
At a tense Q&A session on Wednesday at a convention of Black journalists, Donald Trump made a hostile appearance. The conversation at times revolved around Vice President Kamala Harris‘s race.
Trump asserted that Harris, an Indian American and Black person, was not aware of his race until a few years ago. Then, he blatantly implied that she had only lately chosen to “turn Black” for political purposes.
“Indirectly, I’ve known her for a long time,” Trump remarked. She solely promoted Indian heritage and was always of Indian descent. She turned Black a few years ago, and now she wants to be known as Black. Before then, I had no idea she was Black.
“I have respect for both of them,” he continued, “but it’s clear that she doesn’t because she was raised Indian her entire life before abruptly changing her identity to Black. Someone needs to investigate that as well.
“Is she Black or Indian?” he enquired.
As one of the three moderators on the National Association of Black Journalists panel, Rachel Scott of ABC News brought up the fact that Harris—the de facto Democratic presidential nominee—went to Howard University, a historically Black university. Trump stayed silent in response.
The conversation started when Scott questioned why more and more Republicans were calling Harris a “DEI hire,” a reference to workplace practices that support “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Some on the right are using it more and more to disparage persons of color who hold different political opinions.
At last, Trump declared that he was “not sure” if Harris was a DEI hire.
The campaign for Harris referred to Trump’s appearance at the NABJ luncheon as a “complete disaster.”
According to a campaign spokesman, “This is who he is.”
In Houston on Wednesday night, Harris spoke about the scandal herself during an event hosted by the historically Black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho.
“It was the same old performance, with its contempt and division,” Harris stated. “Let me also add that the people of America need to deserve better. Better is due to the people of America.”
Although Harris was unable to attend the organization’s annual convention, the two parties are arranging a future meeting time.
Steven Cheung, the communications director, responded to NBC News’s request for a statement from the Trump campaign regarding the nearly instantaneous blowback from his remarks regarding Harris’ race by saying, “Backlash from the truth?”
He declared, “These people have to be insane.”
According to NBC News, a person with knowledge of the discussions between NABJ leadership and the Trump campaign claimed that he was taken aback by the news that NABJ and PolitiFact were collaborating to fact-check the exchange in real time. For the sake of candor, the source asked to remain anonymous.
The insider claimed that after an ABC journalist’s opening statements mentioning the fact check were leaked, Trump’s team learned of it.
When questioned about the live fact check by Trump’s team, a member of NABJ’s executive team responded, “I don’t know anything about that,” the person claimed.
The insider claims that the NABJ promised to comply with all requirements made by Trump’s campaign, including those related to format.
A comment request was not answered by a NABJ spokesperson.
NBC News presented Trump’s remarks to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre during the White House press conference on Wednesday, which coincided with the NABJ event, and asked her to reply.
“What he just said, what you just read out to me is revolting as a person of color — as a Black woman in this position that is standing before you at this platform, behind this lectern. It is demeaning. Furthermore, nobody has the authority to dictate to another person who they are or how they identify. Nobody has that right,” she remarked.
Trump’s remarks, according to a person close to Harris, were “painful.”
It’s just a lie, and it can be proven, this guy continued. She visited Howard, for heaven’s sake! She goes by AKA.
Harris belonged to the historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority while she was a student at Howard.
Additionally, Trump was questioned about his remarks made during the June presidential debate, in which he said that immigrants were entering the country and stealing “Black jobs.”
He defined a Black job as “anyone that has a job.” That’s the reality. People of color are losing their jobs to those who have it. They are invading, and they are entering at an increasing rate.
Early in 2024, the Trump team made a determined effort to declare that it will work hard to win over more Black voters. His 2020 victory of 12% was the largest proportion of any Republican presidential contender in modern history, and the campaign’s goal for November was to secure almost 20%. Previous to President Joe Biden withdrawing from the contest and Harris taking his position as the presumed Democratic contender, an NBC News poll had Trump at 12% among Black voters.
There was a lot of internal debate within NABJ in the days before the event on whether or not Trump ought to have been invited at all. In the past, Trump has called Black female journalists “stupid,” “losers,” and “nasty,” compared Black prosecutor to a “animal,” and advised Black Democratic members of Congress to “go back” to their home states. These remarks were met with criticism from the National Association of Black Journalists in 2019.
