Vice President Kamala Harris has responded to Former President Donald J. Trump’s claims about her racial identity.
“It was the same old show − the divisiveness and the disrespect,” Harris said Wednesday night in Houston, to the historically Black sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, USA Today reported.
Trump attended the annual National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) meeting in Chicago on Wednesday. The discussion became quickly heated as he claimed Harris had shifted her racial and ethnic identification for political gain.
“She was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person,” Mr. Trump said during the Q&A. “So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
Harris graduated from Howard University, a prominent Black institution in Washington D.C., and joined Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation’s oldest Black sorority. Her mother was Indian American, and her father is from Jamaica.
Harris wasn’t able to attend the NABJ convention due to scheduling conflicts. At the time, Harris was speaking at a convention for Sigma Gamma Rho. When asked about the assertions, she said Trump has used the same tactics he used before, full of “divisiveness and disrespect.”
“The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth, a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts,” Harris said. “We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us — they are an essential source of our strength.”
According to the LA Times, one attendee promptly walked out during Trump’s answers about Kamala Harris, and another yelled, “Sir, have you no shame?” during his answers. As the election approaches closer, it is unclear whether Trump has made the impact he desired during the NABJ convention, as his other responses prompted gasps and jeers amongst the mostly Black members inside the room. While Harris is leading the polls by 2% with third-party candidates included, it is neck-to-neck with her and Trump for now.
“Because when we organize, mountains move. When we mobilize, nations change. And when we vote, we make history,” Harris said. “So, let us continue to fight with faith, with optimism, and with hope.”
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