Former President Trump Wednesday accused Kamala Harris of not really being Black, falsely claiming that she identified only as a South Asian person until recently.
Trump claimed that his Democratic rival, whose father is a Jamaican immigrant and mother was from India, started claiming Black heritage recently to win political points.
“I didn’t know [Harris] was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black,” Trump said at a convention for the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. “Now she wants to be known as Black.”
“She was Indian all the way,” added Trump, who repeatedly mispronounced Harris’s first name. “And then she made a turn and she became a Black person.”
Trump also doubled down on his controversial claim that undocumented immigrants are taking so-called “Black jobs.”
Asked what he means by that term, Trump said: “It’s any job.”
“These people are coming into our country and their taking Black jobs and Hispanic jobs and quite frankly union jobs,” he said. “They’re taking your jobs.”
Trump took a combative stance from the opening seconds of the forum with a panel of Black journalists, including Harris Faulkner of Fox News, ABC’s Rachel Scott and Semafor’s Kadia Goba.
He accused Scott of being “rude” and “disgraceful” for asking a pointed question about what he has done for Black Americans.
“I love the Black population,” Trump said. “I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.”
Trump dodged questions about JD Vance, his vice presidential pick, who has endured a rocky rollout on the national political scene.
He defended Vance’s attacks on Americans who do not have children, saying they amounted to “pro-family” views, and claimed he was not aware of Vance’s proposal to give more votes to parents of young children.
“The Republican Party, I’ve made them much less radical,” Trump said.
Trump also defended his fitness to serve even though he would be older than President Biden by the end of a four-year term.
“I know many people in their 80s and 90s who are in great shape,” Trump said.
He said he would be willing to take a cognitive test and suggested Harris might fail such a test.
Harris is expected to hold a similar event with NABJ journalists virtually in September, organizers said.
Trump’s appearance sparked controversy within NABJ, the main group representing Black journalists.
Karen Attiah, a Washington Post editor and rising media star, stepped down as board member and convention co-chair to protest giving a platform to the former president.
NABJ officials say the sit down with Trump furthers the group’s mission to offer diverse political perspectives to the Black community and give Black journalists access to newsmakers.
