Kamala Harris responds to Trump calling her 'nasty': 'My primary interest is to pursue justice'

'I think that's what the American people want in a leader'

It looks like Donald Trump has found his “nasty” woman for the 2020 presidential campaign trail.

Kamala Harris was forced to respond after the president once again called her “nasty” — the second time in a week — following her high-profile questioning of his Attorney General William Barr on Capitol Hill. A clip of the California Democrat and 2020 hopeful grilling Mr Barr over his handling of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report went viral Wednesday, after he failed to answer whether the president or anyone in the White House suggested the Justice Department launch an investigation into anyone.

“We have a president of the United States whose primary interest I think that has been clear as a result of what we know as a result of the Mueller report, his primary interest has been to obstruct justice,” Ms Harris said in an interview with CNN.

“My primary interest is to pursue justice,” she continued. “You can call that whatever name you want, but I think that's what the American people want in a leader.”

The comments arrived after Mr Trump discussed her line of questioning in an interview on Fox Business, saying “she was probably very nasty.” It also follows a history the president has with referring to his female critics and opponents as “nasty,” a term women in The Resistance movement adopted after his election in 2016.

Mr Trump said Ms Harris has “a little bit of a nasty wit” in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity just days earlier.

In 2016, he referred to Hillary Clinton as “such a nasty woman” after she explained how both of their Social Security payroll contributions would rise under her plan to tax the wealthy, and joked that he may try to “get out of it.”

He’s also referred to women as “fat,” “ugly,” and “horseface,” among other disparaging comments.

Ms Harris has been travelling across critical states in the upcoming Democratic primaries since launching her campaign for the White House, taking aim at the current administration over its economic, immigration and health care policies.

She’s also frequently hit Mr Trump against accusations he obstructed justice throughout the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Ms Harris sits on the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee.