Kelly says Trump’s NABJ comments are from a ‘desperate old man’ and ‘scared old man’

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said former President Trump’s attack on Vice President Harris’s heritage at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention on Wednesday revealed that Trump is a “desperate old man and scared”.

“I think these are the comments of a desperate, scared old man, who, especially in the last week, has been getting his ass kicked by an experienced prosecutor, and I think he’s worried,” Kelly said. reporters outside the Capitol on Wednesday.

“And she will continue to do that, she will win the election in November and she will be our next president,” added Kelly, considered a leading candidate to be Harris’ running mate.

Trump gave a controversial interview Wednesday at the NABJ annual convention in Chicago. At one point, Trump questioned Harris’ heritage, which is both Indian and African-American.

“She has always been of indigenous heritage. And she was just promoting indigenous heritage. I didn’t know she was black until a few years ago when she became black. And now she wants to be known as black,” Trump said of Harris. “So, I don’t know, is she Indian or black?”

“But you know what, I respect any of them,” Trump added. “But she obviously doesn’t want to. Because she was Indian all along, suddenly, she took a turn. And she became a black person. And I think someone should look into this.”

Kelly said these comments from Trump were “not unexpected on his part,” adding: “We’ve seen this, you know, since when? 2015 or more. So he’s done this before. He won’t change. Pretty obvious to me why, why he’s doing this.”

On whether he thinks Trump’s comments are rooted in racism, Kelly said, “Yes, of course,” but emphasized, “It’s who the guy is, and he’s always been that way.”

“I originally grew up in New Jersey. When I was in high school, he was a New York businessman. Now he’s an old New York businessman, and he was like that when I saw him on the news in the 1980s and he’s still the same today. He’s not going to change,” Kelly added, again criticizing Trump for his age.

Harris won enough delegate votes to secure the Democratic nomination and faces no real challenger. She is expected to announce a running mate by August 7.

The Hill reached out to the Trump campaign for a response.

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