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Trump Takes Questions At Convention For Black Journalists. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired July 31, 2024 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
KADIA GOBA, MODERATOR: -- reigning in prosecutors, especially when it comes to prosecutors that are prosecuting you. Why doesn't that skepticism apply to law enforcement?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I've been prosecuted because I'm a political opponent of two people that have weaponized our justice system. I've been prosecuted.
I just won a big case in Florida. Everyone said that was the biggest case, that was the most difficult case. And I just one it.
Now Biden has a similar case, except much worse. I was protected under the Presidential Records Act. Biden wasn't because he wasn't president at the time. And he had 50 years-worth of documents.
And they ruled that he was incompetent and, therefore, he shouldn't stand trial. And I said, isn't that something. He's incompetent and he can't stand trial. And yet, he can be president. Isn't that nice?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: They released him on the basis that he was incompetent. They said he had no memory. And he was a nice old guy, but he had no memory and so, therefore, we're not going to prosecute him.
I won the case and it got very little publicity. I didn't notice ABC doing any publicity on it.
(CROSSTALK)
I didn't you do any publicity on it at all. I won the case, the biggest case. This is an attack on a political opponent.
I have another one where I --
(CROSSTALK)
GOBA: -- for a limited time, sir. I'd love to move on to different --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Excuse me. You're the one that held me up for 35 minutes or so. Just so you understand. GOBA: If we can move on now to the state of the race, sir, I want to
get back to the campaign.
Senator J.D. Vance is your running mate. He's had a lot of controversy lately. And I want to read you a few things that he has said in the past.
He said, "The Democrats running the country are a bunch of childless cat ladies who are for miserable at their own lives and the choices they've made and so they don't -- they want to make the rest of the country miserable too."
He's not talking here about how great it is to be a parent. He's attacking, what he says are the choices people are making to not have children.
Did you know that he had these views about people who do not have children before you picked him to be your running mate? And do you agree with him?
TRUMP: No. I know this. He is very family oriented. And he thinks family's a great thing. That doesn't mean he thinks that, if you don't have a family, it's not.
I know people with families. I know people with great families. I know people with very troubled families. And I also know people with no families. They didn't meet the right person. Things happen.
You go through life, you don't meet the right person.
(CROSSTALK)
KOBA: He's not just talking about families here. He also said --
TRUMP: And some of those people --
KOBA: -- people that don't have children, should get less votes than those who do.
TRUMP: I'm just speaking for myself.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I think I'm speaking -- he strongly believes in family, but I know people with great families. I know people with not great families, that don't have a family. And the people without the family are far better. Their superior in many cases, OK?
He's not saying they're not. What he's saying is that he thinks the family experience is a very important thing. It's a very good thing. But that doesn't mean that if you grow up and you grow older and you don't meet somebody that would be wonderful to meet, and it would have been good, that that's a bad thing.
He's not saying that. He -- my interpretation -- you'll have to ask him actually -- but my interpretation is he is strongly family- oriented. But that doesn't mean, if you don't have a family, there's something wrong with them.
(CROSSTALK)
RACHEL SCOTT, MODERATOR: Just one last point and then we'll move on. Just one of the bedrock principles of American life is, one person, one vote. Senator J.D. Vance has suggested that someone who has children should have more votes than a person who does not have children. I just want to be clear here. Is that the position of your campaign?
TRUMP: Well, no, but it's not something I've ever heard before.
I can tell you this, right now, you have illegal aliens coming into our country and many from prisons and many from mental institutions. And they want to give them votes.
I don't think they should have votes. They came into our country illegally. And they're taking away the vote --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: -- from all of the people in this room that had been here a long time, that have worked hard, that, in many cases -- and you'll see this happening.
If I'm not elected, you're going to see. If I am, you're not going to have any problem.
SCOTT: So --
TRUMP: But you're going to see it happening a long time. You're going to see the people in this room and people outside of this room are going to be losing their jobs to the people that have come into this country illegally.
HARRIS FAULKNER, MODERATOR: Mr. President, can we stay with just the state of the race right now because I felt like that vice president question -- candidate question was right in there with that.
So let's talk about J.D. Vance for a little bit. He's had some stumbles out of the gate. I don't know if you're hearing what we hear as reporters, but it's been a tough couple of weeks for him.
Why did you choose J.D. Vance?
