Topline
Former President Donald Trump claimed Vice President Kamala Harris only recently “became a Black person” in a contentious forum at the National Association of Black Journalists convention on Wednesday, reiterating right-wing criticism of the new Democratic presidential candidate based heavily on race and sex—though Trump’s claims are not accurate.
Former President Donald Trump claimed Vice President Kamala Harris only recently “made a turn” and … [+]
Key Facts
Speaking at the convention, Trump said Harris “was always of Indian heritage” but only recently “made a turn” and “became a Black person” — Harris’ father is from Jamaica and her mother is from India.
Harris grew up in California, received a bachelor’s degree from Howard University, a Washington D.C. HBCU (historically Black colleges and universities), and later served as president of the Black Law Students Association at the University of California, San Francisco, where she attended law school.
In 2003, Harris told San Francisco outlet AsianWeek her mother “fell in love with my father, a Black man,” and said she grew up in a “Black community.”
After serving as San Francisco Attorney General, Harris was elected as the first Black female attorney general in California—a position she held from 2011 to 2017—and the second Black woman senator in the U.S., serving as California senator from 2017 to 2021.
Before her inauguration to the Senate, Harris made her race and ethnicity clear in a 2016 interview with The New York Times, saying her mother “had two Black babies, and she raised them to be two Black women” — Harris made a similar point in her 2019 memoir “The Truths We Hold,” saying her mother and maternal grandparents “instilled us with pride in our South Asian roots,” and that her mother “understood very well that she was raising two Black daughters.”
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Crucial Quote
When asked by ABC’s Rachel Scott, Trump said he “did not know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now wants to be known as Black,” adding: “I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went she became Black.”
Chief Critic
Harris’ campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler criticized Trump’s comments as a “tirade” and a “taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies.” Tyler also slammed Trump’s “lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists” in the statement — Trump had claimed after the interview the questions he took were “Rude and Nasty.”
Key Background
Harris launched her 2024 presidential campaign last week, after President Joe Biden’s sudden end to his re-election campaign over mounting concerns around his advanced age and mental acuity following his disastrous debate performance late last month. Since launching her campaign, however, GOP pundits and politicians have blasted the vice president, including on allegations she was not qualified for the position and represented a so-called DEI hire—a reference to the diversity-equity and inclusion initiatives that came out of the 2020 protests against police brutality and racial injustice. While those claims have been heavily criticized as racist, some Republican lawmakers—including Rep. Harriett Hageman of Wyoming and Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee—have continued to label Harris as a product of DEI hiring based on race. As those claims grew louder, some Republicans have expressed skepticism of covertly racist or sexist attacks, with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., saying Harris’ “ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.”
Wection Title
Harris could officially become the Democratic nominee as soon as Thursday, the result of a rules change approved earlier this month by a Democratic National Convention panel. The DNC—when nominees are typically chosen by delegates after a months-long primary process—is scheduled to start Aug. 19 in Chicago.
Further Reading
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