Philly Democrats sound off on Donald Trump’s racist comments about Kamala Harris: ‘Consistent with his entire record’

A day after former President Donald Trump’s inflammatory remarks on Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity, Philadelphia Democrats and labor leaders on Thursday criticized Trump for saying that Harris, at some point, “happened to turn Black.”

Harris, whose mother is Indian and her father Jamaican, has publicly embraced both identities. She attended Howard University, a historically Black university, and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a Black sorority.

Trump, however, is attempting to use her Indian heritage to undermine her popularity among Black voters, who will be critical in such swing states as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia. Harris would be both the first Black woman to serve as president and the first Asian American if she defeated Trump in November.

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“What he did is consistent with his entire record,” State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.) said at a news conference at an office of the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ. “He hates Black people. He hates women and especially hates accomplished Black people and accomplished women. He can’t stand that because they threaten him and his existence.”

Hughes was joined in condemning Trump by State Reps. Danilo Burgos, Joe Hohenstein, and Ben Waxman, and City Council members Kendra Brooks, Rue Landau and Anthony Phillips.

“We know she is a champion of all communities of color,” Landau said. “We know that she is wonderful and beautiful and gets to identify in whatever way she is. And she’s a proud, proud member of the Black community.”

Trump has a long history of making offensive comments related to race. Before entering politics he called for the execution of the so-called Central Park Five, a group of four young Black men and one Latino who were falsely accused of assault and rape. He burst into the national political conversation by falsely suggesting that former President Barack Obama was born outside the United States. And as president, Trump reportedly referred to Haiti and some African nations as “s—hole” countries.

“Are you surprised at this? I’m not,” said Barbara Cherry, a 32BJ member who works as a cleaner in a Center City building and spoke at Thursday’s news conference. “Racism and sexism are exactly what Donald Trump is all about, and I’m happy that he showed us exactly who he is in front of a crowd of Black journalists and the country.”

Trump’s comments disparaging Harris’ mixed-race identity came during a Wednesday interview at the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. “She was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn,” Trump said at the event. “... I think somebody should look into that.”

Later that day, Trump’s campaign projected an image of an article about Harris’ Indian American background inside the venue in Harrisburg ahead of the former president’s rally.

Trump has doubled down on his comments. On Wednesday he posted an image of Harris wearing a sari on his social media platform Truth Social, writing, “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.”

The line of attack is strange because Harris has long been vocal about being mixed race.

For instance, she wrote in her 2019 memoir that “my mother, grandparents, aunts and uncle instilled us with pride in our South Asian roots” and also that her mother “knew that her adopted homeland would see [Harris’ sister] Maya and me as Black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud Black women.”

During a campaign event in July in Nevada, Harris discussed how her mother emigrated from India at 19 and met her father while they were both active in the Civil Rights movement. She said her parents took her to marches while she was in a stroller.

“We stand for the beauty and diversity and the promise of America,” Harris told a crowd of Asian American and Pacific Islander voters, according to a White House transcript.

Trump’s attempt to turn Harris’ Indian heritage into a campaign issue comes as his running mate’s wife, Usha Vance, an Indian American and practicing Hindu, has faced a barrage of racist abuse online.

Sen. JD Vance, the Ohio Republican running to be Trump’s vice president, spoke about the online attacks against his wife on the Megyn Kelly Show just four days before Trump’s NABJ appearance.

“I love her because she’s who she is. Obviously, she’s not a white person, and we’ve been accused, attacked by some white supremacists over that. But I just, I love Usha,” Vance said.

Pennsylvania Republicans have been largely silent about Trump’s remarks, while some GOP officials from elsewhere have criticized their party’s leader.

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for Senate, said Trump’s comments were “unacceptable and abhorrent.”

U.S. Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican and a top-ranking member of the GOP caucus, urged the president to focus on policy issues.

“The campaign is, needs to be, must be about the issues, and there’s plenty to talk about,” Thune told reporters in Washington. “I just think that’s where the focus needs to be. That’s how we’re going to win in November.”