Former President Donald Trump sparked controversy at the National Association of Black Journalists convention on Wednesday by questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity during a heated exchange.
According to reports available to EKO HOT BLOG, Trump falsely claimed that Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, had only recently begun emphasizing her African-American 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,” he said. “So I don’t know – Is she Indian? Or is she black?”
Harris responded to Trump’s remarks by calling them “the same old show” of “divisiveness… and disrespect.”
Speaking at a meeting of the historically black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho in Houston, she said, “The American people deserve better. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us – they are an essential source of our strength.”
Harris, the first Black and Asian-American vice president, has both Indian and Jamaican parents. She attended Howard University, a historically black university, and joined the predominantly black Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. After entering the Senate in 2017, she became a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Trump’s comments led to a heated exchange with ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott, one of the event’s moderators. “I respect either one,” Trump said regarding Harris’ racial identity. “But she obviously doesn’t because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a black person.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized Trump’s remarks, saying, “No one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That is no one’s right.”
Representative Ritchie Torres of New York asked, “Who appointed Donald Trump the arbiter of Blackness?” and described Trump as a “relic of a racist past.”
This incident is not the first time Trump has attacked opponents based on race. He previously accused Barack Obama, the first Black president, of not being born in the US, and he has attacked former UN ambassador and Republican primary opponent Nikki Haley by falsely claiming she could not be president because her parents were not US citizens when she was born.
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Harris has faced a series of attacks since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, with Republicans criticizing her selection as being based solely on her race.
Tim Burchett, a Republican congressman from Tennessee, referred to her as a “DEI vice-president,” referencing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
When Scott pressed Trump on whether he believed Harris was a “DEI hire,” he replied, “I really don’t know, could be.”
Harris has spoken about her engagement with her Indian heritage and her upbringing immersed in the black culture of Oakland, California. She graduated from the University of California Hastings College of Law in 1989.
According to The New York Times, she failed her first attempt at the bar exam but passed on her second try. The California state bar notes that less than half of those who take the exam pass on their first attempt.
During the Chicago event, Trump also attacked Harris’ credentials, highlighting her early failure on the bar exam.
“I’m just giving you the facts. She didn’t pass her bar exam and she didn’t think she would pass it and she didn’t think she was going to ever pass it and I don’t know what happened. Maybe she passed it,” he said, drawing murmurs from the crowd.
The discussion began contentiously, with Scott questioning Trump’s past criticisms of Black people. She cited incidents where Trump called Black journalists’ questions “stupid and racist” and mentioned his dinner with a white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago. Trump responded, “I love the black population of this country, I’ve done so much for the black population of this country.”
Hours later, Trump criticized the conversation on his social media platform, stating, “The questions were rude and nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!”
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