Donald Trump Jr. is in trouble again over his tweets. President Donald Trump’s eldest son shared a tweet, which said Sen. Kamala Harris was not black enough to understand the plight of black Americans, from another person with his millions of followers during the Democratic debate Thursday.
The New York Times reported that Trump Jr., 41, retweeted a message from Ali Alexander, a right-wing media personality, on his own Twitter. The message said Harris “is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves.” Alexander claimed that’s untrue.
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“She’s not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That’s fine. She’s not an American Black. Period,” Alexander wrote in the tweet.
Trump Jr. added, “Is this true? Wow.” The tweet was deleted by the end of the night, the New York Times reported. It was not deleted before millions of people saw it, however, and shared their outrage.
Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, Michael Avennatti, comedian Nicole Byer and more tweeted about Trump Jr.’s message. All three slammed him as racist.
Donald Trump Jr. is a racist too. Shocker. https://t.co/cy0N6fUseX
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 29, 2019
Biff (@DonaldJTrumpJr) – Let me propose this: You won’t ask whether @KamalaHarris is “black enough” and we we won’t ask whether you are “ignorant and racist enough.” Like father like son.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) June 29, 2019
Fuck you @DonaldJTrumpJr fucky fuck you. I’ve heard that I’m not black enough a lot. I’ll tell ya something black people are not here to be youre version of black. If I was being hateful I’d say you’re so white you’re literally a klan robe. But I’m trying to spread positivity. https://t.co/kMhJac7o6A
— nicole byer (@nicolebyer) June 30, 2019
As a result of the backlash, Trump Jr.’s spokesperson was forced to issue a statement.
“Don’s tweet was simple him asking if it was true that Kamala Harris was half-Indian because it’s not something that he had ever heard before,” Andy Surabian, Trump Jr.’s spokesperson, said. “And once he saw that folks were misconstruing the intent of his tweet, he quickly deleted it.”
While Trump Jr. deleted the message, it is still up on Alexander’s Twitter. As a result of Trump Jr. sharing it, it has been shared more than 3,000 time. He denies that there was any racist implications in the tweet.
“DNC-favorite Kamala Harris is the #BlackHillary — appropriating Black American history while she has locked up black men and lies about her roots,” he said in a tweet that included a statement to The Daily Beast about the initial tweet.
Harris, 54, has had her race questioned more than once throughout her career. The New York Times reported that she is biracial. Harris has a Jamaican father and an Indian mother. Despite repeated queries about her racial identity, Harris has tried to steer clear of picking a side. Earlier this year, she told The Washington Post she identifies as “an American.”
“My point was: I am who I am,” she told the newspaper. “I’m good with it. You might need to figure it out, but I’m fine with it.”