On social media, a number of the group’s members voiced their disapproval of his offer, and NABJ co-chair Karen Attiah resigned in apparent response to the Trump request.
The Washington Post columnist Attiah stated on social media, “Even if a lot of things had an impact on my choice, I had no input whatsoever into the choice to endorse Trump in this manner.”
Co-chair of the event and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Washington journalist Tia Mitchell supported the Trump invitation on social media.
She remarked, “Some of you need to step back and ask why you’re questioning why a group of JOURNALISTS wants to ask questions of former and possibly future President Trump.”
Attending the conference was Malik Mitchell, a high school sports reporter for North Metro TV in Minnesota, who mentioned he was hearing about the controversy from family members.
“My relatives were forwarding me headlines about Trump’s arrival and his immediate response,” he stated as he arrived at the hotel this morning. “I anticipated there would likely be a lot of commotion.”
He stated that Trump “does not fit in that bubble” and that the event is about “Black excellence.”
He remarked, “It’s like when you invite someone for dinner after they’ve insulted you on the street.” “It seems that way to me.”
Recent Howard University alumna Amya Henry stated she wished to “see for herself” what Trump’s remarks would be.
According to Henry, “I think it went well.” “I was a little suspicious at first. yet, it was simply an intriguing period of time.
As the question-and-answer period got underway, Trump did little to defuse the tension. He called Scott’s question, which asked why Black people should trust him, “nasty.”
Trump remarked, “I don’t think I have ever been asked a question in such a terrible way.”
He also made multiple jabs at Scott and ABC News throughout the event, claiming that he was invited on “false pretenses” because his Democratic opponent was not present. Trump is not happy that ABC News is set to host the upcoming presidential debate, which has led to a growing rift between the two in recent weeks.
For the majority of the event, Trump engaged Scott in direct combat. At one point, he even seemed to reach over and grab her water bottle in an attempt to tighten the top.
Following their initial back and forth, Trump continued to defend his standing among African American voters.
Trump remarked, “I thought it was a very nasty question.” “Relative to Black Americans, I have been the best president since Abraham Lincoln.”
When Scott inquired more about President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Trump remained silent.
Trump was also questioned about his running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who has had a difficult transition due to fresh criticism over remarks he made about “childless cat ladies,” a term he coined to disparage the leadership qualities of those, primarily women, who choose not to have children.
Despite stating that the moderators would need to “ask” Vance directly, Trump offered his analysis of the remarks that have come to characterize the man who would be his running mate.
“He’s implying that having a family is a significant and positive thing,” Trump stated.
He dismissed Vance’s political significance in the same sentence.
Trump declared, “Historically, the vice president has no bearing on the election.” “You have a busy couple of days with lots of commotion. and after that, everything stops and the presidential candidate is discussed.
Speaking to reporters on the tarmac of the Phoenix airport on Wednesday night, Vance said that Trump’s attendance at NABJ demonstrated “one of the nice things about him, the president doesn’t do scripted BS stuff.”
Vance went on, “He actually addresses hostile audiences.” “He responds to challenging inquiries. He retaliates against him, but he also responds to them. It’s great to have an American leader that isn’t scared to confront difficult situations and provide thoughtful responses.
Vance continued by calling Harris a “chameleon” and claiming that she had “flip-flopped on every issue.”
Vance went on, “I believe he highlighted Kamala Harris’s basic chameleon-like quality.” “You guys saw her yesterday, right? She dressed up in a southern accent for a Georgian audience.”
When asked if Vance wondered if Harris was Black, he “I wonder why she adopts a different stance for each crowd she addresses. She also seems to say different things to different audiences depending on which audience she is addressing.”
In addition, Trump was questioned about remarks he made in May about providing police “immunity from prosecution” during a rally in Wisconsin.
Journalist Kadia Goba of Semafor asked Trump on the matter in light of a recent incident in Illinois involving Black lady Sonya Massey, who was shot and killed by police after dialing 911. The policeman, Sean Grayson, has entered a not-guilty plea to the counts of official misconduct, aggravated violence with a firearm, and first-degree murder.
Trump appeared to revert, saying that the Chicago shooting “did not look good to me” and that cops should not be granted unrestricted impunity.
“Being a bad person and making an innocent mistake are two very different things,” Trump declared. “But I would want to help someone if they made an innocent mistake.”
He continued by saying that when it’s a “close call and very dangerous,” police should be immune.