The Associated Press sparked backlash after saying it was “racist” for Donald Trump to call Kamala Harris “lazy.”
After an event in Miami on Tuesday aimed at Latino voters, the Republican presidential candidate took the stage and said his opponent was “damn lazy” for not hosting a campaign event.
Trump, 78, then called the vice president “slow” and had a “low IQ” before calling her a “stupid person” at a later rally in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The AP reported on Trump’s comments in an article titled, “Trump hurls a series of insults at Harris, including “lazy,” a racist trope against black people.”
The outlet explained in the story that the term “lazy” has “long been used to demean Black people in racist terms,” adding that Trump has “repeatedly” questioned Harris’ “intelligence and stamina.”
The Associated Press called it “racist” for Donald Trump to call Kamala Harris “lazy,” sparking backlash online. (photo: Trump at a campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina on Tuesday evening)
The Associated Press used this headline to describe Trump’s rally Tuesday night, stating that “lazy” has “long been used to demean black people in racist terms.”
People quickly responded to the article online, with many storming the news agency over its characterization.
“So ‘lazy’ is now racist,” one critic wrote on Facebook.
“This news article is one-sided,” said another.
Meanwhile, users on
‘@AP she is literally lazy. She only worked 20 hours a week while she was VP. He [sic] “It frustrated the staff that she never prepared for meetings,” one user commented.
“Associating what Trump said about her with black people is what you did and that is racist. You propaganda clowns,” they added.
“Someone should tell Fake News @AP to wear the racist card,” wrote another.
AP noted that “Trump’s comments ignored” that Kamala Harris was in meetings all day in Washington, “where he was recording interviews with Telemundo and NBC.” (photo: Harris during a moderate conversation with former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney on Monday)
While many were outraged by the piece, others agreed with the AP’s assessment.
“Says the clown who never had a real job,” one user wrote about Trump.
Another user on Facebook wrote, “He’s the racist, ask the kids in Central Park…,” referring to the Central Park Five, for whom Trump called for the death penalty over allegations that they raped and killed a white female jogger in 1989. beaten.
The five men were later found not guilty of the crime and released in 2022 based on newly discovered DNA evidence.
“He’s a pig,” one user wrote on X.”
After explaining that Trump had taken Harris to task for not hosting a campaign event, AP noted that his comments “ignored” that the Democratic candidate was in meetings all day in Washington “recording interviews with Telemundo and NBC.” ‘
Tuesday marked the first day in more than two weeks that Harris had no public events scheduled after a string of more than fourteen consecutive days of travel to political events in crucial states, including a three-state run on Monday starting in Pennsylvania that continues to Michigan and ending in Wisconsin,” the AP reported.
People were quick to respond to the article, as many people stormed the news agency for being “one-sided.”
With less than two weeks until the 2024 election, the AP said that “Trump has signaled he will work harder to discredit Harris,” even as his allies “have repeatedly suggested he refrain from personal attacks, including references to her race and gender.”
Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign spokesman, told the newspaper that the former president’s comments had “nothing to do with her race or gender.”
“It’s simply because she has no respect for the American people and takes voters for granted,” he said.
Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment. Ian Sams, a spokesman for Harris, told the newspaper that Trump “held a town hall on Tuesday afternoon with allies Robert F. Kennedy Jr.” and former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard had canceled before his evening rally in North Carolina.”
Later that evening, Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, took the stage in Greensboro and announced she would join the Republican Party.
This isn’t the first time the Associated Press has made a “racist” joke at Trump, as the newspaper said he has used the words “rabid” and “animal” to describe black people in the past
This isn’t the first time the AP has made a “racist” joke at Trump, as the newspaper said he words “rabid” and “animal” to describe black people in the past.
The publication also addressed Trump’s role in the Central Park Five case, just a day after the men, Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise, sued the former president for using ” false and defamatory statements’ about them. in his confrontation with Harris last month.
They are seeking a jury trial to determine damages in a case that has reignited tensions in the campaign.
“Defendant Trump falsely stated this [at the debate] that the plaintiffs murdered an individual and pleaded guilty to the crime,” the civil lawsuit states.
“These statements are demonstrably incorrect.”
The indictment says the five men “never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently acquitted of any wrongdoing.”
It adds: “Furthermore, the victims of the Central Park attacks were not killed.”
Trump’s campaign called the lawsuit a “frivolous” example of “election interference.”
