Trump questions Harris’s Black identity. Harris says Americans ‘deserve better.’

CHICAGO — Former president Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Vice President Harris of once hiding Black heritage she has routinely highlighted in her career, escalating his attacks on her racial identity in a combative interview with Black reporters.

Trump drew audible gasps and disbelieving laughter over the roughly 35-minute sit-down session as he berated a Black reporter who pressed him about past offensive comments, falsely claimed that undocumented immigrants were “taking” attendees’ votes, and suggested Harris “was Indian all the way” before “all of a sudden she made a turn” and “became a Black person.”

By the end of the day, Trump had renewed his broadsides, with a social media post that suggested Harris, who is Black and Indian American, had rejected her Black identity because she once described herself as Indian while discussing Indian food.

Harris - who belongs to a historically Black sorority - condemned Trump’s comments in a Wednesday night speech to a crowd of Black women at another sorority’s convention. “It was the same old show - the divisiveness and the disrespect, and let me just say, the American people deserve better,” she said.

“The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts,” she said.

The remarkable scene earlier at a convention of Black journalists in Chicago underscored how Trump’s own comments, often riddled with false and sensational claims, have hampered his campaign’s hopes to peel away Black voters who have traditionally backed Democrats. The former president has spoken for years with inflammatory and sometimes racist remarks about Black Americans that have drawn widespread condemnations. On Wednesday, he quickly grew defensive when asked to address them, calling the questions “rude” and “nasty.”

Asked if it was acceptable for some of his supporters to derisively call Harris a “DEI hire,” Trump pressed moderators to define the term and then veered into an attack about the vice president’s race. He claimed Harris used to only promote her Indian heritage - even though, as a moderator pointed out, she has embraced her Black identity in many ways.

“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,” Trump said. “So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

Later, Trump pressed the issue again. At his rally in Harrisburg, Pa., a big screen displayed the headline of an old article calling Harris the first Indian American U.S. senator. Trump did not repeat his comments on Harris’s race but assailed her as “fake, fake, fake” and continued to sometimes mispronounce her name.

At the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, Rachel Scott of ABC News began the Q&A session by noting - among other comments - Trump’s insults toward Black prosecutors, his repeated false claims that America’s first Black president was born in Africa and his comments that four congresswomen who are racial minorities should “go back” to the places they came from.

“Why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?” Scott said.

“Well first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” Trump said, calling the interview “disgraceful” and criticizing a “rude introduction.” He alleged he was invited under a “false pretense” because he had expected his opponent to be there as well and criticized the organizers for starting late.

“I love the Black population of this country; I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country,” he said.

Later, Trump said Harris “was Indian all the way” but then “became a Black person.”

“I think somebody should look into that, too,” he said, speaking over his questioner. He continued his frequent mispronunciations of Harris’s first name, which many have called disrespectful and see as an attempt to other-ize her.

Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, said at a Wednesday evening fundraiser in Maine that Trump had revealed himself as “a worse version of an already horrible person” with his remarks. “He should never be near the White House again,” Emhoff said, adding, “The insults, the BS - it’s horrible, it’s terrible, it shows a lack of character.”

At a White House press briefing - which unfolded at the same time as Trump’s interview - there were gasps in the room when a reporter read Trump’s comments on Harris aloud to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who is the first Black person to hold the position.

“Wow,” Jean-Pierre said. She called Trump’s words “repulsive” and said, “No one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify.”

In a statement, Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler focused on Trump’s barbs toward Scott and said they reflected Trump’s personal attacks on other Black journalists during his presidency. “Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign,” Tyler said.

Trump and Harris were both set to court Black voters on Wednesday, as Democrats hope their new candidate can re-energize their most reliable constituency and prevent the GOP from making gains.

Republicans have been keen to improve their performance among Black voters and especially Black men, encouraged by polls that showed softening support for President Biden. Trump’s itinerary on Wednesday reflected his continued hopes of chipping away at Democrats’ traditional dominance among Black Americans.

But Trump could face a stiffer challenge now that Biden has bowed out of the 2024 race, paving the way for Harris to lead the Democratic ticket. And Chicago showcased Trump’s penchant for veering into personal insults rather than laying out the policy-based case Republicans want to highlight.

Some of Trump’s Black Republican allies in Congress, such as Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), came to his defense. P Rae Easley, 36, a Trump supporter and local conservative radio host who attended the Chicago event as a guest of the Trump campaign, argued “he did a really good job coming into an adversarial situation.”

But others in the GOP responded to questions about Trump’s remarks with broad suggestions that he should focus elsewhere.

“The campaign is, needs to be, mostly about the issues,” said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, who is running to lead his caucus.

Asked if he questions Harris’s racial identity, Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), said the former president’s comments Wednesday were aimed at portraying the vice president as “a chameleon” on policy issues. “What I question is why she presents a different posture, depending on which audience that she’s in front of,” he said.

Vance also accused Harris of using a Southern accent and referred to her teenage years when she lived in Canada. “Kamala Harris grew up in Canada,” he said. “They don’t talk like that in Vancouver or Quebec or wherever she came from.”

Harris, who was born in Oakland, Calif., moved to Canada with her mother and sister when she was 12, and after high school in Quebec, she returned to the United States to study at Howard University, a historically Black school in Washington.

