Donald Trump has brushed aside his controversial claims that Kamala Harris is “going black” as the political rivals faced off in their first presidential debate.
September 11, 2024, published at 1:08 am ET
Donald Trump has dismissed his claims about this Kamala Harris “blacking out” when he was questioned about the controversial comments during the first debate with the political rivals.
RadarOnline.com can reveal that the Republican candidate has changed his tune, saying he “doesn’t care” about his opponent’s racial identity.
During Tuesday heated debate on the ABC stage, co-moderator David Muir asked, “Why do you think it is appropriate to address your opponent’s racial identity?”
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Trump said he “didn’t care” about his opponent’s racial identity.
The former president responded, “I don’t, and I don’t care. I don’t care what she is. I don’t care. You’re making a big deal out of something – I don’t care. Whatever .” she wants to be, that’s okay with me.”
Muir then responded, “But those were your words, so I’m asking –” before Trump interrupted and continued, “I don’t know, I don’t know. I mean, all I can say is that I read that she wasn’t black, and I’ll say that, and then I read that she was black. And that’s okay. Both are okay for me. That’s up to her.”
The question related to comments Trump (78) made in July at the National Association of Black Journalists. The Republican presidential candidate suggested Harris, 59, was misleading voters about her ethnicity, saying she “happened to become black” in the past few years.
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He added at the event last month: “I didn’t know she was black until several years ago… and now she wants to be known as black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
Harris. whose parents are Indian and Jamaican, was the first black woman and Asian-American to win the vice presidency.
After Trump’s pivot during Tuesday’s debate, the vice president offered her thoughts on the issue, saying, “Frankly, I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president, who has consistently over the course of his career has tried to use race to sow division. the American people.”
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The candidates faced off in Philadelphia on Tuesday for their first-ever debate.
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She blasted the real estate mogul for “being investigated for refusing to rent properties to black families” — harkening back to the 1970s, when Trump’s company was investigated by the FBI for alleged discrimination. He and his father eventually settled a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department over the claims.
Harris also said, “Let’s not forget that this is the same person who took out a full-page ad The New York Times calling for the execution of five young black and Latino boys who were innocent Central Park Five.”
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Harris and Trump exchanged blows Tuesday night, the first time they met in person.
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She continued with her race-related grievances against the former president, saying, “This is the same person who spread lies about the first black president of the United States, and I think the American people want better than that.”
Trump fired back: “This is the most divisive presidency in the history of our country, there has never been anything like it. They are destroying our country and they are coming up with things like what she just said that go back many years.”
He then defended his actions regarding the Central Park Five, a group of boys wrongly convicted of rape in 1989, saying, “They pled guilty, and I said well if they pled guilty and seriously hurt someone… .”
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Trump turned his attention back to Harris as he continued: “This is a person who has to go back years, forty, fifty years ago, because there is nothing now.”
Their fiery back and forth also saw Trump accuse Harris and her running mate of: Tim Walz of supporting “baby executions“, which the VP denied.
The Democratic candidate also took jabs at her opponent, at one point joking about MAGA supporters”his rallies left early out of exhaustion and boredom.”
