Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump falsely suggested to the
country's largest annual gathering of Black journalists on Wednesday that
his Democratic rival Kamala Harris had previously downplayed her Black
heritage.

"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," Trump
said, drawing a smattering of jeers from an audience of about 1,000 people.

"So I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?" Trump continued. "But you
know what, I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't, because she was
Indian all the way, and all of a sudden she made a turn and became a Black
person."

Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, has long self-identified as
both Black and South Asian. She is the first Black and South Asian American
to serve as U.S. vice-president.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is seen speaking in Houston, Texas, on
Wednesday.
Speaking in Houston on Wednesday, U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris said
that Donald Trump's remarks about her identity were 'yet another reminder'
of what the four years under the former U.S. president looked like.
(Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Hours after Trump's comments, Harris told members of the historically Black
sorority Sigma Gamma Rho gathered in Houston that his remarks were "yet
another reminder" of what the four years under the former U.S. president
looked like.

"It was the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect," Harris said.
"The American people deserve better."

Since launching her White House campaign earlier this month, Harris has
faced a barrage of sexist and racist attacks online, with some far-right
accounts questioning her racial identity.

Republican Party leaders have urged lawmakers to refrain from personal
attacks and focus on her policy positions.
Prior insults from Trump

Trump himself has used personal insults against Harris and said he was
going to ignore advice that he tone down his rhetoric in this campaign.
"I'm not gonna be nice!" he told supporters at one campaign rally.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump is seen on stage at the Chicago-hosted
convention of the U.S. National Association of Black Journalists on
Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

The interview at the U.S. National Association of Black Journalists' (NABJ)
annual convention in Chicago started on a tense note, when ABC News
reporter Rachel Scott � one of three Black women moderators � listed a
series of racist comments Trump had made and asked why Black voters should
support him.

In response, Trump called the question "horrible," "hostile" and a
"disgrace" and described ABC as a "fake" network.

"I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham
Lincoln," he boasted, returning to a claim he has made in the past and also
drawing groans from the audience.

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Trump repeated a line from the presidential debate in June, claiming that
migrants crossing the U.S. southern border would take away "Black jobs," a
term that drew criticism from some Black leaders.

"What exactly is a 'Black job,' sir?" Scott asked him.

"A Black job is anybody with a job," Trump replied.

Trump also declined to say on Wednesday whether Harris was a "DEI hire," as
some Republicans have claimed, saying, "I don't know."
Trump comments on Harris's racial identity 'insulting,' says White House
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says former president Donald
Trump's 'went Black' comments about Vice-President Kamala Harris are not
only insulting, but repulsive to her as a woman of colour.

DEI stands for "diversity, equity and inclusion" initiatives aimed at
increasing representation of women and people of colour in the workforce to
address longstanding inequities and discrimination. The term "DEI hire" is
now used to suggest a person is not qualified and was chosen on the basis
of race, gender or membership in other minority groups.

When asked about his position on granting police officers immunity
following the death of Sonya Massey, a Black woman who was shot and killed
by a sheriff's deputy in Illinois, Trump acknowledged that he didn't know
much about the case � drawing some gasps from the crowd � but added that
"it didn't look good to me."

The interview began more than an hour late, which the Trump campaign said
was due to problems with the event's audio equipment. Both Trump and the
moderators were sometimes unable to hear each other during the interview.

The session, originally scheduled for an hour, ended abruptly after 30
minutes when the campaign said he was out of time, according to the
moderators.

At a rally in Pennsylvania later on Wednesday, Trump did not mention his
comments about Harris's racial identity, but the arena's screens showed old
news articles highlighting her Indian-American background, and not her
Black heritage, before he took the stage.
'Sir, have you no shame?'

Trump's invitation had received a backlash from some members, prompting a
co-chair of the convention to step down in protest.

During the interview, some of Trump's false statements were met with
murmurs and laughter from the crowd.
Demonstrators opposing Donald Trump's presidential candidacy are seen
outside the Chicago-hosted convention of the U.S. National Association of
Black Journalists on Wednesday.
Demonstrators opposing Trump's presidential candidacy are seen outside the
convention on Wednesday. (Dieu-Nalio Chery/Reuters)

At one point, someone yelled out, "Sir, have you no shame?" before others
shushed him.

Leah Mallory, a 21-year-old student at Fordham University, described the
conversation as "unreal."

"I honestly feel like it wasn't as conducive as we hoped it would be," she
said. "I feel like what we heard were several things that he said before,
and there were questions that weren't fully answered."

Nana aba Duncan, an associate professor of journalism at Carleton
University, said some NABJ members had concerns over the organization
allowing itself to "platform this person," but others felt a duty to attend
Trump's appearance and to witness what he did "in the name of journalism."

Duncan, a former CBC Radio host, questioned Trump's motivation for
appearing at the event, which she attended on Wednesday.

"I'm not sure he was there to talk to the Black journalists," said Duncan,
who is also the founder of the Mary Ann Shadd Cary Centre for Journalism
and Belonging.

Trump has been actively courting Black voters and has held events in cities
with large Black populations, including Atlanta, where he plans to have a
rally on Saturday.

His campaign was encouraged by polls showing weakened support among Black
men for U.S. President Joe Biden, his former Democratic opponent. Black
voters are traditionally the most loyal Democratic voting bloc. Biden won
Black voters in 2020, according to Pew Research, with 92 per cent
supporting him.

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Biden was running

But Biden's decision to step down in favour of Harris has shaken up the
race, with public opinion polls showing newfound enthusiasm for her
candidacy among voters of colour and younger voters.

A national Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed Harris leading
Trump 43 per cent to 42 per cent, a result that was within the poll's
margin of error.

Biden's exit from the presidential ticket has allowed Harris to be the
centre of attention, said Bob Butler, a former NABJ president who saw Trump
speak on Wednesday.

"She has commanded the news feed, she's commanded the conversation," Butler
told CBC's Canada Tonight.

That reality has left Trump wanting to recapture the spotlight, he said.