Trump's lie to discredit Harris backfires

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's attempt to attack Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris has been met with controversy over his false claims and accusations that he 'can't distinguish between different Black people.' According to The New York Times (NYT), Trump has fallen behind Harris within the margin of error in polls in key swing states that will determine the November election and is “suffering the worst three weeks of his campaign since the emergence of Harris,” according to the newspaper.

“I know him well,” Trump said of former Speaker of the California State Assembly Willie Brown at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago home on Thursday. “We went down in a helicopter together,' he said. “Brown didn't like Harris. He said at the time that Harris was 'terrible.’”

The question about Brown came up because he was Vice President Harris's boyfriend before she married Douglas Emhoff. Brown, who is 31 years older than her, controversially appointed Harris, then a prosecutor, to a key post.

The problem was that Trump's comments were not true. According to the NYT, Brown said, “I never rode in a helicopter with Trump. It's all lies.” Those on the helicopter at the time of Trump's statement also said, “There was no emergency landing and no discussion of Kamala Harris.” The 'Brown' he was riding with was confirmed to be former California Governor Jerry Brown, who is white, not Willie Brown, who is Black.

Trump did experience a crisis in a helicopter. According to the NYT, he made an emergency landing while riding in a helicopter with former California State Senator Nate Holden, a Black politician, not Brown. This has led to mockery that 'Trump doesn’t distinguish between different Black people.' “He's short and doesn't have much hair, and I'm tall with a full head of hair. I guess we all look alike,” Holden joked. “I wouldn’t want to conclude that he can’t tell Black people apart because I’d hate for him to think that I’m Beyoncé.” Brown responded.


Woo-Sun Lim imsun@donga.com