Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala D. Harris knocked President Trump multiple times on Friday for questioning whether former President Barack Obama was born in the United States.
Appearing at Morehouse College, a historically Black school in Atlanta, Georgia, Ms. Harris reaffirmed that she believes Mr. Trump is racist.
“Even before he was running for office…he questioned the legitimacy of the birthplace of the first Black president of the United States,” Ms. Harris said, earning a honk at the “drive-in” rally.
She then pivoted into a line from her campaign speech about how Mr. Trump is “weirdly obsessed” with trying to reverse whatever Mr. Obama has done.
“We don’t need presidents who have weird obsessions. What is that about?” she said.
Joseph R. Biden and Ms. Harris will likely need strong African-American turnout in places like Atlanta if they hope to win Georgia, which Mr. Trump carried in 2016 by about 5 points.
In August, Mr. Trump had questioned whether Ms. Harris, who was born in Oakland, California, to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, was eligible to serve as vice president.
“I heard it today that she doesn’t meet the requirements,” the president said. “I have no idea if that’s right. I would have assumed the Democrats would have checked that out before she gets chosen to run for vice president.”
During the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump claimed credit for dispelling doubts about Mr. Obama’s U.S. citizenship, saying: “I finished it. President Obama was born in the United States.”
At Thursday’s debate in Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. Trump said he is “the least racist person in this room.”
“Abraham Lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents we’ve had in modern history,” Mr. Biden shot back sarcastically.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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