TRUMP: Why did I --
FAULKNER: Why did you choose him? And I'm having a hard time hearing --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I chose him --
(CROSSTALK) TRUMP: I'll tell you why. I chose him because he's a very strong believer in work and the working man and woman, and especially the working man and woman who have been treated very unfairly, because you have many of them, many of them in this room.
But you have many of those people they we're treated very unfairly. They worked very hard and they were treated unfairly. He wrote the book that became a bestseller. The movie became a smash hit.
[14:35:07]
He's a very smart guy. Without the benefit of having family that has contacts, like a father that was well-connected, he got into Yale Law School. He graduated in two years from Ohio State, summa cum laude.
I mean, you take a look at his career, it's been an amazing career. He started off at a level with a difficult family situation, very difficult with the mother and the father and everything else.
He ends up going to Yale Law School and was one of the top students, became the head of the "Law Journal." I mean, it's an amazing thing.
He went -- he's a four-year -- he was in the military with great distinction for four years. Got out, went into business, became successful in business, very successful in business actually.
Did public offerings and other things. And I -- you know, I have to believe in that. I mean, he's somebody that was born in a rough situation. Most of the people know that situation because it was very well-documented in his book.
And I have a lot of respect for somebody that can get into Yale and become one of the best students in Yale, that meets a young woman at Yale, who was also outstanding. And they get married. They have a beautiful family.
But he had a -- you know, he's made himself an amazing life. He then gets -- goes to Ohio, lives in Ohio. And he had my endorsement. That helped. But he wins the Senate. He becomes a United States Senator.
FAULKNER: But --
TRUMP: So he's a United States Senator.
FAULKNER: So --
TRUMP: And so was Harris. Like I respect you for your success. I respect people for their success.
FAULKNER: The reason I asked the question is because, the last time you and I sat and talked was the day that you were shot. We've been together for much of that day. You left to go to Butler, Pennsylvania. And we didn't know what was next.
TRUMP: Yes --
FAULKNER: And two days after that --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I cannot understand. Your microphone --
FAULKNER: I know. It is really hard --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And I mean, I can understand you perfectly.
SCOTT: It's because we're closer.
TRUMP: I can understand you.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: But I can't understand Harris.
(LAUGHTER)
FAULKNER: I have a few more questions.
TRUMP: Because of the distance and the mics are really in lousy shape. But I cannot understand --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: -- what you're saying.
FAULKNER: So what I wanted to say was, the last time we spoke, you said some words that we're prophetic. Because I asked you who you wanted to choose for vice president.
TRUMP: Yes.
FAULKNER: And you said, normally, it really wouldn't matter what they -- you know, you would choose somebody that you think has a future, that sort of thing.
But you said these words three-and-a-half hours before an attempted assassination on your life. You told me that "bad things happen, Harris." And that's why this decision is important this time. Bad things happen. You said it twice.
When you look at J.D. Vance, is he ready on day one?
TRUMP: Does he what?
FAULKNER: Ready on day one, if he has to be?
TRUMP: I've always had great respect for him, and for the other candidates, too. But I will say this. And I think this is well documented, historically, the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have any impact. I mean, virtually no impact. You have two or three days where there's a lot of commotion as to who, like you're having it on the Democrat side, who it's going to be. And then that dies down and it's all about the presidential pick.
Virtually, never hasn't mattered. Maybe Lyndon Johnson mattered for different reasons than what we're talking about. Not for vote reasons but for political reasons, other political reasons.
But historically, the choice of a vice president makes no difference. You're voting for the president. And you can have a vice president who is outstanding in every way. And I think J.D. is. I think that all of them would have been.
But -- but you're not voting that way. You're voting for the president. You voted for me. If you're like me, I'm going to win. If you don't like me, I'm not going to win.
FAULKNER: I'm going to get my J.D. Vance question in.
TRUMP: J.D. Vance.
FAULKNER: I'm going to get my J.D. Vance question in.
TRUMP: Sure.
FAULKNER: To your point and to Rachel's, point, he has a lot of opinions about childless women, like myself, or divorced people like yourself.
Do you think --
(LAUGHTER)
FAULKNER: Well, I mean, my point is --
TRUMP: At least it was said in a friendly manner.
(LAUGHTER)
FAULKNER: My point is, do you think the party, the Republican Party's getting a little bit too judgy about people's lives, when you think about abortion or when you think about what J.D. Vance is saying?
