Harris to speak with National Association of Black Journalists panel as she decentralizes race from her campaign

(PHILADELPHIA) — Vice President Kamala Harris will face a National Association of Black Journalists panel in Philadelphia on Tuesday where race in her campaign will be a likely topic, something she has shied away from focusing on — a stark contrast from her 2019 run for president.

At a similar NABJ panel interview in July, former President Donald Trump got into a fiery back-and-forth with reporters and falsely questioned Harris’ race.

“So I’ve known her a long time, indirectly, not directly, very much, and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said during that heated exchange. “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. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”

Harris — the child of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, both immigrants to the United States — has not directly responded to Trump’s comments. In an August interview with CNN, after being asked to comment on the personal attacks Trump has lobbied at the vice president surrounding her racial identity, Harris dodged.

“Same old, tired playbook,” she told the network. “Next question, please.”

And when asked to comment on the same attacks during ABC News’ debate last week, instead of speaking about her own racial identity, Harris chose a more generic answer.

“I think it’s a — a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently over the course of his career attempted to use race to divide the American people,” she told ABC News’ David Muir.

MORE: READ: Harris-Trump presidential debate transcript
Harris is not new to people questioning her so-called “Blackness.” During her presidential run in 2019, Harris faced questions about whether she was Black enough to identify as a Black candidate.

“I’m Black, and I’m proud of being Black,” Harris said on “The Breakfast Club” radio show in February of that year. “I was born Black. I will die Black, and I’m not going to make excuses for anybody because they don’t understand.”

Harris’ 2019 campaign also put a larger focus on race compared to her current run for president.

At the NBC debate in 2019, Harris strong-armed her way into the opportunity to take on then-Vice President Joe Biden on efforts to desegregate public schools, specifically school busing programs.

“As the only Black person on this stage, I would like to speak on the issue of race,” Harris said, interjecting as the moderators were moving on to someone else.

During that debate, Biden brought up his ability to work with politicians across the aisle, fondly recounting his relationship with segregationist Sens. James O. Eastland of Mississippi and Herman E. Talmadge of Georgia. Harris, who directly benefited from busing programs, jumped in to respond.

“It was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing,” Harris continued. “And you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.”

In another departure from her time as a candidate in 2019, as vice president, and as Biden’s running mate during his bid for reelection, Harris hardly mentions one of her top issues: Black maternal mortality.

In 2020, Harris had a section on her website’s issues page devoted to “Health Justice For Black Communities,” with a commitment to “fight to end the Black maternal mortality crisis.” Now, her website only says she’ll “combat maternal mortality” more generally. She introduced the Maternal CARE Act to tackle the issue while in the Senate. The bill mentioned “Black women” 10 times.

Despite being asked multiple times by reporters about the unsubstantiated claims made by Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance that Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating residents’ pets, Harris has declined to comment.

ABC News has reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the shift between her two presidential campaigns, and whether this is part of political calculation ahead of the general election. They have not responded by the time of publication.

The NABJ discussion will take place at the headquarters of Philadelphia’s NPR station WHYY and will be moderated by Politico’s Eugene Daniels, WHYY’s Tony Mosely, and theGrio’s Gerren Keith Gaynor.

“We look forward to our members and student journalists hearing from Vice President Harris as our panel asks the tough questions that are most pressing to the communities served by NABJ members,” NABJ President Ken Lemon said in a statement last week.

Her NABJ appearance marks her third high-profile interview since announcing her candidacy — following sit-downs with CNN and WPVI-TV in Philadelphia.

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