(Bloomberg) -- Republican nominee Donald Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity at a contentious roundtable with Black journalists, fumbling an attempt to reach out to voters of color.
Trump responded to a question about GOP attacks casting Harris as a “DEI” hire, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion, by raising her Indian ancestry. Harris is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants.
“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,” Trump said Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago.
Harris condemned Trump’s comments later Wednesday as “the same old show” of “divisiveness” and “disrespect.”
“Let me just say: The American people deserve better. The American people deserve better than that,” Harris said during a speech to a historically Black sorority convention in Houston.
Harris is seeking to become the first Black woman and Asian American president in US history and her entry into the 2024 contest has seen a surge of enthusiasm for her candidacy among Black voters and young people — groups with which Trump has sought to broaden his appeal.
Trump’s effort to court Black voters suffered a self-inflicted wound Wednesday as he clashed with the event’s moderators and used vitriolic language against Harris. Convention-goers responded poorly to Trump’s attempt to question Harris’ race: She attended historically Black Howard University and is prominent alumna of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Black sorority.
Trump at one point mispronounced “Kamala,” a move he has used to elicit jeers from crowds at his campaign rallies. His comments drew boos and gasps from the crowd, with at least one person shouting, “have you no shame?”
Audience members also groaned when Trump said he was the best president for Black people since Abraham Lincoln. When Trump said “millions and millions of people” coming across the US-Mexico border “happen to be taking Black jobs,” people in the room shouted.
Harris addressed Trump’s comments later Wednesday in her remarks to a Black sorority convention in Houston.
“It was the same old show. The divisiveness and the disrespect,” she said. “And let me just say the American people deserve better. The American people deserve better than that.”
Harris’ entry into the race forced Trump to shift a campaign strategy that relied on attacking President Joe Biden’s age. Attacks from him and allies on Harris have been tinged with racist and sexist tones. Trump acknowledged he had to revamp his messaging after the president exited the race.
“Our whole campaign was geared toward him and now we have to gear it to her, but ultimately it’s the same,” Trump said.
A July Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday showed Harris erased the lead Trump enjoyed in seven states likely to determine the election, leading the former president 48% to 47% — a statistical tie. The survey also showed that across those states, Harris enjoyed the support of 75% of Black voters, compared to 19% for Trump.
Many swing states have significant Black populations and Trump’s performance could reverberate widely in communities that could decide the election.
A combative Trump took the stage more than an hour after the event was slated to begin and criticized the moderators and the group for asking about past racist comments and a 2022 dinner with a White nationalist. Trump complained he received a “very rude introduction” and blamed audio equipment issues for the delay.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner, first question, you don’t even say hello,” Trump said to ABC News’ Rachel Scott. “I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country.”
Trump then said he had been invited under “false pretense” because the organization was in talks to host Harris virtually later this year, an opportunity he said was not extended to him.
The roundtable was billed as an opportunity for the former president to discuss the “most pressing issues facing the Black community.” The NABJ, however, drew fierce criticism from many prominent Black journalists who questioned its decision to offer a platform for a candidate who has made incendiary comments about race. One of the convention’s co-chairs stepped down and outside groups protested the appearance.
“Trump represents everything that I stand against. He is racist, he is authoritarian,” said one of the protesters, Ryan Cason, 25, of Chicago.
NABJ has historically extended invitations for presidential nominees to appear at its convention during election years, but this was the first time Trump accepted. Harris was also invited but unable to fit the request into her schedule, according to NABJ President Ken Lemon. The group said in a statement it is working with the Harris campaign to schedule a roundtable “either in person or virtually, at some point in September.”
The former president also defended old comments from his running mate, Senator JD Vance, that disparaged women without children as “childless cat ladies,” saying it was meant in a “friendly manner.” But the Republican nominee also downplayed the significance of a vice presidential candidate’s effect on the election outcome.
“Virtually, never has it mattered,” Trump said. “If you like me, I’m going to win. If you don’t like me, I’m not going to win.”
--With assistance from Jordan Fabian, Stephanie Lai, Josh Wingrove, Brett Pulley, Natasha Abellard and Katanga Johnson.
(Adds Harris comments in fourth paragraph. An earlier version corrected a reference to the group in the headline)
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