Donald Trump in an interview Wednesday with ABC News’ Rachel Scott at the National Association of Black Journalists convention said Vice President Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black.”
“Do you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a Black woman?” Scott asked the former president during his sitdown interview with her, Semafor’s Kadia Goba, and Fox News’ Harris Faulkner.
“Well, I can say, no, I think it's maybe a little bit different,” Trump said. “She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. 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. So, I don't know. Is she Indian or is she Black?”
“She has always identified as a Black woman,” Scott pointed out. “She went to a historically Black college.”
“I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went — she became a Black person,” Trump continued on. “I think somebody should look into that, too, when you ask ask — continue in a very hostile, nasty tone.”
Trump then declined to give a direct answer when Scott asked whether he believes Harris is a “DEI hire,” as some of his fellow Republicans have said.
“I really don't know,” Trump said. “Could be.”