On July 3, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump in a 30-minute wide-ranging Question and Answer event before the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention, took racial swipes at Vice President Kamala Harris by challenging her racial identity.
Trump was interviewed by a panel of African American Journalists that included ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Semafor’s Kadia Goba and Fox News’ Harris Faulkner. Rachel Scott began the interview by asking Trump this:
“You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. 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 ‘rabid’ to describe Black district attorneys. You have attacked Black journalists, calling them a ‘loser,’ saying the questions they ask are, quote, ‘stupid’ and ‘racist.’ You’ve had dinner with a White supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So my question, sir – now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”
Trump immediately became combative and asked Scott if she was with ABC news, saying the network was “a fake news network” and “a terrible network.” Trump said this:
“Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question so – in such a horrible manner, first question. You don’t even say, ‘Hello. How are you?’ … I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country. I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country, including employment, including opportunity zones with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. … I’ve done so much, and, you know, I say this: Historically Black colleges and universities were out of money, they were stone cold broke, and I saved them. I gave them long-term financing, and nobody else was doing it.”
Scott then asked if Trump found it acceptable that some Republicans on Capitol Hill have referred to Harris as a “DEI hire” using the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion. Trump said this:
“I really don’t know. Could be. Could be.”
Trump then went on to say this about Vice President Kamala Harris:
“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting 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? … 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 went – she became a Black person. … I think somebody should look into that too.”
Shortly after the panel ended, Trump on his Truth Social doubled down on his attack against Harris’ racial identity, sharing a video where she is cooking with actress Mindy Kaling, who is of South Asian decent. During the video, Harris and Kaling talk about their Indian culture. Harris in the video told Kaling that she looks like “the entire one half of my family.”
Harris is the first female vice president in U.S. history and also the first Black woman to hold the office. As a college undergraduate, Harris attended Howard University, the nation’s most prominent historically Black college and university, where she also pledged the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. She later attended the University of California, Hastings College of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctorate degree. As a U.S. senator, Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, supporting legislation to strengthen voting rights and to reform policing.
Harris for President Communications Director Michael Tyler criticized Trump’s comments and said this:
“Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency. … [H]e failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who was hosting a White House press briefing at the same time as Trump’s appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists. She was read Trump’s comments on Harris’ and Jean-Pierre said this:
“Wow! As a person of color – as a Black woman, who is in this position that is standing before you at this podium, behind this lectern – what he just said, what you just read out to me, is repulsive. It’s insulting, and, you know, no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That is no one’s right. It is someone’s own decision.”
Vice President Harris responded to Trump’s National Association of Black Journalists interview the same day during remarks in Houston, Texas. Harris was addressing a historically Black sorority, Sigma Gamma Sorority, during its 60th Biennial Boule. Harris said this:
“It was the same old show − the divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say: The American people deserve better. The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us.”
TRUMP’S OTHER CONTROVERSIAL REMARKS
Trump’s racial attacks on Harris were not the only controversial remarks Trump made to the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention.
THE SONYA MASSEY KILLING
Sonya Massey is the elderly African American woman who had called for law enforcement help earlier this month in her apartment. She was shot in the face and killed by Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean P. Grayson who said Massey had a pot of boiling water she was about to throw on him when he shot her. Grayson has been charged with murder. The killing has sparked national outrage.
Trump was met with loud gasps from the audience of black journalists when he said he was unfamiliar with the details of the Massey shooting. Trump said he “doesn’t know the exact case but I saw something” when asked about the case. Trump said this about the shooting without using Massy’s name:
“You’re talking with the water right? … It didn’t look good to me. It didn’t look good to me.”
Trump has previously said that police should get immunity from prosecution if he won the 2024 presidential race. Political reporter Kadia Goba asked whether Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean P. Grayson, who is charged with the Massey murder, should have immunity. Trump sidestepped the question by talking about gun violence in Chicago. When asked again by Goba, Trump said that he would help a person who “made an innocent mistake” implying the killing was an innocent mistake. Trump said this:
“If I felt or if a group of people would feel that somebody was being unfairly prosecuted because the person did a good job, maybe with a crime, or made a mistake, an innocent mistake…I would want to help that person.”
STEALINNG BLACK AMERICAN JOBS
Trump doubled down on comments he has made accusing immigrants of stealing the jobs of Black Americans. Trump said this:
“I will tell you that coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs”.
ABC News senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott quickly followed up and asked:
“What exactly is a ‘Black job,’ sir,”
Trump responded “A Black job is anybody that has a job” and continued to use racist rhetoric against migrants coming to the United States.
At one point, Trump said this:
“I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.”
The audience responded with a mix of boos and little applause.
PLEDGE TO PARDON JANUARY 6 CAPITOL RIOTERS
Trump was asked about his pledge to pardon people convicted for their roles in the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and specifically whether he would pardon those who assaulted police officers. Trump said this:
“Oh, absolutely I would. … If they’re innocent, I would pardon them.”
It was pointed out to Trump they have been convicted and therefore are not innocent. Trump responded:
“Well, they were convicted by a very, very tough system.”
Trump defended his supporters who entered the Capitol on January 6 by saying “Nothing is perfect in life.”
Trump went on to compare the 2021 insurrection to the protests in Minneapolis and other cities in 2020 following the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and to more recent protests at the Capitol last week by demonstrators opposed to the war in Gaza. Trump falsely claimed that no one was arrested in those other demonstrations and that only his supporters were targeted.
As Trump made the comparison, a man in the back of the room shouted out, “Sir, have you no shame?”
Links to relied upon and quoted news sources are here:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/31/politics/donald-trump-kamala-harris-black-nabj/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-kamala-harris-black-nabj-convention-chicago/
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/watch/trump-says-he-didn-t-know-vp-harris-was-black-216104005894
https://apnews.com/article/trump-black-journalists-convention-nabj-1e96aa530e88013ed6f577feaf89ccb6
COMMENTARY AND ANALYISIS
Throughout his political career, Trump repeatedly questioned the backgrounds of opponents who are racial minorities. He did that with President Barrack Obama questioning his birth in the United States as well as Republican Niki Haley. Trumps attacks become more and more vicious when it comes to woman. Trump on more than one occasion has made it clear with his words and conduct that he is a racist of the highest degree who is not fit to be president.