'He's grasping around': How Trump’s anti-Harris game plan went off the rails

01 August 2024

Former President Donald Trump is drawing a great deal of criticism for comments he made about presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago on Wednesday, July 31.

Trump claimed that Harris has conveniently "turned Black," telling attendees, "Is she Indian or is she Black?.... She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when 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?"

Trump continued, "I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't. She was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she became a Black person."

Harris, in fact, has had a lot to say about her heritage over the years, noting that she had a Black Jamaican father and an Indian mother. And she has often mentioned that she attended Howard University, a Black college.

In an article published by Politico on August 1, journalists Natalie Allison and Alex Isenstadt cite Trump's racial attack on the vice president as an example of his inability to stick to a coherent anti-Harris message.

"Scrambling to put an end to Kamala Harris' ascent," Allison and Isenstadt report, "Donald Trump's campaign and outside allies came up with a plan: Hit her on immigration, her record as a 'liberal prosecutor' and as a 'radical.' It didn't last long. During a 34-minute question-and-answer appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists, Trump questioned Harris' Black identity."

The Politico reporters stress that the July 31 "exchanges" in Chicago have "overshadowed the attacks his political operation has made against Harris in recent days."

Arizona-based political strategist Chuck Coughlin told Politico, "They don't have a narrative that they're comfortable with about how to take down Harris. He's grasping around. I think he's desperately grasping around with his instincts."

Read Politico's full report at this link.

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