Trump Somehow Makes His Comments on Harris’s Race Even Worse

Donald Trump’s take on Kamala Harris’s racial identity somehow managed to get even worse.

During Tuesday night’s debate, the former president was probed about his controversial statements on Harris’s racial identity, including that the biracial Democrat had “turned Black.”

“I want to ask a bigger picture question tonight. Why do you think that it’s appropriate to weigh in on the racial identity of your opponent?” prompted ABC’s David Muir.

“I don’t. And I don’t care,” Trump said. “I don’t care what she is. I don’t care.”

“You make a big deal out of something, I couldn’t care less. Whatever she wants to be is OK with me,” he continued. “All I can say is that I read where she was not Black—that she put out, I’ll say that. And then I read that she was Black. And that’s OK. Either one is OK with me. That’s up to her.”

Trump’s outrageous claim first sprang up at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in early August, when the 78-year-old white candidate tried and failed to curry favor with the crowd by trash-talking Harris’s racial identity.

“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,” Trump said at the convention, seemingly unable to grasp how a biracial person (multiracial people now make up more than 10 percent of the U.S. population, according to the 2020 census) could have two parents from different cultures but still manage to appreciate both.

Speaking on his foreign policy prowess during Tuesday’s debate, Donald Trump made sure to brag about his endorsement from a dictator.

“I have talked with military leaders, some of whom worked with you, and they say you’re a disgrace,” said Kamala Harris, telling Trump that his debate performance proves he does not have the “temperament” to lead the country.

In response, Donald Trump flaunted his relationship with authoritarian Hungarian leader Victor Orbán.

“Victor Orbán, one of the most respected men—they call him a ‘strongman’—he’s a tough person, smart,” Trump started off, then stating that Orbán told American leaders, “You need Trump back as president.”

Boasting about the support of a prime minister who has decried “mixed race nations,” called for “a Europe of nation states,” and helped demolish democratic guardrails in Hungary is certainly a choice.

“China was afraid of him, North Korea was afraid of him … Russia was afraid of him,” said Trump, speaking in the third person, trying to show his own strongman tendencies.

“These dictators and autocrats are rooting for you to be president again,” Kamala Harris responded later in the debate. “You adore strongmen instead of caring about democracy.”

Trump smiled and nodded.

Donald Trump gave a weak answer when asked how he would end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during the presidential debate Tuesday night.

Trump took off on a winding answer, which seemed to attack President Joe Biden for not speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin at all.

“I’ll speak to one, I’ll speak to the other, I’ll get ’em together,” Trump said at one point.

When ABC’s moderator David Muir asked Trump to clarify whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war, Trump responded, “I want the war to stop.”

Muir then pushed Trump to say whether he believed it was in America’s best interest for Ukraine to win, he again refused to answer the question.

“I think it’s in the U.S.’s best interest to get this war finished and f—just get it done!” Trump said.

Donald Trump, when asked point-blank during Tuesday night’s presidential debate whether he had any regrets for his actions on January 6, 2021, could not name a single one.

ABC News moderator David Muir noted in his question that Trump waited more than two hours on January 6 before delivering a video message telling rioters at the Capitol building to go home.

“Is there anything you regret about what you did on that day?” Muir asked.

Trump’s response was defiant, claiming that during his message, he told demonstrators supporting him to act “peacefully and patriotically.”

Trump also claimed that “nobody on the other side was killed. Ashli Babbitt was shot by an out of control police officer that should have never, ever shot her. It’s a disgrace.” (He apparently forgot the Capitol police officers who died.)

Muir then asked the question again, and Trump again denied any responsibility.

“I had nothing to do with that, other than they asked me to make a speech. I showed up for a speech, I said, I think it’s going to be big,” Trump replied.

Kamala Harris did not mince words in her response, noting that Trump was indicted and impeached for his actions on January 6.

Trump’s thoughts on January 6 are disturbing, as he seems to be justifying the violent mob that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election on his behalf. Invoking Ashli Babbitt is part of a years-long effort by conservatives to obscure their own responsibility for the Capitol insurrection. If Trump loses this November, his answer at Tuesday night’s debate could indicate that he’d be willing to incite another violent mob to overturn the results in his favor.

Donald Trump is trying to desperately backpedal his admission that he lost the 2020 presidential election, arguing that the game-changing statement amounted to simple sarcasm.

Last week, Trump finally admitted that he lost during an interview on the Lex Fridman podcast, where he shared that he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden “by a whisker.” The announcement sent some of his base—including January 6 rioters—into a frenzy. Some of them, including white supremacist Nick Fuentes, questioned why Trump allowed his supporters to rush headlong into insurmountable legal troubles under the cover of a lie.

“No. I don’t acknowledge that at all. I said that sarcastically,” Trump said flippantly during Tuesday night’s debate when questioned directly about the eyebrow-raising language. “Look, there’s so much proof. All you have to do is look at it, and they should have sent it back to the legislatures for approval.”

Regardless of Trump’s sudden flip-flop, Trump’s words could still hold water in his federal election interference case, with legal experts believing that the admission could be used against him.

Donald Trump went on an outrageous rant spreading dangerous racist rumors that immigrants have begun eating pets.

During the presidential debate Tuesday night, Trump couldn’t quite walk off Kamala Harris’s comment criticizing his rallies as being chaotic and boring. Moments later, Trump was asked why he killed the bipartisan border bill earlier this year. Instead of actually answering the question, Trump tried desperately to hit back, and took the opportunity to parrot false right-wing rumors that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, had been killing and eating pets.

“People don’t leave my rallies. We have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics,” Trump said, clearly shaken.

Trump pivoted to a warning about World War III that soon pitched into a recitation of an outlandish and disproven theory.

