CHICAGO — Donald Trump’s appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago on Wednesday quickly turned hostile and combative as he falsely questioned Vice President Kamala Harris‘ race.
ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner and Semafor political reporter Kadia Goba interviewed Trump on stage at the event.
Scott began the discussion by asking Trump about his past inflammatory rhetoric toward women of color.
“I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room, sir. A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today,” Scott said. “You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told four congressmen, women of color, who were American citizens, to go back to where they came from. You have used words like ‘animal’ and ‘rabbit’ to describe Black district attorneys. You’ve attacked Black journalists, calling them a ‘loser,’ saying the questions that they ask are, ‘stupid and racist.’ You’ve had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar a Lago resort.”
“So, my question, sir, now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?” Scott asked.
Trump responded by attacking Scott and the media.
“Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question. So, in such a horrible manner, a first question. You don’t even say hello. Who are you? Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network. A terrible network,” Trump answered.
“I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” he added.
Scott followed up by asking Trump about Republican comments that Harris is a “DEI” hire. Trump deflected — asking the journalist to define DEI, which she did. He refused to answer the question, instead choosing to falsely claim Harris “became Black”.
“I’ve known her a long time, indirectly,” Trump said. “And she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I did not 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.”
“I respect either one,” he added, “but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and … she became Black. … Somebody should look into that, too.”
Scott interjected that Harris attended Howard University, a historically Black college and has always identified as African American.
Trump finally said he was “not sure” whether he thought Harris was a DEI hire.
Trump was also asked to clarify his comments during the June presidential debate on CNN, when he said immigrants were coming to the United States and taking “Black jobs.”
“A Black job is anybody that has a job,” he said. “That’s what it is. Anybody that has — they’re taking the employment away from Black people. They’re coming in, and they’re coming in, they’re invading.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre immediately slammed the comments.
“As a person of color, as a Black woman who is in this position that is standing before you at this podium, behind this lectern, what he just said, what you just read out to me is repulsive, it’s insulting,” she told reporters during the White House briefing.
“She is the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, and we have to put some respect on her name. Period,” she added.
Harris’ campaign responded after the NABJ interview, saying Trump showed “hostility” on the stage that mirrored the “hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president.”
