Trump attacks Harris’ racial identity, visits Pennsylvania for first rally since shooting

CHICAGO — Former President Donald Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity on Wednesday during an event for black journalists, part of a turbulent campaign that saw the president return to Pennsylvania for the first time since surviving an assassination attempt in the state two weeks ago.

“She was Indian the whole time, and then all of a sudden she changed her background and became black,” Trump said of Harris, whose mother emigrated from India and father from Jamaica. “I think someone needs to look into that.”

The comments were part of a combative exchange between Trump and moderators at the National Association of Black Journalists conference. They were the latest in a long line of offensive and racist remarks that have defined his political career, including when he first entered national politics nearly 15 years ago by falsely suggesting that then-President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

” READ MORE: Donald Trump Questions Kamala Harris’ Race, Attacks ABC News’ Rachel Scott During NABJ Interview

“This guy is just a complete idiot, a racist, a white supremacist,” said City Councilwoman Nina Ahmad, a Bangladeshi immigrant who is the first South Asian city lawmaker in Philadelphia’s history. “What she’s saying is just ridiculous. Apparently, we’ve known for a long time about her background, that she has an Indian mother who came here and met her Jamaican father, who is clearly of African descent.”

Ahmad said she thinks Trump is cynically questioning Harris’ race because her popularity among black voters threatens his chances.

“He wants to destroy her support among blacks,” Ahmad said. “I’m sure that’s probably why. The amount of emotion that her candidacy has generated reminds me of 2008 and is very powerful.”

Harris, who studied at Howard University, would be the first black woman to hold the presidency if she defeats Trump in November. She would also be the first Asian American, as well as the first woman of any race.

As a candidate, she has straddled all of those identities, speaking at events in recent weeks aimed at both black and Asian voters in Philadelphia.

Harris spokesman Michael Taylor said Trump’s “tirade was just a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies.”

“Trump hurled personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he has done throughout his presidency — while failing Black families and making it so that the entire country has to dig itself out of the ditch he left us in,” Taylor said in a statement.

Trump’s First Pennsylvania Rally After Assassination Attempt

After leaving the Chicago event, Trump flew to Harrisburg for his first event in Pennsylvania since he was shot in the ear during a failed assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.

Trump began his speech by discussing the shooting and honoring the memory of Corey Comperatore, the former Buffalo Township fire chief who was killed after being hit by a stray bullet.

“In his last act in this world, Corey threw himself at his wife and daughters and died while shielding them from the bullets of a very unstable man,” Trump said.

The crowd chanted “Corey! Corey! Corey!” before Trump called for a moment of silence for Comperatore.

Trump promised to return to Butler in the future.

“We’ve had a tough day. I’ll tell you, by all accounts, I shouldn’t be with you today,” Trump said. “I shouldn’t be with you, but I am.”

Later in the speech, Trump recalled that pundits had predicted he would become a “nice guy” after the shooting.

“I actually went along with it for about eight hours, and then I realized they were trying to put me in jail for doing absolutely nothing wrong,” said Trump, the first former president to be convicted of a crime.

“These are bad people. We have to win this battle, and you know they’ll be nicer when we win.”

Attacks on Harris

Trump held his Harrisburg rally at the New Holland Arena in the Harrisburg Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex, an 8,000-seat arena typically used for rodeos and wrangling competitions. Several thousand other attendees also lined the floor of the facility, a dirt floor covered with a concrete slab.

In a rambling speech, Trump called Harris a “fake” and far-left extremist who advocates for open borders and is sensitive to crime.

“On one side you have a radical left puppet candidate who is fake, fake, fake, and on the other side you have a president who will fight, fight, fight for America,” Trump said. “She is an extreme radical left nutcase.”

Harris, a former district attorney in San Francisco and attorney general of California, has been riding on her past as a prosecutor since winning the Democratic nomination. This week, she debuted an ad that sought to address Republican criticism of the border.

Attendees waited in scorching temperatures for hours before his arrival. Michael Baker, who drove from the Gettysburg area to the rally, said he thought Trump raised an important point about Harris after hearing the former president’s comments in Chicago.

“I don’t think she’s lying about it, but she’s using it to her advantage,” Baker, 68, of mixed descent, told Harris when told of the former president’s comments. “She’s not African-American, she’s Native American.”

At the rally, an image of a Business Insider article about Harris’ Indian-American heritage was displayed on a large screen in the stadium, with no explanation provided.

Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija, whose parents are Indian immigrants, said Wednesday that Trump and other conservatives have shown they have “no integrity whatsoever” in discussing Harris’ race.

“I’ve seen right-wing politicians speaking to Indian-American audiences for years say that VP Harris identifies as black and is ‘hiding’ her Indian heritage. Now, when she speaks to black audiences, Trump and his weirdos say she’s Indian and only recently ‘became black,’” Makhija wrote on X.

The crowd in Harrisburg waved their arms dozens of times in enthusiasm at the sight of Trump and sang the MAGA anthem “Rich Men North of Richmond” by Oliver Anthony.

Phyllis Vance — a black Trump voter who laughed when she mentioned that she has nothing in common with Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance — said she agreed with Trump’s flawed assessment of Harris’ racial identity.

“I don’t think he’s a racist. He’s done so much for black people,” said Vance, a 64-year-old pharmacy technician, who added that Trump is “for people, no matter what color they are.”

Inquirer staff writers Fallon Roth and Sarah Nicell contributed to this article.

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