--- title: Trump Falsely Claims Harris Hasn't Always Identified as Black description: “I don’t know. Is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said, drawing gasps. “She was Indian all the way and then...she became a Black person.” canonical: https://time.com/7006139/donald-trump-kamala-harris-black-indian/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-07-31T19:38:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-19T09:32:05.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Falsely Claims Harris Hasn't Always Identified as Black og:description: “I don’t know. Is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said, drawing gasps. “She was Indian all the way and then...she became a Black person.” og:url: https://time.com/7006139/donald-trump-kamala-harris-black-indian/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e0bb3a3d7b1435b/698a597b86f68e551e6f56c6/GettyImages-2164053710.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Falsely Claims Harris Hasn't Always Identified as Black twitter:description: “I don’t know. Is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said, drawing gasps. “She was Indian all the way and then...she became a Black person.” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e0bb3a3d7b1435b/698a597b86f68e551e6f56c6/GettyImages-2164053710.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Falsely Claims Harris Hasn't Always Identified as Black > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f1caaa2d-2971-4b06-a71d-87262d386f18&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Falsely Claims Harris Hasn’t Always Identified as Black [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Falsely Claims Harris Hasn’t Always Identified as Black](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bpbGfOMi.m3u8) (3:27)  _Published 2024-07-31. Former President Donald Trump used his turn before the nation’s largest professional association of Black journalists to question the racial identity of his rival for the White House this fall, telling a shocked National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago that Vice President Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black.”_  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Updated: Jan 19, 2026 9:32 AM UTCPublished: Jul 31, 2024 7:38 PM UTC Former President Donald Trump used his turn before the nation’s largest professional association of Black journalists to question the racial identity of his rival for the White House this fall, telling a shocked National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago that Vice President Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black.”  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Updated: Jan 19, 2026 9:32 AM UTCPublished: Jul 31, 2024 7:38 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ Former President Donald Trump used his turn before the nation’s largest professional association of Black journalists to question the racial identity of his rival for the White House this fall, telling a shocked National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago that Vice President Kamala Harris “happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black.” It took Trump all of 10 days [running](https://time.com/6997832/biden-drop-out-presidential-race/) in a head-to-head [against](https://time.com/7001153/joe-biden-drop-out-announcement/) the first woman and first incumbent of Black and Indian-American heritage to openly question her background. “I don’t know. Is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said, raising questions that echoed the ex-President’s persistent and discredited [questions](https://time.com/4496792/birther-rumor-started/) about former President Barack Obama’s place of birth. “I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t because she was Indian all the way and then all of the sudden she made a turn and she went, she became a Black person.” Harris has always identified as a product of a multicultural family, being born of Jamaican and Indian immigrants. Her single mother, a Hindu adherent, embraced Black culture. Harris went on to study at Howard University, a historically Black university, where she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., one of the nation’s preeminent historically Black greek-letter organizations. She is slated to address a Black greek-letter organization later Wednesday in Houston. “Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign,” Harris Campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement. Trump’s trolling was as ugly as ever, but it was hardly surprising. This sort of red-meat attack is what has powered his campaigns dating to early days of 2015, when he leaned on racially charged rhetoric to fire up his white nationalist base. It propelled him back into headlines after a solid week that saw Harris’ replacement of Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket give her daily dividends of good headlines and better fundraising. And despite Trump’s insistence that his third White House campaign would be an appeal to all Americans, he couldn’t help but [hint](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/republicans-attack-kamala-harris-dei-hire/) that Harris only got her current position because she checked diversity and inclusion boxes. At the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the comment. “What you just read out to me is repulsive. It’s insulting. No one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify,” she said from the briefing room’s podium. **Read More**: [_Who Could Be Kamala Harris’ Running Mate? Here’s the Shortlist_](https://time.com/7001222/kamala-harris-vp-pick-list/) Trump, who has never shied from picking at racial scabs, was also asked what he meant by once again referring to employment opportunities as “Black jobs.” He said many in the room had lost their gigs as the cost of immigrants coming into the United States to steal their jobs. He said a second Trump term would "stop people from invading our country.” He then noted that “a lot of journalists in this room are Black.” The comments came a day after Trump suggested that Harris should never win the White House. “She’ll be like a play toy,” Trump [told](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/30/trump-harris-play-toy-comment/) Fox News’ Laura Ingraham. “They look at her and they say, ‘We can’t believe we got so lucky.’ They’re going to walk all over her.” Trump then looked right at the camera with a coda: “And I don’t want to say as to why. But a lot of people understand it.” (Trump’s campaign denied any sexist or racist reasons.) Trump’s advisers have tried to cast his efforts to win over Black voters as sincere. While Democrats have enjoyed a consistent and perhaps absolute advantage with Black voters since the Civil Rights Movement, Trump-supporting Republicans have seen [cracks](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/24/us/kamala-harris-black-voters.html) in that coalition that they hoped to exploit. Even so, Trump’s rhetoric combined with the denigration of Harris’ elevation as little more than a “DEI pick” are doing little to make those realignments reality. **Read more**: [_Kamala Harris' Candidacy Will Break a Unique Barrier in Three States_](https://time.com/7005554/kamala-harris-black-congress/) The questioning Wednesday afternoon got off to a rocky start. Rachel Scott of ABC News confronted Trump with his history of questionable decisions including spreading doubt about the birthplaces of Obama and former Nikki Haley, telling four American congresswomen to return to where they came from, dining with white supremacists, and describing Black prosecutors as animals. “Why should Black voters trust you after you’ve used langage like that?” Scott said, sitting feet from the President. Trump immediately attacked Scott’s integrity and professionalism. “Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network, a terrible network.” It was precisely the antagonism that Trump sought. Even before he got going on a diatribe of his greatest hits of white grievance and racial resentment, Trump set the tone by complaining that neither Biden nor Harris were not on stage. “You invited me on false pretense,” Trump complained, suggesting Harris was going to participate by Zoom. “I think it’s a disgrace.” Trump’s showing in Chicago and his efforts to turn the afternoon hostile fit his general M.O. But it signals just how rough the next three months could be if it stays on this same trajectory and tone. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ## Transcript Mr. President, we so appreciate you giving us an hour of your time. I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room, sir. A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today. You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told four Congresswoman McCullar, who were American citizens to go back to where they came from. You have used words like animal and rabbit to describe Black district attorneys. You've attacked Black journalists calling them a loser, saying the questions that they ask are stupid and racist. You've had dinner with a White supremacist at your Mara Lago Resort. So my question, sir, now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that? Well, first of all, I don't think I've ever been asked the question, so in such a horrible manner, a first question. You don't even say, Hello. How are you? Are you with ABC, because I think they're a fake news network, a terrible network. And I think it's disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country. I've done so much for the Black population of this country. I think it's very. I have answered the questions with another. I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln. That than my answer. Better than President Johnson, who signed the Voting Rights Act. You to start off a question and answer period, especially when you're 35 minutes late because you couldn't get your equipment to In such a hostile manner? I think it's a disgrace. Let me. Let me just ask a follow up, sir, and then we'll move on to other questions here. Some of your own supporters, including Republicans on Capitol Hill, have labeled Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the first Black and Asian American woman to serve as vice president and be on a major party ticket as a DEI hire. Is that acceptable language to you? And will you tell those Republicans and those supporters to stop it? How do you define DEI? Go ahead. How do you define diversity equity inclusion? Okay. Yeah. Go ahead. Is that what your definition is that is Give me a definition. Sir, then. Would you give me a definition. Give me a definition. Sir, I'm asking you a question. Direct define define it for me if you. I just defined it, sir. Do you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a Black woman? Well, I can say no, I think it's maybe a little bit different. So I've known her a long time indirectly, not directly very much. And 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? She is always It as a Black. I respect Black college. I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she she became a Black Just to be clear, sir, do. Somebody should look into that, too, when you ask a continue in a very hostile, nasty tone. It's a direct question, sir. Do you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is a DEI hier ab really don't know. I mean, I really don't know. Could be. Could be. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7006139/donald-trump-kamala-harris-black-indian/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7006139/donald-trump-kamala-harris-black-indian/"},"headline":"Trump Falsely Claims Harris Hasn't Always Identified as Black","datePublished":"2024-07-31T19:38:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-01-19T09:32:05.000Z","description":"\"She became a Black person.”","url":"https://time.com/7006139/donald-trump-kamala-harris-black-indian/","keywords":["The D.C. 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