Things descended even further when Trump was asked if he agreed with the views of some Republicans, who have suggested that Harris is a “DEI hire” - a reference to someone who got their job due to “diversity, equity and inclusion” principles rather than merit.

“I’ve known her a long time indirectly…. and she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. 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. So I don’t know: is she Indian or is she black?”

“She was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she became a black person. I think someone should look into that too.”

Pressed further on whether he believed she was a DEI hire, he said: “I really don’t know. Could be, could be - there are some.”

Harris responded at a sorority event a few hours later, describing Trump as “the same old show” - full of “divisiveness and disrespect.”

“The American people deserve better,” she said. “The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth. A leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. We deserve a leader who understands that our differences do not divide us. They are an essential source of our strength.”

Trump’s appearance at the conference had already sparked a backlash within the National Association of Black Journalists, as some members and activists did not agree with giving him such a platform.

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The former president only won 12 per cent of black voters in his 2020 election against Joe Biden, and his campaign had hoped the event would give the Republican presidential nominee the chance to appeal to more voters of colour as he campaigns against Harris, whose mother is Indian and father is Jamaican.

But the questions - from Scott, Fox News presenter Harris Faulkner and Semafor politics reporter Kadia Goba - were not as friendly as the interviews the former president has become accustomed to, and nor was the crowd.

During the panel discussion - which was cut short by Trump’s team - the former president also claimed that migrants crossing the US-Mexico border were stealing “black jobs”; declared he would “absolutely” pardon January 6 rioters who assaulted police officers at the US Capitol in 2021 and claimed that “I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.”

He also said he would consider standing down if his health was declining, telling the audience: “I’ll go a step further: I want anybody running for president to take an aptitude test and to take a cognitive test. I think it’s a great idea. I took two of them and I aced them.”

But it’s Trump’s comments questioning Harris’ heritage that are likely to be the most contentious, as they are reminiscent of the “birther” conspiracy theories Trump once pushed about Barack Obama’s birthplace and religion.

Speaking at the White House, spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre described Trump’s comments as “repulsive” and “insulting.”

“No one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify,” she said. “That is no one’s right.”

Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler said: “The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power.”

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