Donald Trump holds Harrisburg rally after questioning Kamala Harris’ racial identity at NABJ; Harris and her VP pick will stop in Philly next week

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday questioned Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity at an event for Black journalists that was part of a whirlwind day of campaigning that also saw him return to Pennsylvania for the first time since surviving an assassination attempt in the state two weeks ago.

“She was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went — she became a Black person,” Trump said of Harris, whose mother emigrated from India and whose father emigrated from Jamaica. “I think somebody should look into that.”

Vice President Kamala Harris said Wednesday that former President Donald Trump’s false assertions about her race were the “same old show” as she emphasized the need for Black women to organize for his defeat this November.

Addressing the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. — one of “Divine Nine” historically Black fraternities and sororities — in Houston, Harris told the crowd, “When I look out at everyone here, I see family.”

President Joe Biden, Republican nominee Donald Trump, and presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris have made over 20 visits to Pennsylvania this year. 

Trump’s rally in Harrisburg on Wednesday was his sixth visit to the state, and his first since the assassination attempt at his Butler rally on July 13. 

As part of his closing remarks, former President Donald Trump invoked the most well-known parts and figures of Pennsylvania history in his commentary on the belief that Democrats want to rename buildings that are named after historical figures.

"It's where the army weathered it's brutal winter and Valley Forge with General George Washington," Trump said. "We're never taking his name off any buildings. They'd like to, but they want to take Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson off."

Former President Trump sought to capture the differences in his and Vice President Kamala Harris' stances on fracking, a booming industry in Pennsylvania.

The former president said that he plans to "end the Biden-Harris war in American energy and we will end their terrible war on fracking."

In his Harrisburg speech, Donald Trump compared the Democratic pressure campaign that led Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential election to a coup d'état.

“It was a coup. This was a coup of a president,” Trump said. “He will be famous. He will be more famous for the coup than the bad job he’s done.”

Former president Donald Trump brought Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick up on stage, saying that he doesn't think he "ever met [Sen. Bob Casey] in four years, nobody knows who he is."

McCormick referred to Pennsylvania as "ground zero" for putting Trump back in the White House and gaining a Republican majority in the Senate.

Former President Donald Trump said that people expected him to "be a nice man now" after his near-death experience at the Butler, Pa., rally. He said he agreed with that "for about eight hours or so."

Then Trump reverted to his confrontational persona and "realized they were trying to put me in prison for doing absolutely nothing wrong," Trump said, referring to the numerous legal cases against the former president, including his 34 counts of felony convictions in Manhattan.

Former President Donald Trump presented the same immigration numbers chart that he was using during the Butler, Pa., rally to the Harrisburg crowd, marveling at how the chart "saved my life."

During the Butler rally, Trump's head was turned his head toward the chart at the last minute, maneuvering his head away from the gunfire that opened in an assassination attempt against him. Trump's ear ended up being grazed by a bullet instead of a potentially more serious or deadly injury.

Trump took a jab at local Democratic district attorneys from across the country including, Philadelphia's and Los Angeles', while taking a swipe at Harris' history as a prosecutor and DA in San Francisco.

"She was a bad DA long before you had your DA... as you know in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but in Los Angeles, all over the place," Trump said, referring to Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. "All over the place, you have bad DA's."

In a massive turn from months and months of messaging from Donald Trump's campaign, the former president said that 81 — President Joe Biden's age — is "not old."

"I have friends that are 95...Bernie Marcus is the founder of Home Depot, 95 years old still sharp. I spoke to him the other day. I said 'I think you're smarter now than you were 30 years ago,'' Trump said.

Former President Donald Trump said his new presidential opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is undergoing a “personality makeover” to make herself more likable since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

“Four weeks ago she was considered the worst, not smart,” Trump said, adding that her campaign is now trying to paint her as Margaret Thatcher, a former prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Former President Donald Trump has taken the stage at his rally at the New Holland Arena in the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex, an hour after he was scheduled to speak.

After "YMCA" played over the loudspeakers — which has become somewhat of a staple at Trump rallies — the former president took to the stage for his first campaign event since he survived an assassination attempt at his Butler, Pa., rally earlier this month. He waved to the crowd as Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" played.