TRUMP: I don't think -- look, I think that the Democrat Party is really the one that has the problem. I think they're radical on abortion because they are allowing abortion in the ninth month. They're allowing the debt --
FAULKNER: Well, I think it --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: They're allowing the death of a baby after the baby is born, based on --
FAULKNER: Sir, that's -- (CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: -- the governor of Virginia --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Based on the governor of Virginia, they're allowing --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: -- the death of the baby --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And they're allowing abortions in the eighth and ninth month.
FAULKNER: Well, Democrats have denied --
(CROSSTALK)
[14:40:03]
TRUMP: And I think the Republican Party is actually much lesser -- I think I've made them much less radical perhaps.
But the Republican Party, what we're doing is bringing it back to the states where everybody wanted it, Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives. Everybody wanted abortion brought back.
They didn't want Roe v. Wade and the Federal government. They wanted it -- everybody wanted --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Excuse me.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Well, they don't know about it. Right now, they're voting. It brought it back to the states.
Now I happen to believe in the three exceptions -- Ronald Reagan believed -- with rape, incest, life of the mother. I do. I think most people do. I think most Republicans do also.
But if you take a look, right now, they're doing -- it's an amazing thing -- out of the federal government. It's in states. And people are voting.
And I will say, Ohio is, let's say -- let's call it a more liberal version, has been approved. Kansas the same thing. A little bit surprising to a lot of people.
But the people are now voting. And it's taking this issue that's been going on for 52 years and has torn our country apart, and it's giving it to the people to vote on. And they are voting. And many states have already voted. Others are in the process of voting. And is bringing it back to the people and the vote of the people.
And it's not at all radical. And again, you have to follow your heart. I happen to believe in the three exceptions. Most people believe in the three exceptions. Most Republicans believe in the exceptions.
But they don't want to see an abortion in the ninth month or the eighth month. Almost everybody agrees to that.
And they certainly don't want to see, in the case of the governor of Virginia, the former governor I might add, who said, we set the baby aside and then we decide what to do. Meaning, what do we do? We execute the baby.
GOBA: Can I --
TRUMP: That's a radical, horrible position. And some people -- some people want that. I don't want it. And most people don't.
GOBA: Thank you.
Can I just pivot really quickly to another question? About health (ph) Harris. You're in active man. You -- we see you golfing all the time. But if you win, you'll still be president at 82.
TRUMP: Yes.
FAULKNER: Which is older than Biden is right now.
TRUMP: But not mentally, not mentally.
(LAUGHTER)
GOBA: Here's the question.
TRUMP: He's shot. He's shot. But most people --
(LAUGHTER)
GOBA: Would you consider --
TRUMP: Most people -- I know many people in their 80s and their 90s that are in great shape. Some of our greatest leaders. You look at throughout the world, world history, the greatest leaders, some of the greatest leaders in the world when they're in their 80s.
GOBA: But here's the question. Would you consider stepping down if you felt that your health was declining?
TRUMP: Or absolutely.
GOBA: Or would you --
TRUMP: I think I'd know. GOBA: How would you make that decision?
TRUMP: I think I'd know.
Look, if I came on to a stage like this and I got treated so rudely, as this woman --
(CROSSTALK)
GOBA: Oh, my goodness.
TRUMP: And I'm fine with it because she -- it doesn't -- she was very rude, sir, very rude. That I was a nasty -- that wasn't a question. She asked me --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: She gave a statement. That wasn't a question.
(CROSSTALK)
GOBA: You said you would, you would if --
TRUMP: Oh, absolutely. If I thought that I was failing in some way. I want people to be sharp. I'll go a step further. I want anybody running for president to take an aptitude test, to take a cognitive test. I think it's a great idea.
And I took two of them and I aced them.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I took two of them.
But let me ask you --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: -- I would like to have people running for president -- and I don't mean by -- because they're 75 or 85. I think anybody running -- I'D like to do it. People say it's not constitutional. I would like to have something passed so you could do it.
I think we should know. I mean, I've watched what's happened in the last couple of years under this gentleman, and our country is a mess. We have inflation. We have the millions of people falling in.
We had Afghanistan, which was the worst, most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. What he has done to our country, and her, too, what they've done to our country.
She has been a horrible vice president. She's considered the worst vice president in the history of our country.
(CROSSTALK)
GOBA: But would you consider taking the cognitive test?
SCOTT: Mr. President --
GOBA: And making it public?
