New Delhi: With the US Presidential election in its last stretch, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are leaving no stone turned to win voters. While Harris has been trying to play on her prosecutor past and how she will indict the ex president for crimes he's being tried for, Trump has questioned the Vice-President's racial identity.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has launched a racially insensitive attack on Kamala Harris by questioning whether she is "Indian or Black".
“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," Trump said at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago.
"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," he added.
Despite the remarks snowballing into a massive controversy, the 78-year-old doubled down and shared a picture on social media which shows Kamala Harris' "Indian heritage".
"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," Trump said while sharing the photo on Truth Social.
Trump has a history of attacking his opponents based on race. He falsely accused Barack Obama, the country's first black president, of not being born in the US.
Trump attacked the former UN ambassador and his Republican primary opponent Nikki Haley by falsely claiming she could not be president because her parents were not US citizens when she was born.
And now, Kamala Harris.
Kamala Harris' mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was Indian and her father, Donald Jasper Harris, is Jamaican; both immigrated to the US.
She is seeking to become the first Black woman and Asian-American president in US history and her entry into the 2024 contest has seen a surge of enthusiasm for her candidacy among Black voters and young people — groups with which Trump has sought to broaden his appeal.
Trump's controversial remarks come as the race for the November 5 presidential election gained momentum with opinion polls showing that Vice President Harris, abruptly thrust into the role of presidential candidate fewer than 10 days ago, has narrowed the gap with her Republican rival.
Harris condemned Trump's comments later Wednesday as “the same old show” of "divisiveness" and "disrespect".
"Let me just say: The American people deserve better. The American people deserve better than that," Harris said during a speech to a historically Black sorority convention in Houston.
A July Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll released Tuesday showed Harris erased the lead Trump enjoyed in seven states likely to determine the election, leading the former president 48% to 47% — a statistical tie. The survey also showed that across those states, Harris enjoyed the support of 75% of Black voters, compared to 19% for Trump.