In a combative interview with three reporters from the National Association of Black Journalists, President Trump dodged pivotal questions about what he hopes to accomplish in a second term, and at one point claimed that Vice President Harris became Black “all of a sudden” for political purposes. 

In a sit-down interview with ABC News’s Rachel Scott, Semafor’s Kadia Goba, and Fox News’s Harris Faulkner, Trump was asked by Ms. Scott about comments he had made about Black politicians and prosecutors, including his years-long questioning of President Obama’s birth certificate.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” Trump said in response. “You don’t even say: ‘Hello, how are you?’ Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network.”

Throughout the interview, he often gave boiler-plate answers about helping the Black community by bringing down inflation and stopping crime, and blaming immigrants for taking jobs from Black Americans. 

When the topic turned to members of his own party, Trump was asked about GOP lawmakers calling Ms. Harris a “DEI hire” or a “DEI candidate.” He asked Ms. Scott to give the definition of such a candidate, and said that Ms. Harris “could be.”

He then went on a rambling speech about Ms. Harris’s racial heritage as the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrant professors, saying that she started identifying as Black “all of a sudden” after being on the political stage for years. 

“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump said, prompting the audience to gasp and boo. “So, I don’t know. Is she Indian or is she Black?”

“All of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person, and I think somebody should look into that, too, when you … continue in a very hostile and very nasty tone,” Trump said to Ms. Scott. 

At multiple points during the discussion, Trump elicited strong reactions from the audience comprising almost entirely Black journalists. When questioning Ms. Harris’s race, the audience gasped, and some booed. At another point, he elicited laughs when he described a “Black job” as “anybody that has a job.”

Of his own running mate, Trump did not seem to express the greatest confidence in Senator Vance. When asked about if Mr. Vance was prepared to step up as president on “day one,” Trump demurred, saying that the vice presidential candidate has never mattered much to voters. 

“I will say this … historically, the vice president, in terms of the election, does not have any impact — virtually no impact,” he said.