Analysts told Newsweek that the former president’s comments about Vice President Kamala Harris’ race may turn off some voters before November.
Former President Donald Trump’s comments challenging Vice President Kamala Harris’ race will « almost certainly backfire » on the former president’s reelection bid come November, a political analyst told Newsweek.
Trump’s appearance at the National Association for Black Journalists (NABJ) convention on Wednesday has garnered immense attention after the former president claimed that Harris—the first female, Black and Asian American vice president— »happened to turn Black » in recent years.
« She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage », Trump said while answering a question about some conservatives calling Harris a « DEI hire. » « I didn’t know she was Black until a couple of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. »
Some supporters of the former president have since defended Trump’s attacks, and the former president double-downed on his comments in a post to Truth Social on Thursday. Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, told CNN that the former president’s statements were « totally reasonable », saying, « Look, all he said is that Kamala Harris is a chameleon. » Conservative media personality Candace Owens defended Trump’s statements as « objectively funny. »
According to Michael Tesler, political science professor at the University of California Irvine, Trump’s focus on Harris’ race is likely an attempt to « appeal to the large share of African American voters who hadn’t seen Harris as sufficiently supportive of Black interests during the first three years of her vice presidency. »
« But the way he went about doing it was so inept that it will almost certainly backfire with all audiences », Tesler told Newsweek via email.
« Trump’s racist attacks on Harris will likely rally [Black voters] to her », he added.
