The former president’s allies have seized on his remarks by reviving racist “birther” claims that Trump has repeatedly used to undermine his opponents’ ethnic backgrounds, when he suggested that Harris wasn’t “born in this country” during the 2020 election and years earlier doubted whether Barack Obama was a US citizen by demanding to see his birth certificate.
His latest statements have turbocharged online racism that has surrounded the 2024 election, with supporters posting copies of her “birth certificate” and accusing Harris of “changing” her race for political reasons.
Harris’s father was born in Jamaica and is African-Caribbean, and her mother is Indian. The vice-president has discussed at length her upbringing in a biracial family and as a Black American with family roots in both Jamaica and in southern India.
“I didn’t know she was Black,” Trump told a panel of Black journalists on Wednesday. “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 said. “I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way and all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.”
Right-wing media personalities have spent years attacking Harris’s ethnicity and claiming she only uses her identities for political reasons. But in the days before Trump’s latest remarks, and after Harris launched her presidential campaign, media figures and social media influencers revived bogus statements to cast doubt on her ethnic background.
“Kamala Harris, though she is now presenting herself as, you know, Malcolm X … she’s half Indian and then half Afro-Caribbean, so she really doesn’t have any link to the African American culture, whatsoever,” The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles said on the same day as Trump’s remarks.
Denne historien er fra August 03, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra August 03, 2024-utgaven av The Independent.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
No title until Reds become road warriors, warns Slot
Liverpool boss says team must match away form of rivals
United stuck in 'purgatory' and facing only one way out
When one prominent football figure caught a glimpse of the Manchester United dressing room recently, they immediately recognised a scene they had seen from rival clubs. That was a squad that \"doesn't know what next\" and feels like it's \"going nowhere\". It isn't intentional, of course, but is a feeling that starts to grip a group when there's no sense of clarity.
Fifa transfer rules 'contrary to EU law', Diarra case finds
Fifa will have to update key paragraphs of its transfer rules to ensure punishment of players for breaking contracts is less draconian, after a European Court of Justice ruling on the Lassana Diarra case.
Marital rape is not rape, argues Indian government
The Indian government has opposed calls to classify consensual sexual acts committed by a husband against his wife as \"rape\", saying that to do so could have an impact on conjugal relationships and disturb the institution of marriage.
Screaming statue tribute to doctor raped and killed in India causes controversy
A bust installed outside a state-run hospital in India where a resident doctor was raped and killed has sparked anger and shock as it depicts a woman screaming in agony, her head thrown back and eyes wide open.
Haitian gang shoots at least 70 people in town rampage
Gang members brandishing automatic rifles have stormed through a town in Haiti's main breadbasket region, killing at least 70 people and forcing another 3,000 to flee.
Beirut hit again by Israel as Iran vows not to back down
Israeli military claims strikes targeted new Hezbollah leaders
Police officers win appeal in athlete stop and search case
Two former Metropolitan Police officers have been handed their jobs back after winning an appeal against a ruling that they had lied about a stop and search incident involving British athlete Bianca Williams.
Royal Navy chief apologises for submarine service abuse
The head of the Royal Navy has apologised after an investigation found \"misogyny, bullying and other unacceptable behaviours\" in the submarine service.
Women say gender equality in the workplace has stalled
Gender equality in the workplace has stalled as women report experiencing many of the same challenges as they did nearly 30 years ago, a new survey of high-flyers suggests.