Trump’s tone in Chicago brought renewed attention to past remarks that have alienated many Black voters and angered other Americans. Trump raised his political profile falsely claiming Barack Obama was born in Africa; lamented immigration from “shithole countries”; and in 2019 told four congresswomen who are racial minorities to “go back” to the places they came from, even though three of the lawmakers were born in the United States.

Trump has also promoted a false conspiracy theory questioning Harris’s citizenship and this week said the vice president would be “like a play toy” for other world leaders.

“They look at her and they say, ‘We can’t believe we got so lucky.’ They’re going to walk all over her,” he said in a Fox News interview, adding, “I don’t want to say as to why. But a lot of people understand it.”

And he has often portrayed Black communities as riddled with crime and poverty. “What the hell do you have to lose?” Trump said when he ran in 2016.

Harris was also invited to speak in Chicago but could not fit it into her schedule, NABJ

President Ken Lemon said in a statement. NABJ officials said the organization is talking with Harris about a virtual or in-person Q&A in September. Trump repeatedly taunted Harris on social media for not attending the convention this week, suggesting it was disrespectful.

On Wednesday, Trump kept returning to his pique at Scott, the ABC moderator. At one point, he diverted from a question about his age to reiterate that “she was very rude.”

“That was a nasty - that wasn’t a question - she didn’t ask me a question, she gave a statement,” Trump said.

“I repeated your statements, sir, actually,” Scott replied.

A little over half an hour into the conversation, Scott abruptly cut it short, saying, “I think we have to leave it there, by the Trump team.” The event had started more than an hour late.

Throughout, the crowd had gasped repeatedly at Trump’s answers and sometimes made sounds of protest.

“False! False! False!” one attendee yelled out, as Trump falsely asserted that undocumented immigrants arriving in the United States are “taking votes away from all of the people in this room.”

“You just lie!” one audience member said.

In Houston, Trump’s remarks went over poorly with attendees of the sorority convention where Harris spoke - the latest in the vice president’s extensive outreach to members of historically Black sororities and fraternities that make up the “Divine Nine.”

Angel Crawford, 55, and Monique Johnson, 43, who were both attending the Sigma Gamma Rho event, said they were angered by Trump’s comments in Chicago but not surprised.

“It’s just wrong. He acts like an infant just to get attention,” Crawford said.

Johnson said his comments would only make women, particularly Black women, less likely to support him. “It’s very disrespectful. He’s so sexist, and it’s unacceptable,” she said.

Democratic operatives say Harris’s candidacy already shows signs of motivating Black voters - whose flagging enthusiasm for Biden had left a hole in the Democratic base. One CNN survey found that Black voters, who previously split 70 percent for Biden and 23 percent for Trump, backed Harris by a wider margin of 78 percent to Trump’s 15 percent. Other polling shows less of a shift.

Republicans are betting that a so-called “Harris honeymoon” will fade and are pumping tens of millions into ads attacking Harris.

Trump’s campaign had said that in Chicago he would discuss “the most pressing issues facing the Black community.” The moderators included Scott as well as Harris Faulkner of Fox News and Kadia Goba of Semafor.

Trump’s plans for a Q&A at the NABJ convention drew backlash from some members before he took the stage. One former White House correspondent called it a “slap in the face” to Black women journalists Trump had previously insulted.

Lemon defended the group’s decision to invite Trump as standard. The organization asks major-party presidential candidates to speak each election year.

“While we acknowledge the concerns expressed by our members, we believe it is important for us to provide our members with the opportunity to hear directly from candidates and hold them accountable,” Lemon said in a statement.

Trump’s team has made a point to hold Black outreach events, even as his rally crowds skew heavily White. In recent months, Trump has campaigned at a Black church in Detroit and rallied in the South Bronx, where he touted his economic record and said his policies would protect voters of color from crime. A pro-Trump super PAC, MAGA Inc., has run some ads targeted to Black voters that hit the Biden administration on high inflation, undocumented immigration and transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports.

Trump has also suggested that Black voters like him more because of his criminal cases. “I’m being indicted for you, the Black population,” Trump said this February at a gala for the Black Conservative Federation.

Democrats, meanwhile, have promoted record-low Black unemployment during the Biden administration - and tried to communicate how their policies are helping Black voters who have often expressed cynicism about both parties. They have also accused Republicans of broadly trying to take the country backward.

“Across our nation, we are witnessing a full-on attack on hard-fought, hard-won fundamental freedoms and rights,” Harris told members of Sigma Gamma Rho on Wednesday. She listed - among other concerns - “the freedom to live without fear of bigotry and hate” and “the freedom to learn and acknowledge America’s true and full history.”

Trump’s event at NABJ came as his vice-presidential pick, Vance, faces harsh scrutiny. In Chicago, Trump defended Vance but also said there is evidence that running mates have little impact on elections.

“You’re voting for me,” Trump said. “If you like me, I’m gonna win. If you don’t like me, I’m not gonna win.”

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Knowles reported from Washington. Scott Clement, Matt Viser and Paul Kane in Washington; Isaac Arnsdorf in Harrisburg, Pa.; Sabrina Rodriguez in Houston; Meryl Kornfield in Glendale, Ariz.; and Kara Voght in Yarmouth, Maine, contributed to this report.