Donald Trump questioning Kamala Harris' status as Black echoes trolling of Meghan Markle, a social media analyst told Newsweek.
The former president said Harris "was always of Indian heritage" and added: "I didn't know she was Black, until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black."
The remarks to the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago drew audible gasps from the audience and were challenged by the interviewer.
Christopher Bouzy ran separate investigations into online negativity against both Harris and Meghan through his firm Bot Sentinel and was also interviewed on the Sussexes Netflix show, Harry & Meghan.
He told Newsweek: "Donald Trump's recent comments questioning Vice President Kamala Harris' racial identity are not just offensive but part of a disturbing pattern of undermining the identities of women of color.
"His remarks that Harris was 'always of Indian heritage' until 'she happened to turn Black' are not only factually incorrect but echo the harmful rhetoric that Meghan Markle has faced from social media trolls.
"Both women have been subjected to racially charged scrutiny and attempts to invalidate their experiences and identities.
"This kind of divisive and disrespectful commentary has no place in our society and underscores the urgent need for leaders who celebrate our diversity rather than exploit it for political gain."
The account Meghan has given of her racial identity down the years has been a nuanced one, acknowledging in past interviews that people have at points not realized she was a woman of color, even making racist jokes in front of her.
And she told her 2022 Archetypes podcast it was only when she moved to Britain and experienced trolling that she felt she was living the experience of being a Black woman.
"I think for us it's so different because we're light-skinned," she said during a conversation with Mariah Carey. "You're not treated as a black woman, you're not treated as a white woman. You sort of fit in between.
"If there's any time in my life that it's been more focused on my race it's only once I started dating my husband.
"Then I started to understand what it was like to be treated like a Black woman because up until then I had been treated like a mixed woman. And things really shifted."
Needless to say, some on social media have sought to undermine her right to identify as a woman of color and have even suggested she "is white."
Her mother, Doria Ragland, is Black while her father, Thomas Markle, is white and she has said research revealed she is 43 percent Nigerian.
Harris responded to Trump's remarks on X, formerly Twitter: "This afternoon, Donald Trump spoke to the National Association of Black Journalists. It was the same old show.
"Let me just say: The American people deserve better than Donald Trump's divisiveness and disrespect."
Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother and wrote in her 2019 biography The Truths We Hold: "My mother understood very well that she was raising two Black daughters.
"She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as Black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud Black women."
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III and Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
