Newsweek, August 2024
Former president Donald Trump’s remarks before a gathering of Black journalists on Wednesday could see his support among Black voters dwindle further, experts told Newsweek. The Republican nominee sparked a backlash after questioning Kamala Harris’ racial identity during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention in Chicago on Wednesday. He falsely claimed that Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had in the past only promoted her Indian heritage and only began identifying as Black more recently.
“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 said.
Harris, the likely Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden quit the 2024 race, was born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother and has long identified as both Black and Asian. She called Trump’s comments “the same old show” of divisiveness and disrespect. Trump’s appearance at the convention became heated immediately when ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott, one of the event’s moderators, began by asking why Black voters should support Trump, given his history of racist and incendiary language about Black people and people of color.
