Daily US Times: The Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris said MrTrump and his reelection campaign will “engage in lies” and “deception” after the President floated a new conspiracy last week about her eligibility to serve as vice president and president.
In an interview with media outlet TheGrio, Harris said: “They’re going to engage in an attempt to distract from the real issues that are impacting the American people. And I expect that they will engage in dirty tactics. And this is going to be a knockdown, drag-out. And we’re ready.”
The interview was released on Sunday and it’s her second interview since former Vice President Joe Biden selected her as his running mate. Kamala Harris would be the first Black and South Asian American vice president if elected.
Trump, who has pushed similar conspiracies and lies about former President Barack Obama, said on Sunday that he would not be “pursuing” questions about Harris’ eligibility, but did not dismiss the conspiracy theories as false.
During a news conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, the President said: “I know nothing about it, but it’s not something that bothers me. I just don’t know about it but it’s not something we will be pursuing.”
On Thursday, Trump would not definitively say whether the Democratic nominee met the requirements to serve as president or vice president, saying he heard on “social media” that Harris could be ineligible. Harris was born in Oakland, California, making her eligible to be vice president of the US.
Trump said he heard that Harris doesn’t meet the requirements. He referred to John Eastman, the lawyer and Chapman University professor who raised the issue in a. op-ed published in Newsweek, as “very highly qualified.” Trump called Mr Eastman a “brilliant lawyer” on Sunday.
Eastman received mounting criticism and accusations of racism after his op-ed questioned her eligibility because she was born to Indian and Jamican immigrant parents — despite the fact that she’s a natural born citizen of the US.
“This op-Ed is being used by some as a tool to perpetuate racism and xenophobia. We apologize,” Newsweek editors have since apologized adding that they are keeping it online for transparency.
Harris is no stranger to accusations about her race. During the Democratic presidential primary, Donald Trump Jr., the President’s eledest son, retweeted then deleted a critic who said, “Kamala Harris is not an American Black. She is half Indian and half Jamaica.”
At that time, Harris’ campaign slammed the false attacks, saying the same tactics were used against Obama.
Her campaign communications director said in 2019: “It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.”
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