Trump stirs new racial controversy with remarks about Harris
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Former President Trump stepped into a new racial controversy at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention on Wednesday by questioning Vice President Harris’s biracial background.
The former president's remark came after ABC’s Rachel Scott asked Trump if he thought Harris was a “DEI hire,” a line some Republicans have used to question whether Harris rose through the ranks solely because of her race.
What Trump said about Harris: “She was always of Indian heritage. And she was only promoting 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."
"She has always identified as a Black woman,” Scott responded.
“But you know what, I respect either one. But she obviously doesn’t. Because she was Indian all the way then all of a sudden she made a turn. And she became a Black person. And I think somebody should look into that," Trump said. -
NABJ members in the room gasped at Trump's remarks.
- Harris's campaign did not respond directly to the comments, but blasted Trump's remarks generally, especially his combative tone when pressed on stage, saying he showed "exactly who he is."
Harris’s mother is from India and her father is from Jamaica. The White House has lauded her status as the first woman, first Black American and first South Asian American to serve as vice president.
The NABJ was conflicted about whether Trump should be included in its longstanding series of interviews with presidential candidates. Many Black journalists did not want to give Trump a platform at their convention.
A reporter read Trump's remarks to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre while she was giving a briefing.
“As a person of color, as a Black woman… 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,” she said.
Trump and Scott, one of three Black female journalists on stage asking the former president questions in Chicago, got off to a heated start.
The ABC journalist ticked through a series of inflammatory remarks Trump has aimed at his Black political rivals, including his past questioning of whether former President Obama was born in the U.S.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner," Trump responded. "You don’t even say hello or how are you. Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network, a terrible network. And I think it’s disgraceful that 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 ticked through his accomplishments, saying he created new jobs for Black people, expanded “opportunity zones” for Black entrepreneurs with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), and funded historically Black colleges and universities that were on the precipice of bankruptcy. Harris was also invited to attend the conference but declined, citing a scheduling conflict. |
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Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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Harris makes case for border security; pivots away from liberal positions |
Vice President Harris is fighting back against the Trump campaign’s efforts to make her the face of the border crisis.
The Trump campaign is running ads in battleground states blaming Harris for the surge in illegal border crossings that vexed President Biden’s administration during his first three years in office. The Harris campaign is taking the issue head on, as polls show immigration and border security are top issues on the minds of voters.
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The Harris campaign cut a new 50-second ad saying that Harris wants to increase the number of border patrol agents, invest in technology to block fentanyl from coming across the border, and invest in new initiatives to stop human trafficking.
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The ad also takes aim at Trump, accusing him of sinking a bipartisan immigration bill by coming out against it during negotiations earlier this year. Many Republicans backed away after Trump came out against it.
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At her campaign rally in Atlanta on Tuesday night, Harris said: “As president, I will bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed and I will sign it into law and show Donald Trump what real leadership looks like.”
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The Biden administration on Wednesday directed federal agencies to step up efforts to curb the influx of fentanyl and proposed a legislative fix to curb loopholes that allow illegal drugs into the U.S.
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Harris’s surrogates are also taking up the case. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a border state lawmaker and potential running mate for Harris, said Wednesday that Republicans would rather keep immigration as a political issue. “The don’t actually want to solve the problem.”
Harris’s border offensive comes as Republicans dig into the positions Harris took during the 2020 Democratic primary, in which she called to decriminalize border crossings and said she’d consider “starting from scratch” when it comes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). It's one of several instances in which Harris has pivoted back to the center, as Republicans in swing states run ads featuring Harris saying she would get rid of the filibuster to pass the Green New Deal, ban fracking and offshore drilling, support a mandatory gun buyback program, and eliminate private health care. From The Hill’s Al Weaver and Brett Samuels:
“Her campaign has moved to distance her from a series of positions she took when she was a candidate in the 2020 presidential primary. She no longer supports a ban on fracking, a campaign official said, nor does she support expanding the Supreme Court. She no longer backs a single-payer health care system, after previously endorsing a “Medicare for All” proposal, the campaign official confirmed, or a government-run gun-buyback program.”
In another sign of just how radically the political terrain has shifted since 2020, Kelly is out promoting Harris’s background in law enforcement.
“I look at Kamala Harris as a cop, as a prosecutor.”
That would have been a Democratic attack line against Harris in the 2020 primary at the height of the social justice movement. But Democrats view it as strength in 2024, with crime being a major issue for voters and as the Democratic ticket faces Trump months after his conviction in a New York trial. Perspectives:
The Nation: Harris brings blue-state politics to campaign trail.
USA Today: ‘Whites’ for Harris is weird.
The Free Press: What I saw at 'White dudes for Harris'.
Vox: Would Shapiro actually help Harris in Pennsylvania?
Intelligencer: Harris gives Senate Democrats a ray of hope
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Middle East on the brink as fears of escalation grow
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The Middle East is on edge after separate Israeli strikes reportedly took out leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah in Iran and Lebanon.
The latest:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a defiant tone in remarks on Wednesday.
“Back in the first days of the war, I said it will take some time, and it will require patience from all of us. For months now, every week, people tell me both in and outside of Israel to finish the war because we’ve exhausted whatever we can achieve and it’s impossible to win the war. But I did not give in to these voices then, and I do not give in to them today. Had we given in to these pressures, we would not have killed the heads of Hamas and thousands of terrorists.” National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby said it’s too early to say what the new developments could mean as the U.S. tries to negotiate a cease-fire in Gaza. Kirby sought to allay fears of an escalation in the region.
“We don’t believe that an escalation is inevitable and there’s no signs that an escalation is imminent.” Perspectives: Bari Weiss: Conflict in the Middle East is about one thing - Iran. |
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Race for the White House gets tighter
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The race for the White House is moving closer to being a toss-up, as Vice President Harris gains on former President Trump in the polls.
- Nate Silver’s election model gives Trump a 57 percent chance of victory, against 43 percent for Harris. That’s a 4 point decline for Trump overnight.
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Harris leads Trump by 3 points in the latest Economist/YouGov poll. Trump led the same poll by 3 points last week.
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Bloomberg/Morning Consult finds Harris erasing Trump’s lead in the swing states. The poll finds Trump and Harris effectively tied in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin. Harris has a clear lead in Michigan, while Trump leads in Pennsylvania.
Read more:
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Arizona election results trickle in
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The vote count is slowly trickling in from Arizona’s primary elections on Tuesday night. Many of the races were not called on Tuesday night, as a newly-enacted law that changed how mail-in ballots are certified appeared to slow the count and cause some confusion among officials. From the Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter: "The slow vote counting in AZ, due in part to new law on election vote processing, does not bode well for a smooth, or timely election night process in the state in Nov."
In 2020, Fox News faced the wrath of Republicans and many in the media for calling Arizona in favor of President Biden before many other outlets believed the outcome was clear. Two of Fox’s election officials who made the early call left the network soon after, even though the forecast proved correct.
Biden narrowly won Arizona by about 0.3 percentage points in 2020, and it figures to play a crucial role in who wins the White House in 2024.
Conspiracy theories and lawsuits followed the early call. Former Trump officials are being prosecuted for schemes involving “fake electors” in Arizona.
Those developments were on full display in the Tuesday primary elections: -
Republican Kari Lake won the GOP nomination for Senate. Lake led the charge in claiming the election was stolen in Arizona and she has refused to concede her 2022 gubernatorial election loss. Lake will face Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) in the race to replace retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.).
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Republican Abe Hamadeh, who lost an attorney general election in 2022, has called the 2020 election “rigged” against Trump. He leads GOP rival Blake Masters in the GOP primary to replace Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.).
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Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, who certified Biden’s election win in 2020, has been ousted by Republican Justin Heap. Richer, who pushed back against GOP claims the election was stolen, has conceded the race.
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"Biden's Supreme Court reforms will never happen, but they're important," by Chris Truax for The Hill.
"Musk is right: End the online censorship racket," by Jonathan Turley for The Hill.
"Cash alone won't relieve 'surviving' American families," by Lisa A. Gennetian and Anna Gasman-Pines for The Hill.
"CrowdStrike debacle should be a warning to policymakers and Americans," by Mick Mulvaney for The Hill. |
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19 days until the Democratic National Convention.
41 days until the second presidential debate (maybe).
97 days until the 2024 general election.
173 days until Inauguration Day 2025. |
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Wednesday - Trump holds a rally in Harrisburg, Pa. at 6 p.m.
- Harris attends a campaign event in Houston at 7:15 p.m.
- Vance holds a rally at Arizona Christian University in Glendale at 8 p.m.
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