Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal kicked off his bid today to win the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, stressing to supporters that he’s “tanned, rested and ready for this fight.”
“Forty-four years ago a young couple who had never before been on an airplane, they left their home on the other side of the world to come to a place called America. They had never seen it. There was no Internet to search, but they had heard the legend. There was a place in this world where people were free, and the opportunities were real,” Jindal said as he became the 13th GOP candidate.
“They weren’t really coming to a geographical place. They were coming to an idea, and that idea is America. To them, America represented all that was good in the world, where you could get ahead if you worked hard and played by the rules. Place where what matters is the content of your character, not the color of your skin, the zip code you were born in or your family’s last name,” he continued.
“My dad grew up in a house without electricity, without running water. He was the only person in the family to get past the fifth grade. He and mom they came to Louisiana because they believed in America and when they got here they found that the legend was true. They found that the people of Louisiana accepted them and they found that America is indeed the land of the free and the home of the brave. Thirty-seven years later, my parents’ eldest son became governor of Louisiana.”
Jindal vowed he’s “not running for president to be somebody,” but “running for president to do something.”
“Today’s Republican Party in Washington, D.C., has been beaten into submission. It is increasingly afraid to speak the truth. It’s time to say what everybody’s already thinking,” he said. “The emperors in Washington, they’re not wearing any clothes. In case it’s not clear right now, I am running for president without permission from headquarters in Washington, D.C.”
The Democratic National Committee responded to the announcement with a notably mocking fundraising email, subject line “Bobby Jindal wants to be president (seriously!).”
But opponents hit Twitter this evening with hashtags aimed at Jindal’s ethnicity, including #Jindian and #BobbyJindalIsSoWhite.
A sampling:
You might be #Jindian if you have lifetime membership at tanning salon to throw people off your brown game. #TanAndRested
— Alina Atash (@Firegal_01) June 25, 2015
It’s hilarious that the only people who have a problem with the #Jindian and #bobbyjindalissowhite trending are racist white folks.
— Tony (@TheRexMax) June 25, 2015
You might be a #Jindian if you are the son of immigrants who is anti-immigrant. #bobbyjindalissowhite
— Khalid Latif (@AmnaKhalid) June 25, 2015
You might be #Jindian if you change your name from something like “Piyush” to something like “Bobby.” Nice try tho. #Bobbyjindalissowhite
— Huma (@Humafish) June 25, 2015
Bobby Jindal’s favorite Indiana Jones movie is Temple of Doom. @aasif @harikondabolu @shaifalip #Jindian
— Anil Dash (@anildash) June 25, 2015
Bobby Jindal spends 2 hours a day in the shower scrubbing his skin with a brush & screaming “why won’t it come out?” #bobbyjindalissowhite
— Hari Kondabolu (@harikondabolu) June 25, 2015
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