TRUMP: Well, I've already taken two of them, but I'll do it again.
(CROSSTALK)
SCOTT: -- how you intend to --
TRUMP: I suggest to Harris that let's take one. I said Joe and I will go and take a cognitive test. Now, I'd do it with her, too. I would do it with her also.
You know what? She failed her law exam. She didn't pass her law exam, so maybe she wouldn't pass a cognitive test.
(LAUGHTER)
SCOTT: Mr. President --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I'm just giving you the facts.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: She didn't pass her bar exam. And she didn't think she would pass it. And she didn't think she was going to ever pass it. And I don't know what happened. Maybe she passed it.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I guess -- there's a man over here. I think --
(CROSSTALK)
[14:45:01]
SCOTT: Mr. President, I would love to ask you about January 6th. You called yourself the candidate of law and order.
TRUMP: Yes.
SCOTT: When "Time" magazine asked if he would consider pardoning all the rioters, you said, yes, absolutely.
TRUMP: Sure.
SCOTT: You called them patriots.
One hundred and forty police officers were assaulted that day. Their injuries included broken bones. At least one officer lost an eye. One had two cracked ribs, two smashed spinal disks. Another had a stroke.
Were the people who assaulted those 140 officers, including those I just mentioned, patriots, who deserve pardons?
TRUMP: Well, let me bring it back to modern day. Like about five days ago, we had an attack on the capital. A horrible attack on the capital.
You saw the people that were protesting and spraying these incredible monuments, bells, lions, all these magnificent limestone and granite with red paint, red spray paint that will never actually come off, especially on the limestone.
And we'll never -- I'm a builder. I know about this stuff.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: It'll never -- you'll see it in 100 years from now. They viciously attacked our government. They fought with police. They fought with -- much more openly than I saw on January 6th.
What's going to happen to those people? What's going to happen to the people in Portland that destroyed that city?
SCOTT: That's not my question.
TRUMP: What's going to happen to the people --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: You have to answer. What's going to happen - oh, absolutely, I would.
SCOTT: You would pardon them?
TRUMP: If they're innocent, I would pardon them.
SCOTT: They've been convicted.
TRUMP: By the way, the Supreme Court just under --
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Well, they were convicted by a very, very tough system. They we're -- how come the people that tried to burn down Minneapolis, how come the people that took over a large percentage of Seattle, how come nothing happened to them?
How come the people that --
(CROSSTALK)
SCOTT: But we're talking about people that were seen beating --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: We're talking about a federal building.
SCOTT: -- dragging them down the stairs there. (CROSSTALK)
SCOTT: Have you seen that video?
(CROSSTALK)
SCOTT: Well, you would pardon those rioters?
TRUMP: They shot a young lady in the face who was protesting. They shot her. You know, nobody died that day. You do know that.
But people died in Seattle. Nobody died. But people died in --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: But people died in Indianapolis and nothing happens and nobody ever talks and nothing happens to those people.
But you went after the J6 people with a vengeance. And I'll tell you what. What about the cops that we're -- and I'm all for the police, as you know. But what about the police that are ushering, ushering everybody into the capital: Go in, go in, go in. What about that?
Look --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Nothing is -- nothing is perfect in life. But you have people from Minneapolis, you have people just from five days ago in Washington, D.C., they were having fistfights and fighting with the police.
They were spraying and destroying -- they were desecrating our monuments in Washington, D.C., five days ago, and nothing happened to them. And you have -- you can have two systems of justice.
That's why they went after me as a political opponent because they felt they couldn't win without doing that. And we're going to win our cases and we're going to be vindicated.
But I have to spend a lot of time on that, and money. That's what they want. After the election, they want -- although, in my case, I think they probably will because the hatred is pretty deep.
But I'll tell you, they went after me as a political opponent. That's never happened in our country before. And it sets a terrible, terrible precedent.
FAULKNER: What do you do on day one if you win? What's your first thing?
TRUMP: What do I do? I close the border. And I do two things, because I can do a lot of things simultaneously. I'd close the border. We don't want people coming.
We want people to come in, Harris, but they have to be vetted, they have to be checked. They have to come in legally. We want --
FAULKNER: Legal --
TRUMP: I want people to come into our country. But they have to be vetted. They have to be checked.
So when you say, what do I do, that. And I drill, baby drill. I bring energy way down. I bring interest rates down. I bring inflation way down. So people can buy bacon again. So people can buy a ham sandwich again. So that people can go to a restaurant and afford it.