The New Holland Arena at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg was sold out Wednesday for former President Donald Trump’s first speech in the state since a 20-year-old man tried to assassinate him.

The 8,000-seat arena, usually used for rodeos and wrangling events, was packed to the rafters with Trump supporters donning his merch. A few thousand more attendees were also on the floor of the venue, the dirt floor covered by a concrete slab.

Phyllis Vance was milling around the New Holland Arena ahead of former president Donald Trump's arrival, and had not seen his inflammatory comments about Vice President Kamala Harris' race at the National Association of Black Journalist's annual conference in Chicago this afternoon.

But Vance — a Black Trump voter who laughed while mentioning she had no relation to JD — said she agreed with Trump's false claims about Harris' racial identity.

Michael Baker, a Trump voter who traveled from the Gettysburg area for the rally, was basking in the spectacle of a Donald Trump rally, as star-spangled lights illuminated the rafters and Guns N' Roses blared through the speaker system.

There was hardly a chance he was paying attention to the former president's remarks at the National Association of Black Journalist's annual conference in Chicago, where the candidate falsely called into question the race of his opponent.

Former President Donald Trump's campaign has responded to criticism over his contentious appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists' annual conference in Chicago Wednesday, saying that the "unhinged and unprofessional commentary directed toward President Trump" at the event showed that "media elites clearly want to see us remain divided."

"President Trump remains defiant in the face of media bias and will continue working to make life better for all Americans regardless of how poorly he’s treated by supporters of Kamala Harris," Trump campaign senior adviser Lynne Patton said in a statement. "And in fact President Trump hopes to win them over in the future with his vision of returning success to our country."

Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Dave McCormick began remarks with a story of his attendance at the Butler rally where Trump survived an assassination attempt.

"I'm a military guy, we've seen people shot at," McCormick said. "We saw the president come off the floor, put his fist in the air, defiance...that's the kind of strength we need to turn this country around."

After several warm-up speakers, attacks on Gov. Josh Shapiro, a top contender to be Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, began after U.S. Rep Lloyd Smucker told rallygoers that a Harris-Shapiro ticket would be bad for the nation.

Smucker, who represents Lancaster, likened Shapiro to a radical progressive, a similar remark he made about Harris when referencing her San Francisco's roots.

Wednesday’s heat left medics on high alert at the New Holland Arena rally for former president Donald Trump. Ambulance sirens were a frequent accessory to the country music blaring from speakers at the front of the entry line.

“They’re busy today,” onlookers quipped as medics looked for the source of shouts in the packed crowd.

"Fight, fight, fight."

That's what a chorus of Harrisburg rallygoers chanted in unison as GOP speakers warmed up the stage around 4 p.m.

For several rally-goers in line for Wednesday’s Harrisburg rally, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate won’t sway them away from former President Donald Trump.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is a top contender for Harris’ vice presidential pick, and has long been considered a figure willing to cross the aisle.

The United Auto Workers on Wednesday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, giving her union firepower for the likely contest this November against Republican Donald Trump.

UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement that the union's “job” in this year's election was to defeat Trump. The union has more than a million active and retired members with a strong base in what the Democrats call the “blue wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Many attendees were unhappy with Trump’s performance at the convention, though most were not comfortable going on the record.

Before the Q&A began, freelance journalist Allison Joyner was not staunchly against Trump’s appearance. 

Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt and Philadelphia City Commissioner Seth Bluestein greeted election workers in training Wednesday while encouraging Pennsylvanians to sign up to be poll workers in November.

In a new conference, the officials emphasized the importance of poll workers to ensuring the state's elections run smoothly. The state needs roughly 45,000 poll workers by November, Schmidt said.

As Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro remains a top contender for Vice President Kamala Harris' running-mate, the National Women's Defense League, a nonpartisan organization focused on sexual harassment prevention, is urging Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign to "consider the handling of past complaints of sexual harassment inside the Pennsylvania Governor's office," the organization wrote in a statement.

The statement comes after the resignation of one of Shapiro's top aides and allies, Mike Vereb amid a sexual harassment investigation last year retook the spotlight after Erin McClelland, the Democratic nominee for state treasurer, alluded to the situation online.

