Trump questions Harris’ racial identity
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00:00Way before he announced his intent to run for president in 2015, Donald J. Trump took
00:05aim at then-President Barack Obama and questioned his roots and citizenship in his infamous
00:11birtherism theory, which was eventually debunked for its falsehoods and conspiracy theories.
00:16It resurfaced and was in full display at the just-concluded National Association of Black
00:21Journalists Q&A that VOA's Scott Stearns hashes over in this report.
00:29Republican candidate Donald Trump told supporters in the key swing state of Pennsylvania that
00:33his likely Democratic opponent is a fraud.
00:36The radical left Democrat party bosses have installed a puppet candidate to fight only
00:41for themselves.
00:43Kamala Harris got zero votes.
00:51She's totally scripted, owned and controlled by the donors and the power brokers who created
00:57her campaign and who rip off our government and make billions and billions of dollars.
01:02Former President Donald Trump.
01:04Earlier in the day, Trump had a contentious meeting with black journalists where he questioned
01:09the racial identity of Harris, whose mother was Indian and her father is black.
01:15She was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage.
01:20I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black
01:25and now she wants to be known as black.
01:27So I don't know.
01:28Is she Indian or is she black?
01:29Harris has long self-identified as both black and South Asian American.
01:35Since becoming the likely Democratic presidential candidate, she's drawn even with Trump in
01:39seven key swing states, according to political polling by Bloomberg News and the Morning
01:45Consult, largely on the strength of greater support from young black and Hispanic voters.
01:51So the momentum in this race is shifting.
01:56And there are signs that Donald Trump is feeling it.
02:00You may have noticed.
02:05Harris told a rally Tuesday in Georgia that Trump seems to have a lot to say about her,
02:10but does not want to debate in September as scheduled.
02:13Well, Donald.
02:22I do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage.
02:32Because as the saying goes, if you've got something to say, say it to my face.
02:42Harris is expected to announce her vice presidential pick in the coming days and still has the
02:47party's convention in Chicago to help convince voters that she's a better choice than Trump.
02:53In North Carolina, voter Wanda Cherry says she's excited about the Democratic Party switch
02:58from President Joe Biden to Harris.
03:00I'm glad that the president realized that we need somebody younger to run the country.
03:12Somebody that has the smarts and the willingness to run.
03:21Georgia voter T. Stanley does not believe Harris is ready to be president.
03:25First, her being the candidate, it's kind of, it's really, this is like horrific to
03:32me because, first of all, she's not prepared to be president and it seems like she's already
03:39president now.
03:40Georgia voter Phil Ownby says Harris has reinvigorated the presidential race.
03:45I will vote for her and I'm excited to do so.
03:49I generally think she may be a little liberal on certain issues, but in order to safeguard
03:54our democracy, I definitely vote for her.
03:58In California, voter Marina George says Trump's support is strong enough to defeat any challenger.
04:05Even with the camel hairs coming in, anyone they put, they're not going to win.
04:09It's just making the Democrat Party break apart even more and faster and everything
04:15that they're doing is good for the Republicans.
04:18Nationally, the Bloomberg poll shows Harris and Trump in a statistical tie with fewer
04:23than 100 days to go before election day.
04:26Scott Stearns, VOA News.