Because, right now, people can't buy food. Your grocery bills are up 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, right?
She's agreeing to me. Oh, she's agreeing.
Thank you. I like you very much.
(LAUGHTER)
FAULKNER: I think we are --
TRUMP: But it's -- but it's true. Your grocery bills are up. And then they're mandating that you buy an all-electric car. You know, Elon Musk endorsed me and he's a friend of mine. He's a good guy. He's a smart guy.
But I'm against all -- everybody having an electric car. OK? I'm very much against that. You have to be able to -- if you want a hybrid or if you want a gasoline-propelled car.
But we have more liquid gold, gasoline, oil, under our feet than any other country. More than Saudi Arabia, more than Russia, more than any other country. I want to use it. I want to use what we have.
I want to bring down prices, bring down costs. And I also have to stop the invasion. And remember, they're taking your jobs. These people coming in are taking your jobs.
(CROSSTALK)
[14:50:03]
SCOTT: -- Project 2025 --
GOBA: I think we have to leave it there.
SCOTT: -- by the Trump team.
GOBA: So, all right. Well leave it. That is the last word.
Thank you so much, Mr. Trump for coming -- for coming in and joining us.
(SHOUTING)
TRUMP: Well, thank you very much.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Thank you.
Thank you, everybody, very much. A great honor.
(CHEERING)
GOBA: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We have been listening to a heated discussion at certain moments. Former President Donald Trump taking the stage at the National Association of Black Journalists convention. Having a discussion with three journalists.
Again, at times, heated, especially at the very top, with the president seeming to get personal with Rachel Scott of ABC News, calling her disgraceful. There were jeers in the crowd when he went on a rant, clearly upset about a question that she asked him.
I think, most notably, he also got personal with attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris.
And I think one of the big we headlines that's going to come from this is a description of her that he used when he was asked if she was a DEI hire, which is a claim that many of his acolytes on Capitol Hill and elsewhere have made.
He said that the vice president used to be Indian and turned black. He said, quote, "Is she Indian or black? Somebody should look into that."
He also went after her for failing a law exam, saying that she may not pass a cognitive test based on that.
Also, a variety of falsehoods from the former president on things from immigration to abortion. A lot to dig into based on those remarks.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And there was quite a lot of fact-checking that was happening in real time from those journalists, who we're asking questions of him. But it really was the first quarter question out of the gate.
And I want to bring in Sara Sidner, who is there in the room.
We could hear a lot of the reaction, Sara, on microphone there. I know it's probably even more pronounced in person.
But it was Rachel Scott's question, which was a fair one and an accurate one, where she said to former President Trump, you have made it false claims about former President Obama. You have attacked Congress women of color, black D.A.s, black journalists. You had dinner with a white supremacist. Now that you are asking black supporters to vote for you, why should
they trust you? And he went on to say, I don't think I've ever been asked, I guess, a question like that in such a horrible manner. And then he attacked her and her news organization.
SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: Yes. His response was the reason why this question has been asked. Because when a tough question like that is asked, his response is to attack the person who is questioning him.
And that's exactly what happened in front of this crowd here. And then it devolved from there, from that question, every time that individual asked him another question, you know, or pointed or talked about some of the things that he had said, his response was to attack her.
So look, this went off the rails at the very beginning. But those questions are questions that folks in the black community do have as to whether or not they should be able to trust Donald Trump with some of the things he said about, for example, President Obama, questioning whether or not he was actually born in America when he was born in Hawaii, very clearly.
And making that same question to some other members of Congress as well, people of color.
But, you know, there we're some questions that were asked about the economy that people here -- you could hear the response in the room. Remember, again, this is a room full of journalists. This is a room full of people who cover some of these issues in either their local community or on the national no stage.
And the entire room was packed with people. To some of the questions, there was laughter. To other questions, there were a couple of people who shouted out boos or who we're trying to fact-check him in real time.
There was a lot of meandering on the part of Donald Trump. And he was asked a lot of questions. He was asked questions about January 6th and whether or not he thinks that those who took part in attacking the 140 police officers who we're injured should be pardoned.
Because he has mentioned that he would pardon some of the January -- the folks that were involved with the capital attack.
And it was interesting his response. In some ways, he said, I don't -- I don't really see that. He tried to pivot to other things, like what happened in Minneapolis and the protests in Portland.
