Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on Wednesday night in Houston at an event for Sigma Gamma Rho, a prominent Black sorority, hours after former President Donald J. Trump questioned her racial identity during a tense appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists conference. She told the crowd his comments showed “divisiveness and disrespect.” She added: “The American people deserve better.”
Mr. Trump had falsely claimed that Ms. Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian heritage and attended a historically Black university, used to identify as Indian and then, “all of a sudden, she made a turn, and she became a Black person.”
Mr. Trump’s appearance — with Rachel Scott of ABC News, Harris Faulkner of Fox News and Kadia Goba of Semafor — began more than an hour late and immediately turned confrontational. Questioned on his rhetoric about race, he complained that it was a “very rude introduction” that soon gave way to the kind of racially charged attacks Mr. Trump once employed against President Barack Obama. It lasted barely half of the allotted hour, ending abruptly: as Ms. Faulkner began asking a question, Ms. Scott closed the session, saying, “I think we have to end it there, by the Trump team.”
Here’s what to know:
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Harris responds: The vice president’s calibrated rebuttal on Wednesday night was perhaps an early indication of how she will respond to racist and crude attacks from Mr. Trump.
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A tense encounter: During the session at the conference, in Chicago, Mr. Trump repeated falsehoods about immigration, sparred with the reporters over the merits of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and told the group that he was “the best president for the Black population” since Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Trump complained about the audio equipment for the event and blamed it for the delay, but a person familiar with the planning said that before Mr. Trump took the stage, he pushed back on plans for a live fact-check. The appearance of the Republican presidential nominee had divided the association before it even started.
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A swift backlash: While Mr. Trump bragged about his comments to his supporters, his critics quickly condemned the remarks. The White House press secretary, Karine Jean Pierre, said they were “repulsive,” while Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, called Mr. Trump’s appearance a “meltdown” that showed he was unfit for office. Representative Jahana Hayes, Democrat of Connecticut, suggested that Mr. Trump had expressed “clearly racist sentiments.” Former Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, an anti-Trump Republican now running for Senate, called the comments “unacceptable and abhorrent,” while Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, called the interview a “hot mess” and said Mr. Trump was a “petulant ass.”
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Running-mate watch: Several vice-presidential hopefuls are spending the final days before Ms. Harris makes her selection doing fund-raising, according to copies of invitations seen by The Times. Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania has events scheduled in the Hamptons on Saturday and Sunday. Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, is headlining a fund-raiser for the Harris campaign in Holderness, N.H., on Saturday. Even Mr. Buttigieg’s husband, Chasten Buttigieg, is in on the action, headlining a fund-raiser in Fire Island alongside Doug Emhoff, Ms. Harris’s husband.
