Vice President Kamala Harris’ race was at the center of a combative exchange of ideas with the former president Donald Trump during a panel discussion Wednesday at a gathering of black journalists in Chicago.
“I didn’t know she was black until a few years ago, when she happened to become black and now wants to be known as black,” Trump said.
“I have respect for both of them,” he added, “but she clearly doesn’t, because she was always Indian, and then all of a sudden she made a U-turn and became black. … Someone should look into that too.”
It was in response to a question about the appropriateness of some Republicans to say Harris is a “DEI hire,” a term that refers to workplace policies that promote “diversity, equity and inclusion.” It has been increasingly used by some on the right to disparage people of color with opposing political views.
Harris, who is the de facto Democratic Party nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race, is Indian-American and Black.
ABC News’ Rachel Scott, one of three presenters at the event hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists, noted that Harris has always identified as black, but Trump did not directly respond.
Scott quickly asked Trump if he thought Harris was a DEI agent, to which he replied that he wasn’t sure.
“I really don’t know,” Trump said. “It could be.”
During the White House press conference, which was taking place at the same time, NBC News read Trump’s remarks to press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and asked her to respond.
“As a person of color — as a Black woman standing in this position, standing in front of you on this stage, behind this podium — what he just said, what you just read, is abhorrent. It’s offensive. And you know, no one has the right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That’s no one’s right,” she said.
A source close to Harris also called Trump’s comments “hurtful.”
“It’s just a lie and easily disproven,” this person added. “She went to Howard, damn it! She’s an AKA.”
Harris attended Howard University, a historically black university, and was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, a historically black organization.
The panel discussion as a whole was combative throughout. Trump began the discussion by criticizing Scott’s question about why black voters should trust him, calling it “mean” and blaming NABJ for equipment failures that caused the event to be delayed by more than 30 minutes.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked such a horrible question before,” Trump said, calling ABC News a “fake” and “horrible” network.
Trump was also asked to clarify his comments during the June presidential debate, when he said immigrants were coming to the United States and taking “black jobs.”
“A black job is anybody who has a job,” he said. “That’s what it is. Anybody who has a job — they’re taking away black people’s jobs. They’re coming in, and they’re coming in, they’re invading.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
