Facing backlash, Trump digs in on attacks misrepresenting Harris' racial identity

Former President Trump is facing backlash for calling Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity into question when he addressed a Black journalists convention. That’s as the vice president herself wrapped up a series of events aimed at speaking directly to Black voters. Laura Barrón-López reports.

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Geoff Bennett: Former President Donald Trump is facing backlash for calling Vice President Kamala Harris ‘ racial identity into question when he addressed a Black journalists convention yesterday.

That’s as the vice president herself wrapped up a series of events aimed at speaking directly to Black voters.

Our Laura Barron-Lopez has more.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Delivering the eulogy before hundreds of mourners at Fallbrook Church in North Houston today, Vice President Kamala Harris bid farewell to a friend, the late Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who served in Congress for nearly three decades and became one of its most influential Black members.

Kamala Harris , Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: To honor her memory, let us continue to fight to realize the promise of America, a promise of freedom, opportunity and justice, not just for some, but for all.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Harris remembering a fellow Black woman trailblazer, as her own racial identity is being attacked by her rival, Donald Trump.

Speaking to a historically Black sorority yesterday, Harris slammed her opponent hours after the Republican nominee questioned her racial identity.

Kamala Harris : Donald Trump spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, and it was the same old show, the divisiveness and the disrespect. And let me just say, the American people deserve better.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Trump was asked if Harris, who is poised to be the first Black and South Asian woman to become a presidential nominee, was a DEI or diversity hire, as some of his Republican allies have said.

Donald Trump, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: 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.

(Laughter)

Donald Trump: So, I don’t know. Is she Indian or is she black?

Laura Barron-Lopez: In spite of the backlash, Trump is digging in, posting this to his social media platform, thanking Harris for the — quote — “nice picture” that showed the “love of your Indian heritage.”

And at a rally in Pennsylvania last night, the Trump campaign displayed news headlines that referred to her as an Indian-American senator. The former president accused Harris of faking her identity.

Donald Trump: In her speech in Atlanta last night, Kamala Harris even tried to outbrand a new Southern accent. Did you hear a new accent?

(Laughter)

Laura Barron-Lopez: Harris is biracial, the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, and her Black identity a key part of her history as the member of a historically Black sorority while a student at a historically Black college.

Today, at the U.S. southern border, Trump’s running mate tried to put the spotlight back on policy, namely, immigration. Vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance toured an unfinished section of border fence in Arizona and blamed Harris for the Biden administration’s border policies.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Vice Presidential Candidate: Has Kamala Harris done anything you have asked her to do? She is the border czar. Has your border czar done anything you have asked her to do? And the answer is no.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Harris, however, was never charged with overseeing border security. Instead, she was tasked with addressing root causes of migration and why people flee their countries of origin.

And with 96 days until Election Day, the breakneck pace of campaigning for Harris and Trump is just beginning. The Trump campaign said today it raised nearly $140 million last month, trailing the $200 million Harris raised in the first week of her campaign.

Harris could be the official Democratic nominee by Monday and will hold her first rally with her yet-to-be-named running mate next Tuesday in Philadelphia.

For the PBS “News Hour,” I’m Laura Barron-Lopez.