Speaking to the the National Association of Black Journalists' annual conference in Chicago, former President Donald Trump fielded questions about his VP pick, JD Vance, defending the Ohio senator and attempting to clean up Vance’s comments on women without children.

Vance has called Democratic women “childless cat ladies” who were miserable, and implied the votes of people with children should be more heavily weighted.

Former Pesident Donald Trump began his talk at the National Association of Black Journalists annual conference in Chicago by attacking the first journalist who asked a question.

“I’ve never been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” Trump said to Rachel Scott, ABC’s congressional correspondent. He then attacked ABC.

U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R, Ohio) has recently taken heat for his past comments about women without children and for years-old criticisms of his running mate’s morals.

Several supporters of former President Donald Trump at Wednesday’s Harrisburg rally made it clear Vance wouldn’t affect their decision.

Rally-goers decked out in campy MAGA gear kept high energy in humid conditions six hours before former President Donald Trump was set to speak at the New Holland Arena in Harrisburg.

Attendees didn’t let the heat stop them from dressing up. They donned various Trump-themed merchandise, from a Trump-masked breakdancer to dozens of “you missed” T-shirts referencing the assassination attempt against the former president.

When U.S. Sen. JD Vance made a dig at Vice President Kamala Harris, calling her a “childless cat lady,” it flopped in many ways. The comment turned into a meme, merch, and discourse around the country about fertility, pregnancy, and the nature of motherhood.

Now, the slight has also inspired a new libation at a popular Capitol Hill bar.

The National Association of Black Journalists announced Monday it would host former President Donald Trump in conversation with three Black journalists at its annual convention, held this year in Chicago.

Moderators Rachel Scott of ABC, Harris Faulkner of Fox News, and Kadia Goba of Semafor are expected to ask Trump questions about “the most pressing issues facing the Black communities,” according to an announcement from the association.

She's back. Comedian Maya Rudolph is set to reprise her award-winning role portraying Kamala Harris for the upcoming season of Saturday Night Live, Deadline reports.

It marks Rudolph's return to the show — which she was a cast member of from 2000 through 2007 before exiting and moving on to larger roles in TV and movies.

Vice President Kamala Harris appears to have energized Democrats in the early days of her candidacy, with surges in feelings across multiple groups, including some key Democratic constituencies that had been especially tepid about President Joe Biden, a new poll shows.

About 8 in 10 Democrats say they would be somewhat or very satisfied if Harris became the Democratic nominee for president, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which was conducted after Biden withdrew from the race.

The “Let’s Go Brandon” shop near the Jersey shore is still doing swift business: in Trump mugs, Trump-Vance flags, Trump poker chips, Trump T-shirts, Trump pop-up birthday cards, and ‘Trump Hair’ cotton candy.

But products skewering the opposition are selling less well.

Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Philadelphia next Tuesday for the first campaign stop with her yet-to-be-announced running mate.

The Harris campaign confirmed to The Inquirer that the visit will kick off Harris’ tour through swing states with her vice presidential pick.

Vice President Kamala Harris will appear in Houston Wednesday, while former president Donald Trump will return to Pennsylvania for his first rally in the state since he survived an assassination attempt in Butler earlier this month.

Harris on Wednesday is slated to speak at Sigma Gamma Rho’s 60th International Biennial Boulé in Houston, the White House announced. Founded in 1922, Sigma Gamma Rho is among the nine historical Black sororities and fraternities commonly referred to as the Divine Nine. Harris herself is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., another Divine Nine organization.

Harrisburg represents yet another opportunity for Trump to chip away votes from counties that Democrats won in 2020 and 2016, especially as Harris starts to narrow in on Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania and nationwide.

A Fox News poll on Friday showed Harris and Trump tied among Pennsylvania voters at 49% each. An April poll from Fox between Biden and Trump had the two candidates at 48% each.

A stop at a North Philadelphia youth basketball court Tuesday turned into a de facto campaign event for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Democrat considered on the shortlist for the vice presidential nomination who entered the facility as a dozen children chanted, “Sha-pir-o!”

The governor remained mum on his chances of becoming Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate during a swing through the city Tuesday, but his stops — a news conference with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a meet-and-greet with a group of kids — were far from normal. Shapiro was greeted by a crush of reporters amid expectations that Harris will pick her running mate in the coming days.