‘People said she was too black’: Kamala Harris’s niece Meena opens about her aunt’s rise to power

‘Growing up, I was taught that ambition is something to celebrate,’ Meena said

(Getty Images )

Vice President Kamala Harris's niece Meena has spoken out about her "unique" upbringing in the Harris family, and her aunt's rise to power.

On Thursday, Kamala Harris was sworn in as the vice-president of the United States, and became the first woman, first black person and first South Asian to hold the role.

Now niece Meena, 36, who worked on her aunt's presidential campaign, has opened up about the challenges Kamala has faced, and the influence she had on her when she was growing up.

Meena's mother Maya was a senior policy adviser on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign campaign but, when she gave birth to Meena, she was just 17 and still at high school. Consequently, Kamala helped look after Meena during evenings and weekends.

In an interview with The Times, Meena said: "Growing up, I was taught that ambition is something to celebrate, that it means purpose and determination, having a big idea and running after it, chasing your dreams and having confidence in yourself."

The mother-of-two worked as one of Kamala's senior advisers in communications and fundraising, both when her aunt was originally running for president and during the Biden/Harris campaign.

Though the former lawyer described herself as "pretty thick-skinned", she admitted that she broke down in tears after hearing some of the things people said about her aunt during her campaign.

She recalled: "Kamala was being critiqued as ‘too ambitious’ by an old white guy and I just felt, are you kidding me? Are we still doing this? Are my kids going to have to deal with this same s***?"

She added: "She [Kamala] has experienced this her whole life – people said, ‘You’re too young. You’re too much of a woman. Frankly, you’re too black. That’s never been done before."

But Meena said her family of formidable women (including her late grandmother Shyamala Gopalan, a civil rights activist) has prepared her well for a life of fighting difficult fights.

The 36-year-old said there was "no coddling" and no "kids' table" in her family and that she was prepared well for a legal career.

She added: "My mum and aunt were raised in the same way, with an expectation that a child, no matter their age, can understand and can be a part of adult conversations. Or, at the very least, learn and listen.”

Meena has over two million followers on TikTok and, earlier this month, she helped her aunt go viral by including her in a viral video in which she joked about Donald Trump's second impeachment.

In the clip, which has over 23 million views, Meena hands her aunt a jar of peach-flavoured mints.

“Im-peach-mints,” the 36-year-old tells the future vice president, who takes the candy before bursting out in laughter.

Meena, a children’s book author, captioned the clip: “IMPEACH NOW.”