Washington: US President Barack Obama has praised Indian-American Kamala Harris for her brilliance and also described her as the "best-looking" attorney general in the United States, a comment that has created a stir.
"She is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough, and she is exactly what you`d want in anybody who is administering the law, and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake," Obama said praising Harris, who is the first woman and first Indian-American to be elected as the Attorney-General of California.
"She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country -- Kamala Harris is here," Obama said amidst applause.
"It`s true. Come on," he said amidst laughter.
"She is a great friend and has just been a great supporter for many, many years," Obama said at a fundraising event in California, yesterday.
Daughter of an Indian mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer specialist who emigrated from Chennai to the United States in 1960 and a Jamaican-American father, Harris, 48, is the first female African-American and Asian-American attorney general in California, as well as the first ethnic Indian-American attorney general in the United States.
According to Politico, certainly, Obama meant no insult, but in singling out Harris for her looks, Obama joins a long list of public figures who just can`t seem to let an attractive woman`s looks go without comment.
In 2011, FOX News chief Roger Ailes told a news agency that he hired Sarah Palin because "she was hot and got ratings", Politico reported.
Last year, Republican attorney general candidate David Freed said Democratic opponent Kathleen Kane`s strengths were that she`s "pretty and has a lot of money", according to Pennsylvania`s Daily Review.
Obama came under some fire back in 2008 when he referred to a female reporter as "sweetie" and told her to hold a question for a press availability, the ABC news reported.
Obama`s comment on Harris soon became a buzz word on social media.
On Twitter #KamalaHarris became very popular with people commenting on the comment.
Harris is often described as the "female Barack Obama" and is seen as a potential gubernatorial candidate for California.
PTI