“Look what’s happening to the towns,” Trump said. “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs, the people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating … they’re eating the pets of the people who live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”

When ABC moderator David Muir attempted to fact-check Trump, referring to a statement from Springfield City manager Ryan Heck denying the outrageous rumors. Heck said there were “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

“I’ve seen people on television!” Trump cried, interrupting Muir. “I’ve seen people on television say my dog was taken and used for food! So, maybe that’s a good thing to say if you’re a city manager—”

Trump continued on, and Muir repeated Heck’s statement. “We’ll see about that,” Trump replied.

“Um, talk about extreme,” Harris responded laughing.

Donald Trump got a fact-check live on air just minutes into the presidential debate on Tuesday.

Speaking on abortion, Trump spread lies for several minutes about reproductive care. The former president claimed that the governor of West Virginia allowed doctors to terminate a pregnancy not only after viability but after the baby was born.

In response to Trump’s claims, the ABC News anchor Linsey Davis gave him an embarrassing live correction.

“There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born,” she said, before quickly pivoting to Kamala Harris.

Donald Trump kicked off the presidential debate Tuesday night with a rant about immigrants taking over towns and Black jobs across America.

It’s a point that Trump has repeated throughout his campaign, and he hit all of the same points: claiming that immigrants from “prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums” were arriving in the United States, taking “jobs that are occupied right now by African Americans and Hispanics,” a slight variation of his usual line about immigrants taking “Black jobs.”

He also alluded to recent right-wing meltdowns over immigrants in the towns of Aurora, Colorado, and Springfield, Ohio. In the case of Aurora, Trump and the right claimed that a Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment complex, only for its residents and the police to say that was completely false. In Ohio, the right have pushed a narrative about Haitian immigrants killing and eating pets, which was rejected by local police and municipal officials.

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance has also spread the rumor about Haitian immigrants, despite having no evidence of any pets being killed and eaten. Several other conservative politicians, pundits, and influencers have all amplified the rumor, furthering right-wing fearmongering about savage immigrants. Donald Trump, historically, has had no love for Haiti or its people, claiming in 2018 that all Haitian immigrants have AIDS and referring to the country as a “shithole.”

Donald Trump skirted answering a direct question on abortion rights Tuesday night and instead veered into complete make believe on Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Avoiding a direct question about his flip-flopping on a national six-week abortion ban during the presidential debate, Trump quoted the Democratic vice presidential pick for something he never actually said.

“Her vice presidential pick, which I think was a horrible pick for our country, because he is really adamant, but her vice presidential pick says that abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine,” Trump said. “He also says, ‘Execution after birth’—execution, no longer abortion because the baby is born—is OK. And that’s not OK with me. Hence the vote.”

Not one state in the nation allows what Republicans have dubbed post-birth abortions, otherwise known as infanticide.

Trump has worked to soften his anti-choice position in the weeks building up to the debate in an attempt to appeal to women’s rights activists and draw more voters to his campaign. But the practical effects of his presidency are still obvious, not least of all instilling a hyperconservative Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade, which Trump has proudly taken credit for. In 2023, the former president also claimed that he should be celebrated for every single state abortion ban.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday declined to denounce a racist and xenophobic conspiracy theory about local Haitian immigrants, just hours after Ohio Senator J.D. Vance doubled down by spreading the blatant misinformation.

As DeWine noted in Tuesday’s press conference, the city of Springfield has seen an influx of 15,000 Haitian immigrants over the past four years as a result of the chaos and widespread gang violence caused by the assassination of Haiti’s president in 2021. The United States has granted these immigrants temporary protected status, allowing them to move to the U.S., pay taxes, own homes, and work.

Some Republicans, wanting to look tough on immigration, claim that Springfield is being overwhelmed by the immigrants—and to make their point, they’re even spreading malicious lies about the Haitians. Vance, who is Donald Trump’s running mate, tweeted Monday, “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country.” On Tuesday, he repeated the claim, only allowing that “it’s possible, of course, that all of these rumors will turn out to be false.”

And yet, DeWine refused to condemn such rhetoric. When asked whether he would “denounce other Ohio Republicans who are elevating those claims,” the governor said he was just there to establish “the essential facts,” and referred to the city manager’s statement about “any of these particular matters.”

“Look,” he added, “I came here today because I thought it was important to outline for the people, not only of Springfield, but of Ohio and the country, what the essential facts are. The essential facts I have gone over to the best of my knowledge, are the essential facts.”

DeWine referred to statements by Springfield Mayor Rob Rue and City Manager Ryan Heck. Heck, who had written to Vance in July asking for federal support to deal with the influx of immigrants, outright denied the right-wing rumors. He said there were “no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

“Additionally,” Heck said, “there have been no verified instances of immigrants engaging in illegal activities such as squatting or littering in front of residents’ homes. Furthermore, no reports have been made regarding members of the immigrant community deliberately disrupting traffic.”

When asked about a school bus crash caused by a Haitian immigrant’s reckless driving, which injured 20 students and killed one, DeWine said that there had been an uptick in traffic accidents. While he said he did not “blame” any one group, he also claimed that many Haitians had never driven before.

When asked specifically about the false claims that Haitian immigrants are eating cats or killing geese, DeWine did not condemn them. “Look, I’m not going to comment on that,” he said.

“The local officials [and] people who live in Springfield have talked about different things that might appear on the internet. A lot of things can appear on the internet,” he added. “But they have talked about those, and they have said they’ve not seen evidence of that. And they are the ones who are in the community.”

When asked about Vance specifically, DeWine said, “I would expect a United States senator to be talking about the border.”

DeWine was also asked whether he had spoken to any Haitian immigrants in Springfield. He said he had not.