Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has questioned the racial identity of her Democratic opponent kamala Harris by asking whether she is “Indian or Black”. His comments invited a sharp reaction from his Harris who termed his remarks "the same old show" of "divisiveness" and "disrespect".
Trump, 78, claimed that Vice President Harris had only recently emphasized her Asian-American heritage before "becoming a Black person." He said, “I’ve known her a long time, indirectly, not directly very much, and 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 added.
Harris’ mother is originally from India, and her father is from Jamaica. Harris attended Howard University in Washington, a historically Black institution, and is an Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest Black sorority in the country. She was president of the Black Law Students Association at the University of California's law school in San Francisco and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus while serving in the Senate.
When a journalist pointed out to Trump that Harris had always identified as Black and had attended a historically Black university, he persisted: “I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t. Because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn, and she went – she became a Black person. And I think somebody should look into that too.”
Trump's comments were met with immediate criticism. Speaking at a Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority event in Houston, a historically Black sorority, Harris addressed the audience: "this afternoon, Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, and it was the same old show. The divisiveness and the disrespect, and let me just say, the American people deserve better."
Harris, 59, didn't directly address the specifics of Trump's remarks but emphasized that Americans "deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us; they are an essential source of our strength."
Harris’ campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, remarked that "the hostility Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, his term in office, and his campaign for president."
"Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency — while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in," Tyler said. "Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us."
At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Trump's comments "insulting."
"As a person of colour, 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," Jean-Pierre said. "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 decision. It is — I'll add this — only she can speak to her experience."
Trump has a history of racially charged attacks against his opponents. He falsely accused Barack Obama, the country’s first Black president, of not being born in the US. He also 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.
Harris has faced numerous attacks since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee. Republicans have criticized her selection, arguing she was chosen solely because of her race. Tim Burchett, a Republican congressman from Tennessee, labeled her a "DEI vice-president," referencing diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. On Wednesday, Scott pressed Trump to clarify if he believed Harris was a "DEI hire." Trump replied, "I really don't know, could be."
Harris has spoken about her engagement with her Indian heritage and frequent visits to the country. Her mother also immersed her daughters in the Black culture of Oakland, California, where she was raised.
Trump also criticized Harris' professional credentials, mentioning her initial failure to pass the bar exam early in her legal career. "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.
Harris graduated from the University of California Hastings College of Law in 1989. The New York Times reported that she failed her first attempt and passed on her second. The state bar of California reports less than half of those who take the test pass on their first try.
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