Donald Trump Callously Brushes Off Kamala Harris 'Turning Black' Scandal During Debate: 'Whatever She Wants to Be is OK With Me'
Donald Trump side-stepped his controversial claims about Kamala Harris 'turning Black' as the political rivals faced off in their first presidential debate.
Sept. 11 2024, Published 1:08 a.m. ET
Donald Trump side-stepped his controversial claims about Kamala Harris "turning Black" as he was questioned about the controversial remarks during the first debate to feature the political rivals.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the GOP candidate changed his tune by saying he "couldn't care less" about his opponent's racial identity.
During Tuesday's heated debate on the ABC stage, co-moderator David Muir asked: "Why do you believe it's appropriate to weigh in on the racial identity of your opponent?"
ABC News is denying it schemed to help Kamala Harris take down Donald Trump on the debate stage.
The former president responded: "I don't, and I don't care. I don't care what she is. I don't care. You make a big deal out of something — I couldn't care less. Whatever she wants to be is OK with me."
Muir then replied: "But those were your words, so I"m asking —", before Trump cut him off and continued: "I don't know, I don't know. I mean, all I can say is I read where she was not Black that she put out, and I'll say that, and then I read that she was Black. And that's OK. Either one is OK with me. That's up to her."
The question was in reference to comments Trump, 78, made at the National Association of Black Journalists in July. The Republican presidential hopeful suggested Harris, 59, was misleading voters when it came to her ethnicity as he said she "happened to turn Black" just in the last few years.
He added at the event last month: "I didn’t know she was Black until a number of 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 VP offered her thoughts on the matter, saying: "Honestly, I think it's a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently over the course of his career attempted to use race to divide the American people."
Trump walked back his allegations about Harris' race during their September debate.
She slammed the real estate tycoon for being "investigated because he refused to rent property to Black families" — harkening back to the 1970s, when Trump's company was investigated by the FBI over alleged discrimination. He and his father ended up settling a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department over the claims.
Harris also said: "Let's remember, this is the same individual who took out a full-page ad in The New York Times calling for the execution of five young Black and Latino boys who were innocent, the Central Park Five."
Trump declined Harris' offer for a second debate hosted by Fox News.
She continued with her race-related grievances against the former president, saying: "This is the same individual who spread birther 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's never been anything like it. They're destroying our country and they come up with things like what she just said, going back many many years".
He then defended his actions in regard to 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 they badly hurt a person..."
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Trump turned his focus back to Harris as he continued: "This is a person that has to stretch back years, 40, 50 years ago, because there's nothing now."
Their fiery back-and-forth also saw Trump accuse Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz of supporting of "baby executions", which the VP denied.
The Democratic candidate took jabs at her opponent as well, joking at one point about MAGA supporters "leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom."
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