Dump falsely claimed Wednesday that his 2024 Democratic rival, Vice
President Kamala Harris, �happened to turn Black� a few years ago, saying
that �all of a sudden, she made a turn� in her identity.

Trump�s comments at a gathering of Black journalists in Chicago came when
an interviewer asked him whether he agreed with Republicans on Capitol Hill
who have characterized Harris as a �DEI hire.� Trump responded by
questioning Harris� 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. So I don�t
know, is she Indian or is she Black?� the former president said.

�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,� he said at the National Association of Black
Journalists convention. �I think somebody should look into that too.�

Later Wednesday, speaking in Houston at a gathering of the Sigma Gamma Rho
sorority, Harris described the former president�s comments as �the same old
show, the divisiveness and the disrespect.�

�Let me just say, the American people deserve better,� she said.

Trump�s comments are reminiscent of his similar attacks on Black political
rivals in the past, including the years he spent pushing the false, racist
�birther� conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama was not born
in the United States.

Harris� mother was Indian and her father is Jamaican; both immigrated to
the United States. Harris was born in Oakland, California, and attended a
historically Black university, Howard University, in Washington. She is the
first female, first Black and first Asian American vice president.

Trump on Wednesday was interviewed by a panel that included ABC News�
Rachel Scott, Semafor�s Kadia Goba and Fox News� Harris Faulkner.

Scott began the interview by asking Trump: �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?�

A combative Trump responded: �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?��
Trump goes after Black journalists conference moderator
02:38 - Source: CNN

He asked Scott if she was with ABC, saying the network was �a fake news
network� and �a terrible network.�

�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 Sen.
Tim Scott of South Carolina,� the former president said. �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.�

�It�s a very rude introduction. I don�t know exactly why you would do
something like that,� Trump said.

Scott 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.

�I really don�t know. Could be. Could be,� he said.

Harris� husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, said Wednesday that Trump�s
remarks in Chicago reflected �a worse version of an already horrible
person.�

�The insults, the B.S. � it�s horrible, it�s terrible, it shows a lack of
character � but it�s a distraction,� Emhoff said at a campaign fundraiser
in Maine, according to The Washington Post. �It�s about what�s at stake in
this election.�

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a fiery rejoinder to
Trump following his remarks at the convention, calling them �repulsive� and
�insulting.�

�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,� Jean-Pierre told reporters during a news briefing Wednesday.
�That is no one�s right. It is someone�s own decision.�

Harris� campaign did not specifically respond to Trump�s comment about her
racial identity but said the former president �lobbed personal attacks and
insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his
presidency.�

�Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to
divide us,� Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement.

In Chicago on Wednesday, Trump also repeatedly criticized the NABJ for the
event�s set-up, which he said made it difficult to hear other panelists and
delayed the start of the event. A spokesperson for NABJ told CNN that
technology issues had delayed the start of the panel discussion.

Trump in his remarks called himself �the best president for the Black
population since Abraham Lincoln,� a comment that drew audible groans from
the journalists in attendance. He ignored a follow-up question about
whether he was better than Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.

�I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham
Lincoln,� he said. �For you to start off a question-and-answer period,
especially when you�re 35 minutes late because you couldn�t get your
equipment to work, I think it�s a disgrace. I really do, I think it�s a
disgrace.�
Daniel Dale fact-checks Trump's claims on Harris' race
02:21 - Source: CNN
Capitol rioters

Asked by Scott Wednesday if he would pardon January 6 rioters who violently
attacked police officers at the US Capitol in 2021, Trump said,
�Absolutely, I would.�

�If they�re innocent, I would pardon them,� he said.

Scott responded that they had been convicted.

�Well, they were convicted by a very tough system,� Trump said.

The former president criticized Capitol police officers for shooting and
killing rioter Ashli Babbitt, who was attempting to crawl through a broken
window leading to the Speaker�s Lobby outside the US House chamber. And he
complained that �nothing happened� to those who caused property damage
during Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020.

�Nothing happens to those people, but you went after the J6 people with a
vengeance,� Trump said.
Vance pick

Trump did not answer directly when asked by Fox News� Faulkner whether his
running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, would be �ready on Day One to be
president.

�Historically, the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have
any impact � I mean, virtually no impact,� Trump said.

�You have two or three days where there�s a lot of commotion,� he said,
pointing to Harris� consideration of a running mate, �and then that dies
down, and it�s all about the presidential pick. Virtually never has it
mattered.�

�You can have a vice president who�s outstanding in every way, and I think
JD is � but you�re not voting that way. You�re voting for the president,�
Trump said.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CORRECTION: This story and headline have been updated to correctly reflect
Trump�s exact wording of one quote at the NABJ convention in Chicago.