And so a lot of the time he wasn't answering the question. But he was asked several questions over and over and over again.
And I think the one that landed, that he was happy with his answer, was one asked by Harris Faulkner, who is with FOX News, when it comes to the economy and the fact that people are suffering because of high inflation.
Although, inflation has started to drop and the economy, by all economic indicators, has -- has done better. People are still having a hard time with buying houses, buying groceries and the like.
[14:55:08]
But this did go off the rails. There's no other way to say it. His attacks on the journalists asking the question did not go over well with this crowd, as you might imagine. It's a room full of journalists.
But people did listen intently to try to understand what his answers were to some of the questions that directly affect the black community -- Brianna?
SANCHEZ: Sara, please stand by.
I just want to point out the White House has responded to the comments from former President Trump directed toward Vice President Kamala Harris.
Karine Jean-Pierre, from the podium at the White House, saying that his comments are "repulsive, insulting," adding, quote, "She is the vice president of the United States. We have to put some respect on her name, period."
I want to go to CNN's Kristen Holmes, who follows the Trump campaign closely. She's in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where the former president is headed to an event later today.
Kristen, shortly before this event started, you are sharing with us that part of the strategy for Trump going to the National Association of Black Journalists was to put the focus back on him.
There was a feeling that the vice president sucked up a lot of attention over the last few weeks since President Biden dropped out of the race, and he wanted to recapture the headlines.
From that perspective, given some of the remarks that he's made, it seems like it's mission accomplished for him.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, I mean, one senior adviser told me before this rally started -- excuse me -- this panel started that this event more than anything he had done in the last several months, had the most potential to go sideways.
And I think we can all agree that it certainly did go sideways. Now, the big question is whether or not it did what Donald Trump often sets out to do. We know that Donald Trump sucks up all the oxygen in the room.
But lately, he's had a hard time breaking into this media narrative, particularly around the enthusiasm around Kamala Harris. But it is very likely now the focus is going to be on some of these really out- there comments that Donald Trump made.
Questioning whether Kamala Harris, the first black vice president, is actually black at a conference of black journalists, attacking the black journalists who asked him questions, going after, question after question, turning the narrative to be more attacks than actually answering questions on policies.
Remember that one of Donald Trump's campaign's main agendas in this campaign cycle is to siphon off minority voters, particularly black men and Latino men, to bring them out to the polls.
Some of these questions were legitimate questions about why black people, why they should vote for him, given some of the remarks he has said. And instead of answering those questions and using this as an opportunity, he turned this into an attack.
Now, I spoke to at least two people close to Donald Trump who said they believed he was, quote, "doing very well in what was a hostile environment."
But, of course, Boris, that's exactly what you would expect to hear from the campaign. They're not going to say that it was a train wreck in action.
But again, one thing to watch here, does this do what Donald Trump has needed to have happen for the last several weeks, which is take control of the media narrative and put him front and center?
Remember, there is a belief among people close to the former president that no publicity is bad publicity. So we'll take a look and see how this actually plays out.
But I think it is fair to say that, as that senior advisor said, this went sideways and it went sideways pretty quickly.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Yes, immediately, immediately.
Kristen, thank you so much for that.
Shermichael Singleton watched the whole thing with us here in studio.
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Whoo, boy.
KEILAR: Would you have advised, if you we're an adviser to the former president, that he do this?
SINGLETON: No, I would not have. I think the appeals that are going to be necessary here -- you know, we talked about Latino men, black men during the break, one of the breaks.
And I was sharing that some of them that I've talked with -- I did a series of focus groups of black men. I'm doing more. I'm just curious to see those who are interested in potentially voting for him, why, what's the thought process behind it?
And as I've been texting with some of them, as the DEI comments have come out. Quite a few of them are just like, you know, I don't know if I would vote for her, but I don't like this. And if it continues, I'm probably not going to vote for him. And so whatever gains the former president appears to have made mathematically, you need to be careful with this crap. That's just the only way to say this.
You know, she's Indian, she's black. Her father's Jamaican. She's black. So as far as every black person in America is concerned, she is black. We consider Kamala Harris to be one of us because she is one of us.
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The woman went to Howard University, attorney general for the largest state in the country.
You can have whatever differences you want with the vice president. That's fine. Most black out there are like, you got differences, we'll hear the differences. Now we might disagree, but -- but let's have that conversation.
