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.”

The comments were part of a combative exchange between Trump and the moderators at a conference of the National Association of Black Journalists. They were the latest in a long line of offensive and racist remarks that have defined his political career, including when he made his first foray into national politics nearly 15 years ago by falsely suggesting then-President Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States.

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.”

She drew knowing chuckles from the audience as she mentioned Trump’s comments earlier in the day at the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists. Trump said Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had in the past promoted only her Indian heritage.

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."

"Ain't gonna happen, but it will happen under [Vice President Kamala Harris]," Trump added.

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."

The vice president has flip-flopped her stance on the oil drilling, but she has recently reversed her support for a fracking ban.

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.”

Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election have often been described as an attempted coup or insurrection. But Trump instead cast Biden’s decision to step aside as a usurpation, while insisting in another part of his speech that the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was peaceful.

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.

The Senate candidate also welcomed Trump back to Pennsylvania after the deadly Butler rally.

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.

Trump falsely claimed that the cases were presided over by "judges who are crooked judges" and "prosecutors who are Democrat radical leftists."

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.

"I love that chart, I'm gonna sleep with that chart for the rest of my life," Trump said.

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.

When Biden was still running for reelection, the Trump campaign often used Biden's age or mental acuity as fodder for attacks. Trump coined the nickname "Sleepy Joe" for Biden in 2020 and has referred to Biden's "hazy memory" in Truth Social posts.

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.

He also accused her of covering up the extent of Biden’s aging woes, her policies at the U.S.-Mexico border, and her unpopularity as vice president. The crowd booed at every mention.

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 former president reiterated his plans to return to Butler for a rally after his event there earlier this month resulted in an assassination attempt against the former president.

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.

The crowd did the wave more than a dozen times in excitement for Trump’s appearance, scheduled for 6 p.m. They sang “Rich Men North of Richmond” by Oliver Anthony, screaming the lyrics, “I've been sellin' my soul, workin' all day/ Overtime hours for bulls— pay.” And they held up their flashlights during “Can You Feel The Love Tonight?” from The Lion King.

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.

"I don't think he's racist, he's done so many things for Black people," Vance said after being told that the comments had spurred backlash.

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.

Baker echoed Trump's false claims about Harris' racial identity. Harris' mother was born in India and her father was born in Jamaica.

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."

Trump's appearance immediately became combative, with the former president starting his talk with an attack on ABC congressional correspondent Rachel Scott. Scott began the talk with a question about Trump's promotion of birtherism, which revolves around false claims that former President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris weren't born in the United States.

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."

McCormick also ran through his connection to Pennsylvania and tried to contrast his background with Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa), whom he is running against in November.

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.

"He says he likes to get s— done," Smucker said. "But I don't know if he's done diddley-squat."

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.

A hose snaked its way to the top of a ladder on the sidelines, spraying passersby to cool them. Some attendees walked back to their places in lined, newly drenched.

"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.

The chant, uttered by former President Donald Trump in the seconds after the attempt on his life in Butler earlier this month, was notable given that the Republican's Harrisburg rally is his first in Pennsylvania since the attack.

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.

Matthew Murphy, a 66-year-old retired government attorney and Harrisburg resident, called Shapiro good for business but “very vanilla.”

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.

“We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed,” Fain said.

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. 

“Donald Trump has been invited several times and he was invited this time and he finally accepted,” she said, noting the NABJ practice of inviting bipartisan presidential candidates and presidents. “We as journalists need to be optimistic and try to get all angles of the story.”

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.

“They’re the ones who make it possible for you to cast your vote and make your voice heard,” he 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.

Vereb abruptly stepped down in September, three weeks after Shapiro’s administration quietly agreed to pay $295,000 to settle claims from a governor’s office employee who said he’d made repeated sexual advances toward her and often spoken openly — and lewdly — about her, other staff members, and a female state senator.

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.

Trump tried to walk the comments back, saying that people who don’t have children are still good people.

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.

Scott started with a question about Trump’s promotion of birtherism — or claiming former President Barack Obama and Vice President Harris weren’t born in the United States, which they were, about his documented associations with white supremacists, and other documented instances of Trump’s racism. 

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.

“I like Vance. He’s a veteran. I think he wants to do right by the American people,” Chase Fischer, a young Trump voter from Halifax, Pa., who previously attended a rally in 2016, said from the pit of an ever-growing line for entry.

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.

“Classy shirts for classy ladies,” one seller advertised to onlookers.

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.

Beuchert’s Saloon, in Washington, D.C., announced its “Childless Cat Lady” special on Tuesday.

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.

News of Trump’s presence at the conference was met with intense firestorm and a divided public opinion, especially among Black journalists.

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.

Rudolph debuted as Harris in 2019 in a series of recurring guest appearances on SNL in which she played Harris.

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.

In a separate AP-NORC poll, taken before Biden dropped out but after his debate against Republican former President Donald Trump, only about 4 in 10 Democrats said they were somewhat or very satisfied that he was the Democratic Party’s likely nominee for president.

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.

That’s because the store, much like the Republican Party as a whole, is in the midst of a marketing pivot after the main focus of its contempt, President Joe Biden, decided to withdraw from the presidential race.

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.

The timing of the visit means Harris will likely make her much-anticipated running mate selection in the next six days and introduce the candidate on Pennsylvania turf.

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.

In addition to the Sigma Gamma Rho appearance, Harris is slated to speak at a separate political event in Houston at 6:15 p.m. in Houston, the White House said.

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.

Though Dauphin County, where Harrisburg is located, has become more blue over the years, Trump has been focusing a lot of his efforts on Pa. counties and demographics that Biden won in 2020 in an effort to carve out as many people as possible from the Democrats’ voter base.

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.

“The vice president has a very deeply personal decision to make right now: who she wants to run with, and who she wants to govern with,” he said. “I trust she will make that decision on her own terms when she is ready.”