Trump Falsely Accuses Harris of Deciding to ‘Turn Black’ During a Combative Panel With Black Journalists

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July 31, 2024

By Matt Dixon, Yamiche Alcindor, and Michelle Garcia, NBC News

The event was confrontational from the start as Trump sparred with three moderators from the National Association of Black Journalists.

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on a panel of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago, IL (Reuters/Vincent Alban).

CHICAGO — Donald Trump made a combative appearance Wednesday at a conference of Black journalists during a heated question-and-answer session that at times focused squarely on the race of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Trump claimed that he did not know until a few years ago that Harris, who is Indian American and Black, was Black. He then baselessly suggested that she had decided to “turn Black” only recently for political gain.

[…]

“Is she Indian or is she Black?” he asked.

ABC News’ Rachel Scott, one of the three moderators on the National Association of Black Journalists panel, pointed out that Harris, the de-facto Democratic nominee for president, attended Howard University, a historically Black college. Trump did not directly respond.

[…]

When NBC News reached out to the Trump campaign for a response to the almost immediate backlash to his comments about Harris’ race, communications director Steven Cheung replied, “Backlash from the truth?”

“These people must be deranged,” he said.

Continue reading to see how Trump responded to his notion of “Black jobs” and the purpose of the Vice President.

Read about the “DEI hire” insults Vice President Harris has faced since her presidential campaign kicked off.

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