Democrats running to become the party’s presidential candidate. Elizabeth Warren labelled the attacks on Harris "racist and ugly", as Bernie Sanders and Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, among others, also gave support to the senator.