Meghan Markle's pal compares Duchess of Sussex's treatment to that of Kamala Harris

Bouzy, 49, is an American tech entrepreneur known for founding Bot Sentinel, a social media analytics service that tracks disinformation, inauthentic behaviour and targeted harassment.

He has spoken about former President Donald Trump's recent comments regarding Harris, where he claimed she "happened to turn black".

Harris's father, Donald J Harris, is a Jamaican-American economist, while her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was from India.

The tech expert said: "Donald Trump's recent comments questioning Vice President Kamala Harris's racial identity are not just offensive but part of a disturbing pattern of undermining the identities of women of colour.

"His remarks that Harris was 'always of Indian heritage' until 'she happened to turn black' are not only factually incorrect but echo the harmful rhetoric that Meghan Markle has faced from social media trolls.

"Both women have been subjected to racially charged scrutiny and attempts to invalidate their experiences and identities."

Bouzy continued to tell Newsweek: "This kind of divisive and disrespectful commentary has no place in our society and underscores the urgent need for leaders who celebrate our diversity rather than exploit it for political gain."

Trump's remarks to the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago drew audible gasps from the audience and were challenged by the interviewer.

Meghan, 42, has been open about her struggles experiencing racism in the past.

In her 2022 Archetypes podcast, the Duchess of Sussex said it was only when she moved to the UK and experienced trolling that she felt she was living the experience of a black woman.

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During a conversation with Mariah Carey, Meghan said: "I think for us it's so different because we're light-skinned.

"You're not treated as a black woman, you're not treated as a white woman. You sort of fit in between.

"If there's any time in my life that it's been more focused on my race it's only once I started dating my husband.

"Then I started to understand what it was like to be treated like a Black woman because up until then I had been treated like a mixed woman. And things really shifted."