Donald Trump says he ‘did not know’ Kamala Harris was black

Donald Trump said he ‘didn’t know’ Vice President Kamala Harris is black during a combative interview with members of a black journalists’ association.

The drama came with the very first question after the former president got asked about some of his past comments attacking black journalists and lawmakers and his meeting with a white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago.

After tearing into his opening questioner on a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump took on Harris, who is of mixed heritage, questioning her lineage and suggesting her embrace of black culture was phony.

‘She was always promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was black,’ Trump said. ‘I don’t know is she Indian or is she black?’  

‘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,’ Trump said, a day after Harris attended a rally in Atlanta with prominent black lawmakers and cheering supporters. 

‘And now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” he said of Harris, who is the first Black, female, and South-Asian-heritage vice president in US history.

Trump has been making an intensive effort to secure black votes, having some success besting Joe Biden‘s 2020 performance in pre-election polls. He staged a campaign event in the Bronx and has featured ‘Blacks for Trump’ supporters at his rallies.

Harris has seen a jump in the polls after getting a burst of publicity by stepping in as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee in lieu of Joe Biden, 81. 

On Wednesday, right out of the gate, Trump tangled with his first questioner after she asked him a multi-part question that brought up several of his comments attacking African American journalists and Fulton County DA Fani Willis. 

ABC’s Rachel Scott said a lot of people didn’t think it was appropriate for him to be in Chicago for the interview – pointing to remarks calling a black journalist a ‘loser,’ tearing into an African American congresswoman, and alluding to his meeting with white nationalist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago.  

‘First of all I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner,’ Trump told Scott, who asked the lead-off question.

‘You don’t even say hello how are you?’ Trump lectured, calling ABC a ‘fake news network.’

‘I came here in good spirit. I love the black population of this country,’ he said.

‘I think it’s a very rude introduction. I don’t know exactly why you would do something like that,’ he said.

Then Trump complained about the faulty equipment for the interview, and blaming the NASB for holding him up for an interview that started more than 30 minutes behind schedule.

‘I was told my opponent was going to be here. You invited me under false pretense. And then you said you can’t do it with zoom,’ he said, after the group announced that it was negotiating with Harris to do a zoom interview next month. 

‘I have been the best president for the black population since Abraham Lincoln,’ Trump said. He called the initial questions ‘hostile’ and a ‘disgrace.’

Trump kept coming back to complaints about the AV equipment, saying the ‘mics are really in lousy shape.’

In his quotes on Harris, the presumed Democratic nominee, Trump said Harris ‘was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage.’

‘I didn’t now she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black,’ Trump said.

‘So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black? And you know what I respect either one but she obviously doesn’t,’ Trump said.

‘Because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a black person. I think somebody should look into that.’

Trump refused to say Harris was not a DEI hire – a statement that some Republican lawmakers have made about the former San Francisco prosecutor and U.S. Senator from California.

‘I really don’t know. I mean, I really don’t know. There are some,’ Trump said.

Nearly 30 minutes into the interview, Trump was still complaining about ‘being treated so rudely as this woman treated me.’ 

Trump was able to launch his successful 2016 presidential campaign in part through attacks on Barack Obama’s heritage and false claims he wasn’t a U.S. citizen. After Biden bailed out on his 2024 campaign amid pressure from party leaders, one question has been how Trump would adjust to facing female opponent who attended a historically black college and makes African American heritage an important part of her identity. 

At times, Wednesday’s event ‘felt like it was kind of going off the rails,’ said Fox News anchor Martha McCallum, after the network cut away from coverage to broadcast the dramatic clash. 

]Mr. President, we so appreciate you giving us an hour of your time,’ Scott began before digging in with a slashing question.

‘You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told four congresswoman women of color who were American citizens to go back to where they came from. You have used words like animal and rabid to describe black district attorneys. You’ve attacked black journalists, calling them a loser saying the questions that they ask are, quote, stupid and racist. You’ve had dinner with a white supremacist at your 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?’

That prompted Trump’s angry response at his questioner and her network.  

‘And then you are half an hour late, just so we understand. I have too much respect for you to be late. They couldn’t get their equipment working or something was wrong,’ he said. ‘I think it’s a very nasty question.’

At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre got asked about Trump’s comments on Harris shortly after he uttered them.

‘Wow’ was her initial response, as she shook her head. 

‘What you just read out to me, is repulsive, is insulting and no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘That is no one’s right. It’s someone’s own decisions,’ she added. ‘Only she can speak to her experience.’

‘It’s insulting for anybody – it doesn’t matter if it’s a foreign leader or former president – it is insulting,’ she added.

Trump gave himself a strong review on his Truth Social platform. ‘The questions were Rude and Nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!’ he wrote. 

Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler responded to the appearance with a statement. 

The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people.

‘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. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us,’ he said. 

‘Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign,’ he added, calling on Trump to ‘stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on September 10.’