'Is she Indian or is she black?' Trump faces backlash after questioning Harris's race

Former president was speaking to convention of black journalists when he made remarks about Vice President

Former US president Donald Trump drew criticism on Wednesday after he questioned Vice President Kamala Harris's racial identity, while speaking at a conference for black journalists.

At the annual National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, the Republican presidential candidate falsely claimed that Ms Harris had not always identified as black.

“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,” Mr Trump said.

“So, I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black?”

Ms Harris was born to two immigrants in California: an Indian mother and Jamaican father. She is the first woman, first black and first South Asian person to serve as Vice President.

As an undergraduate, Ms Harris attended Howard University, one of the nation’s most prominent historically black colleges and universities, where she also joined the historically black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.

As a US senator, she was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, supporting her colleagues’ legislation aimed at strengthening voting rights and reforming policing.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said she was repulsed by Mr Trump's remarks.

“As a black woman who is in this position that is standing before you, at this podium, behind this lectern, what he just said … is repulsive. It's insulting,” she said after being read the quotes.

“You know, no one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify. That is not one's right. It is someone's own decision.

“Only [Ms Harris] can speak to her experience. Only she can speak to what it's like.

“I think it's insulting for anybody – it doesn't matter if it's a former leader, a former president – it is insulting.”

Ms Jean-Pierre is the first black press secretary in White House history.

Ms Harris did not immediately give a public comment about the remarks.

Her campaign issued a statement criticising Mr Trump's “hostility” and “tirade”, which included “chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump's Maga [Make America Great Again] rallies this entire campaign”.

She and Mr Trump are expected to face off in the November 5 presidential election, after President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed Ms Harris for the Democratic Party nomination.

Mr Trump has a history of publicly peddling racist rumours.

He rose to prominence in Republican politics by propagating false theories that former president Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, was not born in the US.

“Birtherism”, as it became known, was just the start of Mr Trump’s history of questioning the credentials and qualifications of black politicians.

During this year’s Republican primary, he once referred to former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, as “Nimbra”.