Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump questioned his opponent Kamala Harris’ ethnicity July 31 during a combative interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago.
“I’ve known her a long time indirectly, not directly very much, and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” said the former president. “I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as a Black.”
“So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black? I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t. Because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person,” said Trump.
DEI Hire?
ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott — who moderated the interview while fending off several personal attacks — was asking the candidate: “Do you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a Black woman?”
“I really don’t know. I mean, I really don’t know. Could be,” responded Trump.
Harris had offered to join the conference via Zoom, but was turned down. She later responded with a tweet. “Let me just say: The American people deserve better than Donald Trump’s divisiveness and disrespect.”
Racist, Misogynistic Remarks
In an interview on CNN, Rep. Steven Horsford, a Democrat form Nevada and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Trump’s remarks, regarding Harris “turning Black,” were “offensive, insulting, and racist.” He noted that Harris joined the CBC when she served in the Senate and “remains a lifetime member.”
“Today, Donald Trump demonstrated immediately his racist, misogynistic lack of character,” tweeted actor Wendell Pierce. “His description of the Vice President was repulsive and demonstrative of his low character without any policy plans or visions of the future. He showed the world the nasty bigot he has always been.”
Social media exploded with barbs against NABJ for allowing Trump to have a forum at the conference. NABJ convention co-chair Karen Attiah announced July 30 that she was stepping down, tweeting: “While my decision was influenced by a variety of factors, I was not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format.” Black Enterprise CEO Earl Graves also disaffiliated from the event.
NABJ Condemned
Last week, the National Newspaper Publishers Association condemned NABJ for inviting Trump to the convention.
Scott addressed the issue directly at the start of the interview. “A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today. You have told four congresswomen of color who were American citizens to go back to where they came from. You have used words like animal and rabbit to describe black district attorneys. You’ve attacked black journalists. So my question, sir, is why should black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”
Trump rebuked Scott. “I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner.” He called ABC a “fake network.”
‘Love Black Population’
“I love the Black population of this country. I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country,” he said, noting his “opportunity zones” initiative, which aimed to create employment in low income areas by providing tax breaks to business people setting up companies in those regions.
“Historically Black colleges and universities were out of money. They were stone cold broke. And I saved them and I gave them long term financing and nobody else was doing it.”
“I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” stated Trump.
