### Trump Falsely Claims Kamala Harris Misled Voters About Her Race During NABJ Interview
CHICAGO (AP) — Donald Trump falsely suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris had misled voters about her race during a contentious interview at the National Association of Black Journalists' annual convention in Chicago on Wednesday.
The former president incorrectly claimed that Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had previously only emphasized her Indian heritage. “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?” Trump remarked during his address to the group.
Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both immigrants to the U.S. She attended Howard University, a prominent historically Black university, where she joined the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. As a U.S. senator, Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, advocating for legislation to strengthen voting rights and reform policing.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Harris since she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket last week. Throughout his political career, Trump has often questioned the backgrounds of his opponents who are racial minorities. Michael Tyler, the communications director for Harris’ campaign, said in a statement, “The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power.”
“Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency — while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in,” Tyler said. “Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded with disbelief to Trump's remarks, initially murmuring, “Wow.” Jean-Pierre, who is Black, called Trump’s comments “repulsive” and added, “It’s insulting and no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify.”
Trump has a history of attacking his opponents and critics on the basis of race. He gained prominence in Republican politics by promoting the false theory that President Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president, was not born in the United States. This "birtherism" was just the beginning of Trump's history of questioning the credentials and qualifications of Black politicians. He has denied allegations of racism and, after Biden picked Harris as his running mate four years ago, a Trump campaign spokesperson pointed to a previous Trump political donation to Harris as proof that he wasn’t racist.
“The president, as a private businessman, donated to candidates across all aisles,” the spokesperson, Katrina Pierson, told reporters. “And I’ll note that Kamala Harris is a Black woman and he donated to her campaign, so I hope we can squash this racism argument now,” Pierson said.
Later on Wednesday, Trump did not repeat his criticism of Harris’ race at a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, though he called her “phony” and said she has been trying to change her image. He also repeatedly mispronounced her first name.
“If she becomes your president, our country is finished,” Trump asserted.
Before he took the stage, Trump’s team displayed years-old news headlines describing Harris as the “first Indian-American senator” on the big screen in the arena.
Trump’s appearance at the annual gathering of Black journalists quickly became heated, with the former president sparring with interviewer Rachel Scott of ABC News. He accused her of giving him a “very rude introduction” with a tough first question about his past criticism of Black people and Black journalists, his attacks on Black prosecutors pursuing cases against him, and a dinner he had at his Florida club with a white supremacist.
