Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said that former President Trump is retreating to his “greatest hits” by attacking Vice President Harris on her race.
Christie said on ABC’s “This Week” that Trump falsely questioning Harris’s racial identity at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) conference last week was an “impulse” move, not a strategic one. He said as the presidential race gets tighter, Trump may revert to more personal attacks on his opponents.
“This is what happens, George, and this is how you can tell that this race is changing, because what happens is, when Donald Trump’s ahead and he feels like he’s comfortably ahead, he is willing to go with conventional, smart political advice,” he said on “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos.
“As soon as he thinks it’s getting close, he goes back to the greatest hits. You saw this at the convention — when he didn’t think he was getting the reaction he wanted from the beginning of the speech, he went back to the greatest hits. You saw it at the NABJ, and you saw it last night in Atlanta,” he added.
During a heated appearance during the NABJ conference last week, Trump questioned the identity of Harris to suggest that she previously only spoke about her Indian heritage, not her Black heritage. She is both Black and of Indian descent.
“So I’ve known her a long time, indirectly, not directly very much, and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said after being asked whether he thought Harris was only on the Democratic ticket because she was Black.
“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,” he continued. “So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
The White House said the former president came “full circle” by attacking Harris over her race and heritage following the comments last week. Harris has also faced attacks from the right, linking her to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
Trump continued to attack Harris during a campaign rally in Atlanta on Saturday, calling her a “horror show” at one point.
“I just want to say who she is. She’s a horror show,” he said. “She’ll destroy our country.”