Vice President Kamala Harris stated that "the American people deserve better" in response to former President Donald Trump's contentious interview at the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention, which included incorrect assertions about her racial identity.
Addressing members of Sigma Gamma Rho Sororit
y during its 60th Biennial Boule in Houston on Wednesday night, Harris criticized Trump's remarks as "the same old show — the divisiveness and the disrespect."
She emphasized, "The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth and does not react with hostility and anger when presented with facts. We need a leader who recognizes that our differences are not a source of division but a vital strength."
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More: Trump questions Kamala Harris' racial identity at NABJ, claims she 'happened to turn Black
In an interview with the NABJ in Chicago earlier on Wednesday, Trump questioned Kamala Harris’s racial identity. Harris, who is the presumptive Democratic nominee, is of mixed race, being half Black and half Indian-American.
On Truth Social, Trump criticized Kamala Harris, saying, “Crazy Kamala is claiming she’s Indian, not Black. This is a big deal. She’s a stone-cold phony who manipulates everyone, including her racial identity!” This post was a continuation of the false claims he made in his earlier interview.
Later that night at a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa., Trump accused Harris of adopting a "new southern accent" during her previous night’s campaign event in Atlanta.
A large screen above Trump’s stage at the rally displayed a photo of a smiling Harris alongside a 2016 Associated Press headline reading, "California’s Kamala Harris Becomes First Indian-American U.S. Senator."
Before Trump took the stage at the rally, his attorney Alina Habba addressed the crowd, stating, "Unlike Kamala, I know my roots and where I come from."
Meanwhile, Trump's vice presidential running mate, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, criticized Harris in a speech in Arizona on Wednesday, calling her "a phony who tailors her persona to whatever audience she’s addressing."
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This isn't the first instance of Trump allies targeting Harris's racial identity. Similar insinuations were made in 2019 when Harris was running for the Democratic presidential nomination. At that time, her campaign likened these attacks to Trump's birther conspiracy against President Barack Obama, where Trump falsely claimed Obama was born in Kenya.
"The hostility Donald Trump displayed on stage today reflects the same animosity he has exhibited throughout his life, his presidency, and his current presidential campaign," Michael Tyler, communications director for the Harris campaign, said in a statement on Wednesday following Trump's NABJ interview.