At a gathering this week of the National Association of Black Journalists, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appeared for an onstage interview where he was questioned by journalist Rachel Scott. In the course of Trump’s time at the event, Trump staggered listeners by suggesting that Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee for 2024, was being deceptive and/or conniving in identifying as Black. Harris’ father is from Jamaica, and her mother was Indian.
“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?” Trump said. Being biracial is very common.
Though she was careful to not engage directly in campaign rhetoric, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned the comments at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
“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. That is no one’s right. It is someone’s own decisions. It is — I’ll add this. Only she can speak to her experience. Only she can speak to what it’s like. She’s the only person that can do that. And I think it’s insulting for anybody — it doesn’t matter if it’s a former leader, a former president — it is insulting,” Jean-Pierre told journalists.
Trump was also questioned at the event about past tirades of his against targets including Barack Obama and four Congresswomen of color. He didn’t take well to the questioning, complaining to Scott that she supposedly wasn’t being nice enough… or something.
