Republican lawmakers were horrified by Donald Trump’s comments questioning Kamala Harris’ racial identity.
The GOP presidential nominee’s comments—in which he claimed not to know Harris “was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black”—were met with gasps at a gathering of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago.
Politico reported that “virtually every Republican” it contacted about Trump’s new attack line was “flat-out distraught by what they perceive as a self-inflicted wound not only for Trump, but for Republicans down the ballot.”
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Other GOP figures commented publicly to argue that questioning Harris’ race isn’t a good idea for political reasons. “It’s not a great idea for either of the parties to be playing racial identity politics, whether it’s white dudes for Kamala or whatever this is,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said, according to Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) “clearly didn’t like what he heard from Trump,” according to Punchbowl News, which noted that the lawmaker remained cautious in criticizing the former president. “My comment is any time we’re commenting on anything but this Biden administration’s failed economy, failed border, failed national security, we’re not gaining ground,” Tillis was quoted as saying. When asked if he believed Trump should apologize, Tillis answered, “I’ll leave that to President Trump.”
Some Republicans—those not aligned with Trump—publicly slammed Trump’s attacks. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is now a Senate candidate, said it’s “unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity.” “The American people deserve better,” he wrote on X, a sentiment shared by Harris in her own denunciation of the attack.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), similarly called Trump’s comments one of several “very unfortunate” slip-ups from the MAGA camp. “Childless cat women, DEI candidates, now, ‘Is she black? Is she Indian?’” she said, according to Axios.
The outlet also quoted a pair of unnamed House Republicans who were irked by the former president’s words, one of whom said his remarks were “not a demonstration on how to win over undecided voters,” while another summarized Trump’s NABJ interview as “awful.” “The entire exchange was embarrassing,” one said.
Trump, who falsely claimed Harris had been “Indian all the way” until she suddenly “made a turn” and “became a Black person,” did not appear to be heading toward an apology. After making his comments on Wednesday night, he wrote a Truth Social post doubling down, accusing Harris of being a “Stone cold phony.” “She uses everybody, including her racial identity!” he wrote.
Not everyone in the MAGA camp was upset with Trump’s slurs. J.D. Vance, Trump’s running mate who is himself married to the daughter of Indian immigrants, said he thought it was “hysterical” how the media was “overreacting” to what Trump said.
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign press secretary, also claimed Trump had “absolutely” helped himself with the remarks, arguing that his appearance at the NABJ conference demonstrated he “is unafraid to show up and to have these difficult and hostile conversations in environments.”
