In a wild, very entertaining video released Saturday, August 3, by CNN’s “Smerconish,” a collection of numerous African-American men at a barbershop in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, were asked about Kamala Harris and the question came up, from one of them, whether they see Vice President and likely 2024 Democrat nominee Kamala Harris as black.
The controversy and comments over Harris’s heritage (her father is Jamaican-American, and her mother is Indian-American) comes from comments that former President Donald Trump made when speaking at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, where he appeared in person.
He said, speaking about her Indian heritage, much to the left’s outrage, “She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. 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. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black?”
Continuing, former President Trump said that he respects both side of her heritage, but seems to think she is changing what she emphasizes about her heritage based on political winds. He said, “I respect either one, but she obviously doesn’t, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went – she became a Black person.” He continued, “I think somebody should look into that too.”
In any case, in the video played by CNN on “Smericonish,” CBS reporter Joel Smith asked the guys at the barbershop about Kamala Harris and their voting patterns. He asked, “Is Kamala gonna make you a little more likely or less likely to vote Democrat?” That’s when one of them jumped in and said, “Hold on is Kamala black, yes or no?”
That’s when the choir chimed in. The guy next to him said, “I’ll let her speak on that, but to me, no.” Another guy in the barbershop group said that he holds the same view of her heritage, saying, “I share that same view.” A fourth man said, “I heard she wasn’t. I heard she’s half black and half Asian.”
Watch them here:
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At the Chicago Conference, ABC News’ Rachel Scott began the interview by asking Trump: “You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told four congresswomen of color, who were American citizens, to go back to where they came from.”
Scott continued, “You have used words like ‘animal’ and ‘rabid’ to describe Black district attorneys. You have attacked Black journalists, calling them a ‘loser,’ saying the questions they ask are, quote, ‘stupid’ and ‘racist.’ You’ve had dinner with a White supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So my question, sir – now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”
Though the combative interview panel followed, Trump somewhat defused the situation by responding with one of his characteristically funny comments, saying, “Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question so – in such a horrible manner, first question. You don’t even say, ‘Hello. How are you?’”
Watch that here: