CHICAGO: Donald Trump wrongly accused Kamala Harris of misinforming voters about her race as the former president appeared before the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago on Wednesday, in an interview that quickly turned into a heated debate.
The former Republican president has falsely claimed that Harris, the first black and Asian-American woman to serve as vice president, has only promoted her Indian heritage in the past.
“I only found out she was black a few years ago when she accidentally became black and now she wants to be known as black. So I don't know if she's Indian or black,” Trump said during his annual rally.
Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both of whom were immigrants to the United States. As an undergraduate, Harris attended Howard University, one of the nation's most prestigious historically black colleges and universities, where she pledged to the historically black Alpha Kappa Alpha fraternity. As a U.S. Senator, Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, supporting her colleagues' legislation to strengthen voting rights and reform law enforcement.
Trump has been widely critical of Harris since she replaced President Joe Biden in last week's presidential election. Throughout his political career, the former president has repeatedly questioned the background of his minority opponent.
“The hostility that Donald Trump displayed on stage today is the same hostility that he has displayed throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his presidential campaign as he seeks to reclaim power,” Michael Tyler, Harris’s campaign communications director, said in a statement.
“Trump is attacking and disparaging black journalists in the same way he has throughout his presidency, while failing black families and allowing the entire country to dig the ditch he left for us,” Tyler said. “Donald Trump has proven that he cannot unite America, so he is trying to divide us.”
During a press briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about Trump's remarks, to which she responded in disbelief, initially muttering, “Wow.”
Jean-Pierre, who is black, called Trump’s remarks “disgusting,” saying: “It’s an insult and no one has the right to tell anyone who they are by who they identify themselves.”
Trump has repeatedly attacked his opponents and critics based on race. He rose to prominence in Republican political circles by spreading the false theory that President Barack Obama, the country's first black president, was not born in the United States. “Birtherism,” as it is now known, is only the beginning of Trump's history of questioning the qualifications and qualities of black politicians.
He has denied allegations of racism, and after Biden chose Harris as his running mate four years ago, a Trump campaign spokesperson pointed to Trump's previous political donations to Harris as evidence that he is not a racist.
“The president has donated to candidates of all political parties as a private businessman, and I will note that Kamala Harris is a black woman, and she has donated to her campaign. So I hope we can put the racism argument to rest now,” Pearson said.
During this year’s Republican primary, he referred to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, as a “Nimbra.”
Trump's appearance at the annual Black Journalists' Day on Wednesday was a heated affair, with the former president lashing out at ABC News interviewer Rachel Scott, accusing her of “introducing him in a rude way” by asking him a harsh first question about his past criticisms of black people and black journalists, his attacks on the black prosecutor who prosecuted him and a dinner he hosted with white supremacists at his Florida club.
“I think it’s a shame,” Trump said. “I came here in good spirits. I love the black people of this country. I’ve done so much for the black people of this country.”
Trump has continued to attack Scott's ABC News network, which he has consistently argued should not host the next presidential debate, despite previously agreeing with Biden's campaign. He has also repeatedly called her tone and questions “rude,” a term he has used to describe women including Hillary Clinton and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
The Republican also repeated his false claim that illegal immigrants are “taking away black jobs.” When Scott asked what a “black job” was, Trump responded by saying, “a black job is anybody who has a job,” causing everyone in the room to groan.
At one point he said, “I’m the best president for black people since Abraham Lincoln.”
The audience responded with boos and applause.
Scott asked Trump about his promise to pardon people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, and specifically whether he would pardon those who assaulted police officers.
“Absolutely, I will,” Trump said, adding, “If they are innocent, I will pardon them.”
Scott points out that they have already been found guilty and are not innocent.
“They are judged by a very strict system,” he said.
As he was defending his supporters as they entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, he once said, “Nothing in life is perfect.”
He compared the 2021 riots to protests in Minneapolis and other cities in 2020 after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and the more recent protests at the Capitol last week by anti-war protesters in Gaza. Trump has falsely claimed that no one was arrested at those other rallies, and that only his supporters were targeted.
As Trump was making the comparison, a man in the back of the room shouted, “Have you no shame?”
The former president's invitation to speak to the organization sparked intense debate within the NABJ that spilled online. The organization for black journalists typically invites presidential candidates to speak at its summer convention in election years.
As he campaigns for a third time for the White House, Trump is trying to reach out beyond his traditional stronghold, and his campaign has praised his efforts to win over black Americans, the Democrats’ most committed voters.
His campaign has focused on his messages about the economy and immigration as part of its campaign, but some of his outreach has also tapped into racial stereotypes, including suggestions that African-Americans would sympathize with the criminal charges he's faced and his promotion of branded sneakers.
Trump and NABJ also have a history of tensions over his treatment of black female journalists. In 2018, NABJ condemned Trump for repeatedly using the words “stupid,” “loser” and “nasty” to describe black female journalists.
While the vice president is not scheduled to appear at the convention, NABJ said in a statement posted on X that it is talking with her campaign to have her appear at the September event, either virtually or in person.
Trump posted on his social media networks that he had been informed he could not attend the virtual event.
“She declined and I am preparing to land in Chicago to be there,” Trump wrote. “I am now being informed that she is holding the event via ZOOM. What is going on here?”
Trump hosted a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday afternoon, where he repeatedly mispronounced Harris' name.
Before he took the stage, Trump’s team flashed a seemingly years-old headline describing Harris as the “first Indian-American senator” on a giant screen in the stadium.
