Unlock the US Election Countdown newsletter for free
The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House
Donald Trump cast doubts over Kamala Harris’s racial identity at a conference of Black journalists on Wednesday, falsely claiming his rival for the US presidency had been “Indian all the way” but later “became a Black person”.
The Republican candidate’s remarks and his claim to have been the best president for Black voters since Abraham Lincoln were met with consternation at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual meeting in Chicago.
The former president was repeatedly heckled and booed by participants at the convention, underscoring his uphill battle to woo Black voters, who have traditionally supported Democratic candidates.
“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?” Trump said of Harris, whose mother is Indian and father is Jamaican-American.
Trump often appeared flustered as three moderators also pressed him to justify his running mate JD Vance’s comments that people with children should have more voting rights than childless voters. What was meant to be an hour-long conversation was abruptly cut short.
Michael Tyler, communications director of Harris’ campaign, said in a statement: “The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the former president’s comments “repulsive” and “insulting”.
“Today’s biased and rude treatment from certain hostile members of the media will backfire massively,” said Lynne Patton, a senior Trump campaign adviser, who accused “media elites” of wanting to divide Americans.
Harris has long embraced her Black heritage. She attended Howard University, which is widely regarded as the most prestigious historically Black college in the US, and has been endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus.
Winning over Black voters is crucial for both candidates. Trump partly won his 2016 race against Hillary Clinton because fewer Black voters turned out to vote, according to Pew Research. Turnout among Black voters jumped 14 per cent in 2020, helping Biden win.
But Black voters’ support for the Democratic Party started waning during Biden’s presidency and Trump has been actively courting them. Polls have suggested the New York mogul could win nearly 20 per cent of Black voters in November, a historic high for Republicans.
However, Biden’s decision this month to step down and endorse Harris has galvanised many Black voters who are elated at the possibility of seeing her become the first Black woman president.
Harris performs significantly better than Biden against Trump among Black voters, according to a Data for Progress survey of 1,011 black voters in seven swing states, including Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
The vice-president has also been actively courting Black voters. She is scheduled to speak in Houston on Wednesday at a sorority gathering of Sigma Gamma Rho, the latest in a series of events aimed at winning the support of historically Black sororities and fraternities. Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, one of nine such organisations.
Trump told the Chicago event that his primary goal to help Black Americans was to combat illegal immigration, saying that “millions” of migrants were stealing “Black jobs”, without giving evidence for his claim.