Donald Trump Jr. is under fire after he shared a tweet after the debate last week that, in the words of the NYT, questioned if Kamala Harris “was not black enough to be discussing the plight of black Americans”:
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, shared another person’s tweet during the Democratic debate this week that falsely claimed Senator Kamala Harris was not black enough to be discussing the plight of black Americans. He later deleted it. https://t.co/HieF4NNu5I
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 29, 2019
The tweet they’re talking about is from Ali Alexander, and that’s not what he said. Read it for yourself:
Kamala Harris is *not* an American Black. She is half Indian and half Jamaican.
I'm so sick of people robbing American Blacks (like myself) of our history. It's disgusting. Now using it for debate time at #DemDebate2?
These are my people not her people.
Freaking disgusting.
— Ali Alexander (@ali) June 28, 2019
His point was that Harris is not a descendent of American Black slaves:
Your ?? family ?? does ?? not ?? descend ?? from ?? American ?? Black ?? Slaves ??
Stop appropriating our history. It's why you have to remain vague, lest your voters find you and your family history out.
— Ali Alexander (@ali) June 28, 2019
And that her background is not at all similar to his background:
I was raised by a single Black mother who I revere to this day.
She and I don’t share Kamala Harris’ privileged ancestry. #BlackHillary https://t.co/78clWDxhxA
— Ali Alexander (@ali) June 30, 2019
And do you know who agrees with Ali? CNN’s Don Lemon, that’s who. Here he is arguing with April Ryan that exact point:
“ Jamaica is not America” — Don Lemon. And the IDEA that #ADOS are a specific group, with a specific justice claim, a claim that Kamala Harris cannot claim, caused April Ryan to come undone. She’s invested in a sort of uniform “Blackness” that doesn’t exist. #LineageMatters ?? pic.twitter.com/5uSOTA3r3A
— BreakingBrown (Yvette Carnell) (@BreakingBrown) February 12, 2019
Will Brian Stelter attack his colleague over it?
Hey @brianstelter. Is your colleague @donlemon a rightwing “birther” too?
Here’s Don Lemon on @CNN in February arguing that Kamala Harris is not African American. Where was the outrage from CNN then? Hypocritical #fakenews hacks. https://t.co/gggbTOfgq6 https://t.co/hYORkAJe6Y
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) June 30, 2019
And Ali even thanked Lemon for the assist:
I appreciate @Cernovich @thecjpearson @robsmithonline @jeffgiesea helping me fight to preserve my African-American (“American Black”) ancestors and keep the record of what I’ve said accurate.
Thanks @DonLemon too for saying Kamala Harris isn’t African-American. And many others.
— Ali Alexander (@ali) June 30, 2019
Here’s an article from Ebony magazine on the fight:
Don Lemon & April Ryan Have Tense Debate Over Sen. Kamala Harris https://t.co/I89zxHfuDb
— Phillip Sheppard (@PSheppardTV) February 13, 2019
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Related:
‘Biden was right’: Brit Hume dismantles Kamala Harris and her ‘school busing’ pandering with just 1 simple fact-check https://t.co/bpkcN0Dnp5
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 30, 2019
Pulitzer-prize winning columnist makes EMBARRASSING correction to her WaPost piece on what Kamala Harris wore to the debate https://t.co/wCCVnCX817
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 29, 2019
WEIRD! For some unexplained reason, the Kamala Harris campaign won't answer questions on using busing *today* https://t.co/X6LkOKVNg6
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 29, 2019
'Manufactured tears'? CNN's Don Lemon has really changed his tune on the 'deadly serious crisis' at the border https://t.co/azEnPFWKYV
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 26, 2019
