Conservative media personality Candace Owens defended former President Donald Trump questioning Vice President Kamala Harris‘ race at a recent gathering of Black journalists, calling it “objectively funny” on Thursday.
During an onstage interview at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention on Wednesday, Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, was asked by ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott about Republican attacks accusing Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, of being a “DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] candidate.” Critics have stated that the attack is racially charged, arguing that her previous positions as California’s attorney general and senator as well as vice president qualify her for the position.
President Joe Biden dropped out of the race on July 21 following weeks of interparty fighting among Democrats on whether he should pass the torch to the next generation after his debate fiasco against Trump last month in Atlanta. Biden also endorsed Harris the day he withdrew from the race.
When Scott asked Trump if he believes Harris became the nominee only because she is a Black woman, the former president said he did not know she was Black until recent years.
“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. 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,” Trump said. “So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black? 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 became a Black person.”
Harris was born in California to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. She is also the first Black and South Asian woman to serve in the United States’ second-highest office.
Owens showed a clip of Trump’s comments on a livestream on her YouTube Channel on Thursday, laughing at the way Trump enunciated his words.
“I hate how leftism has turned Black people into something that we’re not. We know that’s funny,” Owens said of Trump’s attack on Harris. “We know that is hilarious.”
She added: “That’s objectively funny and it’s the same question that we’re all asking ourselves, which is like, who is this girl mimicking? Now she’s like Kamala from the block—nobody recognizes this Kamala.”
Newsweek has reached out to Trump and Harris’ campaign as well as Owens via email for comment on Friday afternoon.
Trump faced fierce criticism from Democrats for his remarks with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling them “repulsive” and “insulting.”
Harris responded to Trump’s comments at a campaign rally in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday, calling it “the same old show.”
“The divisiveness and the disrespect,” she said. “And let me just say, the American people deserve better.”
Meanwhile, Owens said in her YouTube livestream, “We should feel insulted by Kamala and not Trump because he’s keeping it a hundred,” meaning that the former president is being truthful.
Trump doubled down on his comments on Thursday, sharing a photo of Harris and her family in traditional Indian attire on Truth Social, his social media platform, and wrote, “Thank you Kamala for the nice picture you sent from many years ago! Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated.”
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