• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

Hours after former US president Donald Trump questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ ethnicity, the Republican nominee has now made a bold claim that he is the “best president” for Black Americans since Abraham Lincoln. 

During an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago on July 31, Trump launched a rhetorical attack on his likely election opponent, Kamala Harris, accusing her of using her race to gain an advantage. “She was Indian all the way, and all of a sudden she made a turn, and she became a Black woman.” 

On Wednesday night in Houston, Harris gave a measured response, saying in a speech that Trump had repeated the "same old show" of "divisiveness and disrespect."

"The American people deserve better," Harris stated at a Sigma Gamma Rho convention, one of the nation's leading Black sororities.

“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.”

Donald Trump Wants Black Voters’ Support

Winning the support of Black Americans appears to be a crucial element of the Trump campaign's political strategy, as Trump has a history of criticising cities with large Black populations. In 2019, he described a predominantly Black congressional district in Baltimore as a "disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess." 

In the latest interview at NABJ, he criticised Rachel Scott of ABC News, calling her "nasty" and "rude" after she asked him about his past racist remarks, such as claiming former President Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States and referring to a Black prosecutor as an "animal."

Meanwhile, the Biden campaign has also increased its spending on messaging and issued dire warnings about the potential impact of a Trump victory on Black communities. 

In a speech in Philadelphia last month, Biden asked the predominantly Black audience what his opponent would have done if African Americans, rather than a mostly white crowd, had stormed the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. 

The president highlighted several of Trump's missteps and controversies, including his desire to use tear gas on George Floyd protesters and his frequent use of neo-Nazi Third Reich terminology.