UK politician slammed after referring to Kamala Harris as 'the Indian'

A member of the Northern Ireland Assembly received heavy criticism on Monday for referring to U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as “the Indian” on Twitter.

In his since-deleted tweet on Monday, Lord Kilclooney, a member of the House of Lords, said: “What happens if Biden moves on and the Indian becomes President. Who then becomes Vice President?”

On Saturday, Harris made history as the first woman, first Black American, and first Black South Asian American vice president-elect in U.S. history.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between killed New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMore oil is getting out of the Middle East. Why is it still so expensive?

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe complicated bargain between ‘looksmaxxing’ influencer Clavicular and the women in his orbit

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenators unveil bipartisan bill to deliver essential newborn supply kits to new moms

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between killed New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMore oil is getting out of the Middle East. Why is it still so expensive?

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe complicated bargain between ‘looksmaxxing’ influencer Clavicular and the women in his orbit

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenators unveil bipartisan bill to deliver essential newborn supply kits to new moms

Lord Fowler, lord speaker of the House of Lords, demanded that Kilclooney apologize.

“Lord Kilclooney should retract and apologize,” he said on Twitter on Monday. “This is an offensive way to refer to anyone, let alone a woman who has just made history."

“The comment is entirely unacceptable and has no place in British politics. I could not be clearer,” he said.

Kilclooney has not apologized for his statement and denied it was racist on Twitter on Monday.

“Harris is rightly proud of her Indian background I certainly withdraw my reference to her as an Indian as it seems to have upset some people,” he tweeted. “I did not know her name and identified her with the term Indian.”

This isn’t the first time the Irish lawmaker received backlash for identifying politicians of color solely by their ethnicity.

In 2018, Kilclooney drew ire from British lawmakers after he called Leo Varadkar, then the prime minister and head of government of Ireland, a “typical Indian,” BBC reported. Varadkar, of Indian and Irish descent, is currently the deputy head of Ireland.

Wes Streeting, British Member of Parliament for Ilford North, echoed Fowler’s comments on Twitter on Monday.

“This sort of racism would be unacceptable from anyone, but from a member of the House of Lords it beggars belief,” Streeting tweeted. “Action must be taken.”