Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump waves to supporters after speaking at a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, July 31, 2024. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Republican Presidential candidate former President Donald Trump falsely suggested Kamala Harris had misled voters about her race as the former president appeared before the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago on July 31 in an interview that quickly turned hostile.

The Republican former President wrongly claimed that Ms. Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had in the past only promoted her Indian heritage.

“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?” Mr. Trump said while addressing the group’s annual convention.

Ms. Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both immigrants to the U.S. As an undergraduate, Harris attended Howard University, one of the nation’s most prominent historically Black colleges and universities, where she also pledged the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. As a U.S. senator, Ms. Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, supporting her colleagues’ legislation to strengthen voting rights and reforming policing.

Watch | Who is Kamala Harris?

Mr. Trump has leveled a wide range of criticism at Ms. Harris since she replaced President Joe Biden atop the likely Democratic ticket last week. Throughout his political career, the former President has repeatedly questioned the backgrounds of opponents who are racial minorities.

The day before Mr. Trump’s latest comments, his campaign Spokesperson Katrina Pierson offered a new piece of evidence to push back against accusations of racism: Mr. Trump had previously given money to Ms. Harris.

“President, as a private businessman, donated to candidates across all aisles. And I’ll note that Kamala Harris is a Black woman and he donated to her campaign, so I hope we can squash this racism argument now,” Ms. Pierson said.

Michael Tyler, the communications director for Harris’ campaign, said in a statement that “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.”

“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,” Mr. Tyler said. “Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked during her briefing with reporters on July 31 about Mr. Trump’s remarks and responded with disbelief, initially murmuring, “Wow.”

Jean-Pierre, who is Black, called what Mr. Trump said “repulsive” and said, “It’s insulting and no one has any right to tell someone who they are how they identify.”

During this year’s Republican primary, he once referred to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, as “Nimbra.”

Mr. Trump’s appearance at the annual gathering of Black journalists immediately became heated, with the former President sparring with interviewer Rachel Scott of ABC News and accusing her of giving him a “very rude introduction” with a tough first question about his past criticism of Black people and Black journalists, his attack on Black prosecutors who have pursued cases against him and the dinner he had at his Florida club with a white supremacist.

“I think it’s disgraceful,” Mr. Trump said. “I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country. I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country.”

Trump continued his attacks on Scott’s network, which he has been arguing should not host the next Presidential debate, despite his earlier agreement with the Biden campaign. He also several times described her tone and questions as “nasty,” a word he used in the past when describing women, including Hillary Clinton and Meghan the Duchess of Sussex.

The Republican also repeated his false claim that immigrants in the country illegally are “taking Black jobs.” When pushed by Scott on what constituted a “Black job,” Trump responded by saying “a Black job is anybody that has a job,” drawing groans from the room.

At one point, he said, “I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.”

The audience responded with a mix of boos and some applause.

Ms. Scott asked Mr. Trump about his pledge to pardon people convicted for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol and specifically whether he would pardon those who assaulted police officers. He said, “Oh, absolutely I would,” and said, “If they’re innocent, I would pardon them.”

Ms. Scott pointed out they have been convicted and therefore are not innocent.

He compared the 2021 insurrection to the protests in Minneapolis and other cities in 2020 following the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and to more recent protests at the Capitol last week by demonstrators opposed to the war in Gaza. Mr. Trump falsely claimed that no one was arrested in those other demonstrations and that only his supporters were targeted.

U.S. Republican Presidential nominee former President Donald Trump greets attendees upon arrival at his campaign rally at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina on July 24, 2024. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Unleashing a volley of attacks against his new campaign opponent Vice-President Kamala Harris, former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said she is “unfit to rule” and described her as a “radical left lunatic” whom voters will reject in November.

Mr. Trump, 78, launched a scathing attack on Ms. Harris as he took the stage for the first time to address an election rally on July 24 after Ms. Harris became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party.

Over the weekend, President Joe Biden, 81, announced that he was dropping out of the race and named Ms. Harris as his successor.

Ms. Harris, 59, will be officially announced as the party’s presidential candidate at its Democratic National Convention in August.

“For three and a half years, Lyin Kamala Harris has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe. She is a radical left lunatic who will destroy our country if she ever gets the chance to get into office. We’re not going to let that happen,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump, who has previously called Biden “Sleepy Joe,” gave Harris the nickname “Lyin Kamala”.

“I was supposed to be nice. They say something happened to me when I got shot. I became nice,” Mr. Trump said, referring to his brief call for national unity after the July 13 assassination attempt on him.

“And when you’re dealing with these people, they’re very dangerous people. When you’re dealing with them, you can’t be too nice. You really can’t be. So if you don’t mind, I’m not going to be nice. Is that okay?” he asked his supporters amidst huge applause from the audience.

Ms. Harris is the most liberal elected politician in American history, he said.

“This November, the American people are going to tell her, ‘no thanks, Kamala’,” Mr. Trump said.

“You’ve done a terrible job. You’ve been terrible at everything you’ve done. You’re ultra-liberal. We don’t want you here. We don’t want you anywhere. Kamala, you’re fired. Get out of here. You’re fired,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump continued linking Ms. Harris to Mr. Biden and his policies and argued that both worked to cover up the President’s physical decline while in office.

“She was appointed by this horrible president, this horrible guy…what they’ve done to our country is unthinkable,” he alleged.

Mr. Trump told his cheering supporters that Ms. Harris lies.

A vote for Ms. Harris is a vote for four more years of dishonesty, incompetence, weakness and failure, Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump alleged everything Ms. Harris touches turns into a total disaster. He mentioned Ms. Harris as many as 45 times in his speech.

“When Kamala Harris was sent to Europe to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine, how did that work out? Russia answered by launching the invasion just five days after she left. Putin laughed at her like she was nothing. She is nothing. She’s so bad for us. Everything Kamala touches turns into a total disaster. She’s destroyed San Francisco with the policies,” Mr. Trump said.

Ms. Harris has worked as a prosecutor, first as the district attorney in San Francisco and later as the attorney general of California.

“She’ll destroy our country if she’s elected. So we won’t let her be elected. We can’t let that happen. Unbelievably, despite all of the damage she’s caused, radical, liberal Kamala Harris now wants a promotion to deliver four more years of chaos. We’ve had the worst four years,” he said.

Washington:

Former US president Donald Trump said Monday his presumptive Democratic opponent Kamala Harris would be “easier” to beat in November’s election than President Joe Biden.

“She’s far more radical than he is… So I think she should be easier than Biden, because he was slightly more mainstream, but not much,” Trump said on a call with reporters.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)