Trump says he knew Harris as Indian and then she ‘became a Black person’

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CHICAGO – Donald Trump on Wednesday berated a Black reporter who pressed him about past offensive comments and accused his opponent, Vice President Harris, of downplaying Black heritage she routinely highlights as a sit-down meant to showcase Trump’s outreach to voters of color immediately turned hostile.

ABC News’ Rachel Scott began the Q&A session at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago 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.

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“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.

Asked if it was acceptable for some of his supporters to derisively call Harris – a Black, Indian American woman – a “DEI hire,” Trump pressed the moderators to define the term, which stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. The talk grew even more combative.

Trump claimed Harris used to only promote her Indian heritage – even though, as a moderator pointed out, she was part of a historically Black sorority and 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. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Later he said “she 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.

The remarkable scene came as Trump and Harris were both set to court Black voters on Wednesday. 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 with Black voters and especially Black men, encouraged by polls that showed softening support for President Biden. But they could face a stiffer challenge now that Biden has bowed out of the 2024 race, paving the way for Harris – who is Black and Indian American – to lead the Democratic ticket.

Trump’s itinerary on Wednesday reflects his continued hopes to chip away at Democrats’ traditional dominance with Black Americans. But it also underscored the resistance he is facing – largely due to his own public comments. His plans for a Q&A at the National Association of Black Journalists convention immediately drew backlash from some members and that one former White House correspondent called a “slap in the face.”

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

“You just lie!” one audience member said.

Trump is also holding a rally Wednesday night in Harrisburg, Pa.

Harris, meanwhile, is expected to speak in Houston on Wednesday evening to a gathering of the sorority Sigma Gamma Rho – the latest in her extensive outreach to members of historically Black sororities and fraternities that make up the “Divine Nine.” Harris spoke to her own sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, in July and addressed another group, Zeta Phi Beta, last week.

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” in a conversation moderated by Harris Faulkner from Fox News, Kadia Goba from Semafor and Scott from ABC News.

The former president has angered Black Americans in recent years with some racist and inflammatory comments and his promotion of false attacks. “What the hell do you have to lose?” he said when he ran in 2016, portraying Black communities as riddled with crime and poverty. Trump has also promoted a false conspiracy theory questioning the citizenship of Harris. Trump raised his political profile falsely claiming Obama was born in Africa; lamented immigration from “shithole counties”; and in 2019 told four congresswomen who are racial minorities to “go back” to the places they came from. Three of the lawmakers were born in the United States.

“Black voters see Donald Trump’s lies and empty pandering for what they are – and they will hold him accountable at the polls this November,” Harris campaign Black Media Director Jasmine Harris said in a statement Wednesday.

National Association of Black Journalists President Ken 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.

NABJ said Wednesday that it is talking with Harris’s team about scheduling a virtual or in-person Q&A with Harris in September. Trump repeatedly taunted Harris on social media for not attending the convention this week, suggesting it was disrespectful.

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 assault on hard-fought, hard-won freedoms and rights,” Harris told members of Zeta Phi Beta last week. She listed – among other concerns – “the freedom to live without fear of bigotry and hate” and “the freedom to learn and acknowledge our true and full history.”