Panelist Chris Wallace fumes over Trump’s attacks on Harris

A CNN panel got heated Friday during a discussion about Donald Trump recently claimed the position of vice president Kamala Harris “became” black.

During an explosive question-and-answer session at a National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, Trump joked that Harris “has gone black,” accusing her of previously playing up her Indian heritage for political gain. Harris is biracial and the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica.

“I didn’t know she was black until she became black a few years ago. And now she wants to be known as black. So I don’t know if she’s Indian or black?” Trump said.

The comment was immediately condemned by the White House and others.

During a Friday panel on The Chris Wallace Show, New York Times CNN journalist and contributor Lulu Garcia-Navarro He accused Trump of being “out of touch” and not understanding the concept of someone being biracial.

“Not only is it ridiculous, but he also seems to not understand the concept of being biracial and, frankly, it’s the fastest growing group of young people in this country. America understands what it means to be biracial. The fact that Donald Trump doesn’t seem to understand that fact seems incredibly out of touch with reality,” she said.

President of the Manhattan Institute Reihan Salam He argued that the former president may have been trying to appeal to a niche group of voters within the black community, knowing he had little chance of matching Harris’ support.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing, but what I will say is that for many Americans, particularly many African Americans, there is a certain discomfort with the fact that when you look at high-profile black Americans, many of them are multiracial, first- or second-generation Americans, immigrants or children of immigrants, or they are intermarried themselves,” Salam said.

He then referenced the group American Descendants of Slavery, but Garcia-Navarro countered, shocked by her fellow panelist.

“I’m just shocked that that’s an argument you’re making,” she said.

Salam stressed that he himself did not promote these views.

“No, it’s something I talk about as an analyst to describe the fact that the black community is not a monolith. There are a lot of complex and conflicting feelings. More than twice as many black Americans as white Americans oppose intermarriage,” he said.

“That’s a completely ridiculous argument in a country where there was the one-drop rule, which legally penalized anyone with a single drop of black blood. To now say that this woman, who is clearly black, is somehow suspect and is wearing a coat and some sort of ridiculous identity,” Garcia-Navarro retorted.

Salam went on to claim that this was a “bad” line of attack from Trump.

“I don’t think it’s a good thing for Donald Trump to use that line of attack. I agree with Kara. Stick to the politics, but that’s…” he said before Garcia-Navarro spoke again.

“That’s not what Donald Trump was doing! You’re trying to explain something. If you ask Donald Trump what he was doing, he’s not going to say, ‘You know, there’s a movement in the African-American community that talks about the descendants of slavery. Do you think that’s what he was doing?’ He was going in there to do what he always does, which is throw everything he can at the wall and see what sticks,” she said.

Salam reiterated that Trump’s strategy may appeal to a narrow group of voters and stressed that he was targeting only those specific voters.

“I’m afraid part of what I’m trying to do is show that public opinion is changing, that it’s divided and that there’s a big debate about it,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the best angle to take, but I think when you’re talking about the black community, he’s not looking to win 90 percent of the black vote, he’s looking at the interesting cleavages and divisions within that population and this is one of them.”

Watch above via CNN.

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