UPDATED, 12:08 PM: Donald Trump used his look earlier than the Nationwide Affiliation of Black Journalists to assault Kamala Harris by questioning whether or not she actually is Black.
“I’ve identified her for a very long time not directly, instantly, very a lot,” Trump stated. “And he or she was at all times of Indian heritage and she or he was selling Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black till various years in the past when she occurred to show Black, and now she desires to be often known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian, or is she Black?”
Harris is biracial. Her mom was from India and her father is from Jamaica. One of many moderators identified that Harris at all times has recognized as a Black lady and went to an HBCU.
“I respect both one, however she clearly doesn’t,” Trump stated. “As a result of she was Indian all the way in which and all the sudden she made a flip and have become Black.”
Polifact, which was doing real-time fact-checking of Trump’s look, rated the declare “inaccurate.”
Trump made the feedback after he was requested whether or not he agreed with feedback that Harris was a “DEI rent.” On the White Home immediately, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded in near-real time, calling Trump’s remarks to the NABJ “repulsive.”
PREVIOUSLY: Donald Trump, making a controversial look earlier than the Nationwide Affiliation of Black Journalists, rapidly blasted one of many moderators for a “impolite introduction” and for asking what he referred to as a “hostile” preliminary query.
Shortly after he took his seat, ABC Information’ Rachel Scott requested: “I wish to begin by addressing the elephant within the room, sir. Lots of people didn’t assume it was acceptable so that you can be right here immediately.”
She went on to quote false claims that Trump had made about Barack Obama and Nikki Haley, together with different remarks attacking Black figures of individuals of coloration.
Scott added: “You assault Black journalists, calling them ‘a loser,’ saying the questions that they requested are, quote, ‘silly and racist.’ You’ve had dinner with a white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago resort. So my query, sir, now that you simply had been asking Black supporters to vote for you, why ought to Black voters belief you, after you have got used language like that?”
Trump responded: “Properly, initially, I don’t assume I’ve ever been requested the query, in such a horrible method, first query. You don’t even say, ‘Hi there, how are you?’”
He went on to assault ABC Information as “a pretend information community” and “horrible.”
“And I feel it’s disgraceful that I got here right here in good spirit,” Trump stated. “I like the Black inhabitants of this nation. I’ve completed a lot for the Black inhabitants of this nation, together with employment together with alternative zones with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, which is likely one of the best applications ever for Black employees and Black entrepreneurs.”
He referred to as Scott’s query a “very impolite introduction. I don’t know precisely why you’d do one thing like that. And let me go a step additional. I used to be invited right here and I used to be instructed my opponent whether or not it was Biden or Kamala, I used to be instructed my opponent was going to be right here. It turned out my opponent isn’t right here. You invited me beneath false pretense.”
Trump later complained once more that Scott requested a “nasty” query and that it was actually an announcement. Scott stated that she was repeated what he had stated.
The occasion was delayed for greater than a half hour, apparently over audio issues. Trump continued to complain all through the occasion that he had issue listening to.
Trump went on to say that he was “the perfect president for the Black inhabitants since Abraham Lincoln,” one thing that drew some boos from the group.
Trump confronted friendlier questions from one other moderator, Fox Information anchor Harris Faulkner. Additionally posing questions was Semafor’s Kadia Goba.
The invitation to Trump had generated monumental friction inside NABJ, with such excessive profile members as April Ryan calling it a mistake to offer him a platform. That continued earlier immediately, as Trump posted on social media that Kamala Harris “disrespectfully refused” to attend the occasion. However Ryan reported that Harris, new to the marketing campaign for just a bit over the week, sought to do a digital Q&A however the NABJ management declined, in addition to for an in-person occasion at a later date.
“The stories of assaults on Black girls White Home correspondents by the then president of the US aren’t fable or conjecture, however truth,” Ryan wrote on X/Twitter.
Ken Lemon, the president of NABJ, stated in an announcement that the group “has been in talks with each the Democratic and Republican events since January. NABJ was in touch with Vice President Kamala Harris’ staff for an in-person panel earlier than President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July.”
“Nonetheless, we had been suggested by her marketing campaign on the time that her schedule couldn’t accommodate this request,” he stated. “The final replace we had been supplied (earlier this week) was that Harris wouldn’t be obtainable in particular person or nearly throughout our Conference. We’re in talks about digital choices sooner or later and are nonetheless working to succeed in an settlement.”
He stated that NABJ has been inviting presidential candidates of each main events since 1976.
“Whereas we acknowledge the considerations expressed by our members, we imagine it is crucial for us to offer our members with the chance to listen to instantly from candidates and maintain them accountable,” he stated.
NABJ additionally featured a real-time truth checking throughout Trump’s look.
