Ga. Black leaders outraged at Trump comments on Harris’ racial identity
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Former President Donald Trump raised tensions between his campaign and Black voters in metro Atlanta after questionable comments he made at the annual conference of the National Association of Black Journalists recently.
At the NABJ’s annual meeting in Chicago on Wednesday, Trump questioned whether his presumptive opponent for the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris, was actually Black.
“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump told the of journalists, who were all Black and all women. “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?”
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When pressed further, Trump doubled down on the comment.
“She was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she became a Black person,” he said to gasps from the audience.
Albeit not Trump’s most friendly crowd at the conference, many of Atlanta’s Black community were nonetheless outraged.
“Donald Trump is really a petulant punk,” said A.M.E. Bishop Reginald Jackson. “It makes us even more determined to (Harris) and what (Trump) thought he might have gotten from the Black community, particularly Black men, I think he jeopardized that yesterday.”
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Trump’s comments “repulsive” and “insulting.”
Harris also commented on Trump’s words, speaking at an event in front of a historically Black sorority the same night he made the comments.
“The American people deserve better, the American people deserve better,” Harris told the crowd. “We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us.”
Republicans at the state and federal levels raced to Trump’s defense Thursday.
“He’s present, he’s having a conversation, and the conversation is frankly about more than the people in that particular room,” said Josh McKoon, Georgia GOP chairman, said. “There have been too many Republicans that have said there’s no way we can get anywhere with the Black vote so we’re not even going to try. We’re not even going to engage, which is frankly insulting. So I’m very, very grateful that we have a leader at the top of our ticket who is unafraid to go anywhere and speak to anyone.”
“Four years ago, Joe Biden said if you don’t vote for him, you ain’t Black,” said Senator Tom Cotton, (R-Arkansas). “Could you imagine a more insulting comment?”
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