Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appeared Wednesday for an interview onstage at the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists — and he promptly started complaining about the pointed questions posed in the discussion by journalist Rachel Scott.
Scott referenced some of Trump’s past tirades against targets including Barack Obama and four Congresswomen of color. “You have used words like ‘animal’ and ‘rabid’ to describe Black district attorneys,” the journalist added. “You’ve attacked Black journalists, calling them a loser, saying the questions that they ask are ‘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?”
“Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner — first question,” Trump told her. “You don’t even say ‘hello, how are you?’ Are you with ABC? ‘Cause I think they’re a fake news network — a terrible network. And I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country.”
Later in the discussion, Trump suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris — now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee for the year — was being deceptive or conniving in characterizing herself as Black. One of her parents was Indian; the other is Jamaican.
“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 opined. Being biracial or otherwise of varying backgrounds is extremely common.
