Louisiana's Indian American Governor Bobby Jindal, considered a long shot Republican presidential candidate, has criticised rival real estate mogul Donald Trump for his comments on immigrants.
Jindal, the son of immigrants from India, who identifies himself as only "American" and supports a hawkish view of immigration policy, said Tuesday he disagreed with Trump's comments about illegal immigrants from Mexico being killers, rapists, and drug dealers.
"I disagree with the comments. I see people as individuals, not members of ethnic or economic groups," he told local NH1 newspaper in New Hampshire on a three-day swing through the first primary state.
"But what I believe is that we do need to secure the border. And not as part of a comprehensive bill but we need to secure the border," said Jindal.
"Secondly, folks that want to come here should come legally, to learn English, to learn our values, to roll up their sleeves and get to work."
Jindal also took a shot at his rivals calling them a bunch of talkers. "I think we have a lot of talkers running. I think we need a doer, not a talker."
"We have a talker in the White House, it hasn't gone very well," he said of Democratic President Barack Obama.
Jindal said he's "the only candidate who has a detailed plan on how to get rid of Obamacare. Every Republican will talk about it, but it's just a one-liner in their speech."
Asked if his strong social conservative credentials would be a tough sell in New Hampshire, Jindal said "no not at all. I think people want you to be who you are."
"I've always said let's fight for 100 percent of the vote. Let's stop dividing people into special categories."
Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that Jindal's super PAC, a kind of independent political action committee that can raise unlimited funds so long as it does not contribute directly to a candidate, is about to lay down $706,210 for three more weeks of Iowa TV.
Called "Believe Again", the PAC has been up for the past week with a commercial highlighting the Jindal's views on immigration.
The fresh buy of ads to be aired from July 13 to August 2 in Des Moines, Sioux City and Cedar Rapids is aimed at reaching three-quarters of caucus attendees in the state from where presidential campaigns are traditionally launched.
