Election 2024 updates: Harris reacts to Trump's NABJ remarks: 'Same old show'

Vice President Kamala Harris is moving full steam ahead in her bid for the White House.

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, have several campaign events set up this week as they aim their attacks on Harris.

Harris has secured commitments from enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee if they all honor their commitment when voting, according to ABC News reporting.

Latest Developments

_{Jul 31, 9:02 PM}

Vance defends Trump's comments at NABJ, calls Harris a 'chameleon' and 'fake'

Former President Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance, defended his comments at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) annual convention in Chicago Wednesday.

Ahead of his rally in Phoenix, Arizona, Vance told reporters he believes the media is "overreacting" to Trump's remarks at NABJ, where he questioned his opponent Vice President 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. So, I don't know, is she Indian or is she Black?" Trump said at the convention.

Vance told reporters Wednesday he found Trump's comments "hysterical" adding that he believes the former president "pointed out the fundamental chameleon-like nature of Kamala Harris."

"She is not who she pretends to be," Vance said of Harris. "She's flip-flopped on every issue. She's fake, she's phony," he added.

_{Jul 31, 10:13 PM}

Harris reacts to Trump's NABJ remarks: 'Same old show -- the divisiveness and the disrespect'

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke out on the campaign trail on Wednesday night, reacting to former President Donald Trump's headline-making appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists earlier in the day.

While not calling out any specific comments, Harris said that Trump's appearance at the conference "was the same old show -- the divisiveness and the disrespect."

"And let me just say, the American people deserve better," Harris added as she addressed a Houston crowd at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s Boulé. "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; we deserve a leader who understands that our differences, do not divide us. They are an essential source of our strength."

-ABC News' Jolie Lash

_{Jul 31, 7:50 PM}

Sen. Kelly calls Trump 'desperate scared old man' over NABJ remarks

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a vice presidential short-lister, criticized former President Donald Trump's comments at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention about Vice President Kamala Harris Wednesday evening.

"I think those are the comments of a desperate scared old man, who over the last week especially has been having his butt kicked by an experienced prosecutor," he said.

"And his comments are not unexpected from him. We've seen this over since when, 2015 or so? So he's done this before he is not going to change it's pretty obvious to me why he is doing this," the senator added.

When asked by ABC News if he felt that Trump's comments were rooted in racism, Kelly responded, "I think it's who he is."

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin and Noah Minnie

_{Jul 31, 5:16 PM}

GOP Senate candidate Larry Hogan slams Trump's NABJ Convention remarks

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for Senate, came down on former President Trump's comments about Vice President Kamala Harris' race.

"It's unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity. The American people deserve better," he said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

-ABC News' Rick Klein

_{Jul 31, 6:19 PM}

'Trump showing exactly who he is at NABJ,' Harris campaign says

Michael Tyler, a spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, released a statement Wednesday responding to former President Donald Trump's interview at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago.

"The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people," he said.

"Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency – while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us," Tyler added.

"Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign. It’s also exactly what the American people will see from across the debate stage as Vice President Harris offers a vision of opportunity and freedom for all Americans. All Donald Trump needs to do is stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on September 10," he concluded.

-ABC News' Mary Bruce

_{Jul 31, 3:38 PM}

White House press secretary calls Trump's comments on Harris' race 'repulsive'

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back against former President Donald Trump on Wednesday after he questioned Vice President Kamala Harris' race during a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago.

Trump refused to answer a question by ABC News' Rachel Scott if Harris, who is Black and Indian, was a "DEI hire," an argument floated by some Republicans last week.

"She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said. “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?"

He later said, "I really don't know, could be, could be, there are some."

Jean-Pierre criticized those comments during the daily White House briefing that was going on at the same time.

"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," she said. "And no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That is no one's right. It is someone's own decisions."

Jean-Pierre added that Harris -- who attended Howard University, an HBCU, and was a member of the Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha -- is the vice president and said that people have to "put some respect on her name."

"It doesn't matter if it's a former leader, a former president. It is insulting. And we have to put -- she is the vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris. We have to put some respect on her name," Jean-Pierre said.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

_{Jul 31, 5:07 PM}

UAW endorses Harris

The United Auto Workers International Executive Board voted Wednesday to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential bid.

"Our job in this election is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Kamala Harris to build on her proven track record of delivering for the working class," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement.

“We stand at a crossroads in this country. We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed. This campaign is bringing together people from all walks of life, building a movement that can defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. For our one million active and retired members, the choice is clear: We will elect Kamala Harris to be our next President this November," he added.

-ABC News' Brittany Shepherd

_{Jul 31, 1:18 PM}

Trump, Harris campaign trade barbs over NABJ appearance

Trump posted another statement on Truth Social expressing fury that Harris may talk to the National Association of Black Journalists Conference via Zoom.

"I am getting ready to land in Chicago in order to be there. Now I am told that she is doing the Event on ZOOM. WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?" he posted.

In response to former President Trump's appearance at NABJ, the Harris campaign released a statement calling out all of the "lies" they claim Trump will mention about his record with the Black community.

"Not only does Donald Trump have a history of demeaning NABJ members and honorees who remain pillars of the Black press, he also has a history of attacking the media and working against the vital role the press play in our democracy."

The campaign listed "skyrocketing Black unemployment," his response to the pandemic, and "skyrocketing crime."

-ABC News' Gabriella Abdul-Hakim, Fritz Farrow, Isabella Murray and Will McDuffie

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