- Trump answered questions at a conference of the National Association of Black Journalists
Donald Trump’s interview with a group of black journalists got off to a combative start after he lashed out at his first interlocutor and said he “didn’t know” whether Vice President Kamala Harris is black.
Things started off dramatically with the first question after the former president was asked about some of his past comments attacking black journalists and lawmakers and dining with a white supremacist at Mar-a-Lago.
After attacking his first questioner at a National Association of Black Journalists panel, Trump attacked Harris, who is of mixed heritage.
“I didn’t know she was black,” Trump said. “I don’t know if she’s Indian or black.”
From the start, Trump attacked his first questioner after she asked him a multi-part question that brought up several of his comments attacking African-American journalists and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Scott said many people did not think it was appropriate for him to be in Chicago for the interview, citing comments in which he called a black journalist a “loser,” criticized an African-American congresswoman and alluded to his meeting with white nationalist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago.
“First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible way,” Trump told ABC’s Rachel Scott, who asked the first question.
“You don’t even say hello to me, how are you?” Trump lectured, calling ABC a fake news network.
Donald Trump’s interview with ABC’s Rachel Scott, FOX News’ Harris Faulkner and Semafor’s Nadia Goba got off to a tense start
“I came here in good spirits. I love the black people in this country,” he said.
“I think it’s a very rude presentation. I don’t know exactly why you would do something like that,” he said.
Trump then complained about faulty interview equipment and blamed the NASB for delaying him for an interview that started more than 30 minutes later than scheduled.
“I was told my opponent was going to be here. You invited me with false promises. And then you said you couldn’t do it over Zoom,” he said, after the group announced it was negotiating with Harris to do a Zoom interview next month.
“I’ve been the best president for black people since Abraham Lincoln,” Trump said, calling the initial questions “hostile” and a “disgrace.”
Trump went on to complain about the audio-visual equipment, saying that “the microphones are really in terrible condition.”
In his quotes about Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, Trump said Harris…He was always of Indian descent and was just promoting Indian heritage.
“I didn’t know she was black until a few years ago when she became black, and now she wants to be known as black,” Trump said.
“I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black? And you know what, I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t,” Trump said.
“Because she was Indian by birth and suddenly she changed her attitude and became a black person. I think someone should look into that.”
Nearly 30 minutes into the interview, Trump was still complaining about “being treated as rudely as this woman treated me.”