Donald Trump Claims Kamala Harris “Made A Turn And Became Black” In Combative Appearance At NABJ Convention (2024)

UPDATED: Donald Trump lit a firestorm from comments he made at a combative appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists, as he questioned whether his Democratic rival Kamala Harris was really Black.

“I’ve known her for a long time indirectly, directly, very much,” Trump said. “And she was always of Indian heritage and she was 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?”

His comments quickly drew condemnation, including from White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who called them “repulsive.” But he doubled down on them in a later posting on Truth Social, writing that “Crazy Kamala is saying she’s Indian, not Black. This is a big deal. Stone cold phony. She uses everybody, including her racial identity!” Later, at a rally in Harrisburg, PA, the campaign displayed a Business Insider headline, “California’s Kamala Harris becomes first Indian-American U.S. Senator.”

Harris is biracial, as her father is from Jamaican and her mother is from India.

Trump’s appearance before NABJ already drew extensive discord within the organization, with some of its high-profile members, including TheGrio’s April Ryan, calling it a mistake to have invited him, given his past attacks on journalists of color.

Right off the bat, after he sat down for the 35-minute conversation, Trump did just that. When one of the moderators, ABC News’ Rachel Scott, asked him about a series of comments he had made about Barack Obama, Nikki Haley and other people of color, Trump called the question “nasty” and “hostile,” while he bashed the network. ABC News is scheduled to host the next presidential debate on September 10, but those plans are in doubt because Trump has yet to agree to face off against Harris.

Trump’s questioning of Harris’ race came after he was asked about comments made by some of his allies shortly after she entered the contest, that she was a “DEI hire.” The suggestion was that Harris would not have made it up the political ladder were she not a minority.

Trump also claimed that he was “the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” something that drew boos from the crowd.

Trump defended his choice of J.D. Vance as his running mate, after Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, another moderator, said noted that he has had “some stumbles out of the gate.” “It’s been a tough couple of weeks for him,” she said.

Trump said that he selected Vance “because he’s a very strong believer in work and the working man and woman,” while noting that he was a Yale Law School graduate and author of a book that became a movie. He went through other aspects of his biography, adding, “I respect people for their success.”

But when Faulkner asked Trump whether Vance was “ready on day one,” Trump said that he had “great respect” for him, but added, “historically, the vice president in terms of the election does not have any impact.”

“Historically, the choice of a vice president makes no difference,” Trump said. “You are voting for the president, and you can have a vice president who is outstanding in every way, and I think JD is…but you you’re voting for the president. You’re voting for president. If you like me, I’m going to win.”

Trump also reiterated that he would pardon those convicted after participating in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, even as Scott noted that 140 police officers were assaulted that day.

“If they are innocent, I would pardon them,” Trump said.

“They have been convicted,” Scott noted.

“Well, they were convicted by a very tough system,” Trump said.

UPDATED, 12:17 PM: Donald Trump used his appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists to attack Kamala Harris by questioning whether she really is Black.

“I’ve known her for a long time indirectly, directly, very much,” Trump said. “And she was always of Indian heritage and she was 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?”

Harris is biracial. Her mother was from India and her father is from Jamaica. One of the moderators pointed out that Harris always has identified as a Black woman and went to an HBCU.

“I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t,” Trump said. “Because she was Indian all the way and all of the sudden she made a turn and became Black.”

Polifact, which was doing real-time fact-checking of Trump’s appearance, rated the claim “inaccurate.”

Trump made the comments after he was asked whether he agreed with comments that Harris was a “DEI hire.” At the White House today, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded in near-real time, calling Trump’s remarks to the NABJ “repulsive.”

The Harris campaign was quick to respond to and mock Trump’s onstage stumbles.

Within minutes, the vice president’s social media team posted a clip of the NABJ interview ending abruptly as Trump’s own “team” pulled the plug well before things were scheduled to end:

Currently on Air Force Two to Houston, the vice president is scheduled to speak at a campaign event and the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority’s 60th International Biennial Boule.

PREVIOUSLY: Donald Trump, making a controversial appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists, quickly blasted one of the moderators for a “rude introduction” and for asking what he called a “hostile” initial question.

Shortly after he took his seat, ABC News’ Rachel Scott asked: “I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room, sir. A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today.”

She went on to cite false claims that Trump had made about Barack Obama and Nikki Haley, along with other remarks attacking Black figures of people of color.

Scott added: “You attack Black journalists, calling them ‘a loser,’ saying the questions that they asked are, quote, ‘stupid and racist.’ You’ve had dinner with a white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago resort. So my question, sir, now that you were asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you, after you have used language like that?”

Trump responded: “Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked the question, in such a horrible manner, first question. You don’t even say, ‘Hello, how are you?'”

He went on to attack ABC News as “a fake news network” and “terrible.”

“And I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit,” Trump said. “I love the Black population of this country. I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country, including employment including opportunity zones with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, which is one of the greatest programs ever for Black workers and Black entrepreneurs.”

He called Scott’s question a “very rude introduction. I don’t know exactly why you would do something like that. And let me go a step further. I was invited here and I was told my opponent — whether it was Biden or Kamala — I was told my opponent was going to be here. It turned out my opponent isn’t here. You invited me under false pretense.”

Trump later complained again that Scott asked a “nasty” question and that it was really a statement. Scott said that she was repeating what he had said.

The event was delayed for more than a half-hour, apparently over audio problems. Trump continued to complain throughout the event that he had difficulty hearing.

Trump went on to claim that he was “the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” something that drew some boos from the crowd.

Trump faced friendlier questions from another moderator, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner. Also posing questions was Semafor’s Kadia Goba.

The invitation to Trump had generated enormous friction within NABJ, with such high-profile members as April Ryan calling it a mistake to give him a platform. That continued earlier today, as Trump posted on social media that Harris “disrespectfully refused” to attend the event. But Ryan reported that Harris, new to the campaign for just a little over the week, sought to do a virtual Q&A, but the NABJ leadership declined, as well as for an in-person event at a later date.

“The reports of attacks on Black women White House correspondents by the then-president of the United States are not myth or conjecture, but fact,” Ryan wrote on X/Twitter.

Ken Lemon, the president of NABJ, said in a statement that the organization “has been in talks with both the Democratic and Republican parties since January. NABJ was in contact with Vice President Kamala Harris’ team for an in-person panel before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July.”

He added: “However, we were advised by her campaign at the time that her schedule could not accommodate this request. The last update we were provided (earlier this week) was that Harris would not be available in person or virtually during our Convention. We are in talks about virtual options in the future and are still working to reach an agreement.”

He said that NABJ has been inviting presidential candidates of both major parties since 1976.

“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,” he said.

NABJ also featured a real-time fact checking during Trump’s appearance.

Dominic Patten contributed to this report