AOC denounces Trump's 'birther' theory as way of protecting 'white supremacist vision'

After US President Donald Trump stoked ‘birther’ theory to question the eligibility of Kamala Harris for vice president office, House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that questioning the citizenship of people of colour is one way that white supremacy manifests. In a series of tweets, Ocasio-Cortez said that white US officials born abroad almost never face similar questions about their birth and citizenship.

Last year, Trump made a comment apparently directed to Congresswomen Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley. In a tweet, the US President asked them to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came”, adding that they should come back after that and show how it is done.

Trump went a step ahead this time and attacked Harris with false claims over her eligibility for the US office because of her origin. He referred to an opinion article in Newsweek written by conservative law professor John Eastman to stoke the baseless claims that he long promoted from his predecessor Barack Obama. 

"I heard it today that she doesn't meet the requirements," said Trump, calling Eastman “very highly qualified, very talented lawyer”. 

Eastman, who lost to Harris in the Republican primary to be California's attorney general in 2010, said that there are some questions about the eligibility for the position. Harris was born in Oakland, California, to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, making her constitutionally eligible to be both vice president and president. 

Read: Joe Biden Slams Trump For His 'abhorrent Lies' On Kamala Harris' Eligibility

Read: Donald Trump Stokes False Claims Over Kamala Harris' Eligibility For US Office

AOC recalls past attacks

Ocasio-Cortez said that the belief system of white supremacy is based on the idea that people of colour are “fundamentally illegitimate” as equal citizens or human beings. She said that comments like “where’s the birth certificate?” and “where were her parents from?” catch on with people because the supremacist idea has deep roots, believing people of colour as inherently less legitimate.

Biden campaign said that Trump has resorted to “abhorrent” lies to distract American people from the “horrific toll of his failed coronavirus response”. Biden’s spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement that the US President has sought to fuel racism and “tear our nation apart” with "grotesque, racist birther movement". 

Read: Trump Takes Jibe At Kamala Harris, Says 'I Have More Indians Than She Has'

Read: Trump Says He Hasn't Been Blunt With Kamala Harris, Doesn't See Her As Threat In Presidential Race