GOP Senators Evade Trump’s Comments About Harris’ Race, Reflecting Familiar Pattern
(Screenshot/U.S. Congress)
A long-running joke about Republicans on Capitol Hill involves their knack for sidestepping comments and actions by Donald Trump during his presidency. This meme resurfaced on Thursday following Trump’s contentious question-and-answer session with the National Association of Black Journalists.
NOTUS reporter Haley Byrd Wilt interviewed several senators during the August recess, asking about Trump’s recent remark questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ race. Trump claimed Harris “happened to turn Black,” despite her well-documented biracial heritage, with a mother from India and a father from Jamaica.
“Is she Black or is she Indian?” Trump asked, drawing boos from the audience. Some Republicans brushed off the comment. “Oh, well, you know he’s not serious,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) told NOTUS. “You know he’s not serious.”
Trump doubled down on his remark, which his lawyer Alina Habba echoed at a rally on Wednesday night. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), Trump’s vice presidential running mate, also joined the attack. “She is not who she pretends to be,” Vance said at a Phoenix rally. “She’ll say one thing to one audience, another thing to another audience. … She’s flip-flopped on every issue. She’s fake, she’s phony.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was dismissive when approached by NOTUS. “Oh, you wouldn’t be talking about it? Really?” Cruz said. “I think we can actually fact-check that statement that you wouldn’t be talking about it. You’re going to talk about it regardless. I get it, you — the press — will attack relentlessly.”
“I don’t do interviews on President Trump,” Sen. James Risch (R-ID) said before the question was even asked. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) claimed he “didn’t hear the comments,” adding, “Actually, at the time, I was giving a speech on the Senate floor. I really was.” When informed of what was said, Scott still refused to respond, saying, “I’m always talking about issues. I didn’t see the comment. What I talk to Trump about is issues.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) also dodged the topic. “I’m not commenting on that,” Fischer said. “If you’d like to ask me what we’re doing in appropriations, I’d love to talk with you.”
Politico Playbook reported that Hill Republicans are privately concerned about Trump’s latest remarks. Axios quoted Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO): “Not a great idea for either of the parties to be playing racial identity politics.” Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) advised focusing on Harris’ policies instead.
Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson told MSNBC, “There’s no real strategy in this.” He mentioned a division within Trump’s campaign between professionals like Susie Wiles, who “want Donald Trump to please shut the hell up,” and Trump’s own “lizard brain telling him what to do.”
