The White House on Thursday described as "disgusting" the increasing sexist and racist attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris which has intensified after she became the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic party.

“I think it's desperate. I think it's disgusting and I think it's a dog whistle. We should not forget that she is the Vice President of the United States. She should get that respect. She's been doing this job with the president for almost four years,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.

"She's a former Senator and has been a critical partner in getting the economy restarted and making sure that -- that we deal with the pandemic. And to hear that is, frankly, disgusting," Jean-Pierre said when asked about the increase in racist and sexist attacks against Harris, who is of both India and African origin.

It increased to such a level that the House Speaker Mike Johnson had to ask his Republican lawmakers to avoid such an attack.

“When you have the speaker of the House, obviously he's a Republican, and this is something that you all have reported, set up a meeting to tell Republican leaders to stop being racist, to stop being misogynist, to stop being sexist, I think that says a lot that they have to be told to not do that,’ Jean-Pierre said.

According to Politico, “House Republican leaders told lawmakers to focus on criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris’ record without reference to her race and gender, following caustic remarks from some Republicans attacking her on the basis of identity.” At an election rally in North Carolina, former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump had said Vice President Harris is “unfit to rule” and described her as a "radical left lunatic".

“For three and a half years, Lyin Kamala Harris has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe. She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office. We're not going to let that happen,” Trump said on Wednesday as he unleashed a torrent of attacks against her.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.