By The Straits Times | Created at 2024-10-30 03:42:16 | Updated at 2024-10-30 07:31:09
4 hours ago
Updated
Oct 30, 2024, 11:33 AM
Published
Oct 30, 2024, 11:21 AM
PETALING JAYA - Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan has taken to social media to respond to former Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson, who mistakenly identified US presidential candidate Kamala Harris as Malaysian.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Mr Carlson,” said Datuk Seri Mohamad in a post on Facebook on Oct 30.
“We were not aware that a Malaysian was running for the office of the US President. Should Puan Kamala win the race, we are delighted to invite her to #balikkampung and try some #nasigorengUSA,” he said.
“Balik kampung” and “nasi goreng” are the Malay terms for come home and fried rice respectively.
On Oct 28, Mr Carlson caused controversy at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally by making disparaging remarks about Democrat Kamala Harris, misidentifying her heritage as “Samoan-Malaysian”.
As reported by The Daily Beast, Mr Carlson aimed his comments at undermining Ms Harris’ credibility as a Democratic nominee in the lead-up to next week’s pivotal US presidential election.
Mr Carlson stated: “It’s gonna be pretty hard for Democrats to look at us and say, ‘You know what? Kamala Harris, she got 85 million votes because she’s just so impressive. As the first Samoan-Malaysian low-IQ former California prosecutor ever to be elected president’.”
Ms Harris was born to an Indian mother and a black Jamaican father, both immigrants to the United States.
Her White House biography says she is “the first woman, the first Black American, and the first South Asian American” to be elected as the US vice-president.
Trump had also previously falsely asserted that Ms Harris has not identified as both black and Indian during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
