Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in an oped last Saturday hailed the deep ties between the US and the Indian community living in the States and urged the over 2 million strong community to support his party for the upcoming elections on November 3.
Biden said in his op-ed in California based paper, India West, that he has always felt well-connected to the Indian American community because of the shared value system between the two.
“We found hope and a sense of belonging in each other. That’s the America that we love and, four years later, that is what our campaign is about,” Biden said about the Indian diaspora living in the US.
Biden said, if elected, he will make public college and university tuition free for families making less than $125,000 a year, and help more Indian American families generate wealth and equity through a first-time home buyer’s credit worth up to $15,000.
“And as we value the Indian-American diaspora, we’ll continue to value the US-India relationship. For Donald Trump, it’s photo-ops. For me, it’s getting things done,” he added.
Biden recalled and praised his close association with the Indian community at various points of his professional life.
The Democratic presidential candidate was all praise for his running mate, Kamala Harris, who is the first woman of South Asian descent to run for vice presidency in the country.
“I know the pride you feel about her nomination because her story is your story, too. It’s an American story,” he said.
In the article, Biden wrote that Trump’s “dangerous rhetoric” against immigrants has empowered white supremacists and even “fueled hate crimes against Indian Americans”.
Biden targeted Trump on his failure to tackle the coronavirus crisis, the President’s effort to wipe out the Affordable Care Act, and the economic crisis.
“Donald Trump still sees the world from Park Avenue looking toward Wall Street. A handful of the richest billionaires and biggest corporations have made billions of dollars during the pandemic, while millions of Americans are out of work and 1 in 5 small businesses are closed,” he said.
Biden criticized Trump’s handling of coronavirus crisis, terming his actions “erratic”.
“He doesn’t believe in science or respect experts like Dr Fauci. His negligence has cost lives and livelihoods,” Biden said.
