‘Black or Indian?’ Donald Trump launches ‘racially insensitive’ attack on Kamala Harris

'I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago.' Trump questions Kamala Harris' racial background at black journalists' gathering.

Donald Trump has stirred up controversy with a racially charged comment about Kamala Harris, stating she “happened to turn Black” a few years ago. The comments were made during a gathering of Black journalists in Chicago and soon went viral on social media with people criticising the former president for his racially insensitive’ attack on his opponent. During the event, an interviewer asked if he agreed with some Republicans who have called Kamala Harris a “DEI hire.” In response, Trump questioned her racial background, asking, ‘Black or Indian?’

Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted an invitation from CBS News to debate former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick this summer. (AP )

Trump questions Kamala Harris' racial identity

"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," the Republican presidential nominee said at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago on Wednesday as reported by CNN.

Trump kept saying that the vice-president turned presumptive democratic nominee only talked about her Asian-American background till now. “She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” he remarked. “So I don't know - Is she Indian? Or is she black?”

Kamala Harris ‘became black all of sudden’

After President Biden endorsed his Vice President to succeed him in the upcoming elections, Trump's bid for the White House has seemingly lost pace. Major polls now show a tight race, a stark contrast to the situation when Biden was running, which allowed Trump to take the lead.

Kamala Harris, the first Black and Asian-American Vice President with Indian and Jamaican heritage, faced false attacks from Trump. At the recent panel discussion held in Chicago, Trump remarked, “I respect either one,” referring to Harris’ racial identity, but added, “she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she became a Black person.” He suggested that this shift should be investigated, further fueling controversy.

Trump's remarks sparked a heated discussion with ABC News' Rachel Scott, who served as one of the event's panellists. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also responded to the attack labeling his remarks as "repugnant" and “insulting.”

“As a person of color – as a Black woman, who is in this position that is standing before you at this podium, behind this lectern – what he just said, what you just read out to me, is repulsive. It’s insulting, and, you know, no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify,” Pierre told the reporters as per CNN.

About Kamala Harris’ background

Kamala Harris comes from a mix of Indian and Jamaican backgrounds—her mom's from India and her dad's from Jamaica, a fact not hidden from public records. Kamala Harris pursued her education at Howard University, a distinguished institution with a rich history of serving historically Black students, and is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the nation's oldest African American sorority.

Additionally, she held the position of president for the Black Law Students Association at the University of California, San Francisco, and engaged in various activities with the Congressional Black Caucus throughout her tenure in the Senate.

Reacting to Trump’s remarks Harris said, his comments are the "the same old show" of "divisiveness... and disrespect". "The American people deserve better," she mentioned at a gathering of the historically Black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho.

"We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us - they are an essential source of our strength."