Geraldo Rivera calls Trump's NABJ comments on Harris 'insulting'

(News Nation) — Journalist Geraldo Rivera said former President Donald Trump’s Vice President Harris’ comments about race were “nasty and unnecessary.”

Rivera said:News Nation Now” Discussing Trump’s comments at a conference of black journalists in Chicago on Wednesday, the Republican presidential candidate said Harris “was of Indian descent her whole life until she happened to be black.”

He also said he was “particularly sensitive” to the issue because he grew up with parents of different ethnicities.

“I have late parents. My father is a Puerto Rican Catholic and my mother is a Jew from New Jersey,” Rivera said. “People, especially those who are not Puerto Rican, will say, ‘He’s not really Puerto Rican, he’s Jewish,’ or, ‘He’s not really Jewish, he’s Puerto Rican.'”

He continued to defend Harris, saying it was “insulting” that Trump was “disparaging” her.

“Kamala Harris has been a Black woman and an Indian woman her whole life,” Rivera said. “She has identified herself as a Black Asian woman, a Black woman with an Asian mother.”

Rivera said Trump needed to stop Harris’ “surging popularity among voters” but that her comments at the event would not help.

“This was the most significant event since Kamala emerged as a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination,” he said. “President Trump was hoping to reach out to black voters, and this was a huge failure.”