US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump questioned whether his is “Black” during a contentious interview at the country’s largest annual gathering of Black American journalists on Wednesday.
“Is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said of his opponent in the presidential race, drawing a smattering of jeers from an audience of about 1,000 people.
“She was Indian all the way, and all of a sudden she made a turn and became a Black person.”
‘Divisiveness and disrespect’
Harris, who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage, has long self-identified as both Black and Asian. She is the first Black and Asian American to serve as US vice-president.
Hours after Trump’s comments, Harris told members of the historically Black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho gathered in Houston that his remarks were “yet another reminder” of what the four years under the former president looked like.
“It was the same old show of divisiveness and disrespect,” Harris said. “The American people deserve better.”
, Harris has faced a barrage of sexist and racist attacks online, with some far-right accounts questioning her racial identity.
Republican Party leaders have urged lawmakers to refrain from personal attacks and focus on her policy positions.
Trump has used personal insults against Harris and said he was going to ignore advice that he tone down his rhetoric. “I’m not gonna be nice!” he told supporters at one campaign rally. Source: AAP / John Raoux
Trump invitation triggers backlash
The panel interview at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention in Chicago started on a tense note when ABC News reporter Rachel Scott listed a series of racist comments Trump had made and asked why Black voters should support him.
In response, Trump called the question “horrible”, “hostile” and a “disgrace” and described ABC as a “fake” network.
“I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” he boasted.
Trump’s invitation triggered backlash from some members of the association, prompting a co-chair of the convention to step down in protest. During the interview, some of Trump’s false statements were met with murmurs and laughter from the crowd.
The National Association of Black Journalists was founded in 1975 and regularly invites presidential candidates to address its annual gathering, but Trump was the first Republican to accept the offer since George W Bush in 2004.