Donald Trump spoke to the National Association of Black Journalists on Wednesday in a combative exchange with moderators who pressed him on some of his past comments.
Those in the audience were "stunned," said an MSNBC reporter after the Q&A. Several attendees uploaded videos of the audience gasping at Trump's comments.
"You know what? I refuse," Whoopi Goldberg said on Thursday's opening segment of "The View" after showing a clip. "Because this is nothing new. This is not new. We knew this was who he was. This is who he's always been. So I'm not paying him any mind except when I'm here. Okay?
"Some of the journalists were saying he arrived angry. He was angry when he got there. He was told he would be fact-checked in real-time. And apparently, that put his nose out of joint."
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The panel all agreed that questioning of Harris' race and identity was "low."
Sunny Hostin pointed out that people didn't make rules about blackness.
"Those rules were made for us, and I think when — I'm a biracial person, right? I have a Black father and a white mother. And the KKK is going to find me and round me up with every other Black person," she said.
But it was former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin who saw a sharp contrast between the Trump she knew and the man on the stage.
"That's the thing that is despicable, and if you didn't know who he was, he's saying it very loudly," she began.
She gave "kudos" to ABC News reporter Rachel Scott, who drew most of the attacks from Trump at the event Wednesday. Griffin said that Scott "did an excellent job holding his feet to the fire and there is something about when women challenge him that he unravels."
What she said struck her in his comments "wasn't just the blatant racism, the lack of understanding what it means to be biracial. I've said this for a while: He is slowing down. He's never been a super eloquent person. He did not seem mentally sharp."
Trump walked into a room filled with Black journalists "and seemed like he was blurting out loud what he says privately with his advisers," she said.
She appeared shocked that Trump "didn't even try to hide or mask the racism. That is a sign of decline. He was asked if he should take a mental acuity test. He does not seem right, and kind of came off as your crazy great uncle that you hope doesn't show up to the family event."
See the video below or at the link here.
