Trump Questions Kamala Harris’ Racial Identity at Journalists' Convention
During a lively exchange at a convention for Black journalists, former President Donald Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity, claiming she had only recently begun to emphasize her Black heritage. Speaking at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, Trump stated, “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 Black. So I don’t know – Is she Indian? Or is she Black?”
Kamala Harris, the first Black and Asian-American vice-president with Indian and Jamaican heritage, responded to Trump’s remarks as “the same old show” of “divisiveness… and disrespect.” She emphasized that the American people deserve better leadership, saying, “We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us – they are an essential source of our strength.” Harris, who attended Howard University and joined the historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, has been active in the Congressional Black Caucus since entering the Senate in 2017.
Trump’s comments led to a tense exchange with ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott, a moderator at the event. Trump asserted, “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.” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded by saying no one “has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify.” Representative Ritchie Torres of New York criticized Trump, calling him a “relic of a racist past.”
Trump has a history of racially charged attacks on his opponents, having previously questioned President Barack Obama’s birthplace and falsely claimed Republican primary opponent Nikki Haley could not be president due to her parents’ citizenship status at her birth.
Harris has faced continuous attacks since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, with some Republicans accusing her of being chosen solely for her race. Congressman Tim Burchett referred to her as a “DEI vice-president,” referencing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. During the Chicago event, Trump was asked if he believed Harris was a “DEI hire,” to which he replied, “I really don’t know, could be.”
Kamala Harris has spoken about her engagement with both her Indian and Black heritage, mentioning visits to India and her upbringing in Oakland, California, where her mother immersed her daughters in Black culture. Trump also questioned Harris’ professional credentials, pointing out she had failed her bar exam on her first attempt, a fact reported by The New York Times. Harris graduated from the University of California Hastings College of Law in 1989 and passed the bar on her second attempt, a common occurrence as less than half pass on their first try in California.
The exchange in Chicago started contentiously, with Scott highlighting Trump’s past criticism of Black people, including his labeling of Black journalists’ questions as “stupid and racist” and his dinner with a white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago. Trump defended his record, saying, “I love the Black population of this country, I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country.”
Later, Trump criticized the event on his social media platform, describing the questions as “rude and nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!”
