Actual Pic of Harris' Household That Trump Shared?

On July 31, 2024, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appeared on the annual conference for the Nationwide Affiliation of Black Journalists, where he said he thought 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris “was at all times of Indian heritage,” not Black.

“I did not know she was Black till plenty of years in the past when she occurred to show Black and now she needs to be often known as Black. So, I do not know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump mentioned whereas addressing the group’s annual conference.

The subsequent day, Trump posted a picture on Fact Social that appeared to depict Harris and her household. “Thanks Kamala for the great image you despatched from a few years in the past! Your heat, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very a lot appreciated,” he captioned the picture.

(Fact Social person @realDonaldTrump)

The photograph first appeared on the web in 2020, though it’s unclear precisely the place it initially surfaced. Montgomery County (Pennsylvania) Commissioner Neil Makhija printed the earliest post (archived) we had been capable of finding on Aug. 11, 2020.

Commissioner Makhija wrote within the caption that his dad despatched him the photograph, however it was unclear the place Makhija’s dad sourced the photograph or who wrote the caption.

The caption claims the photograph depicts (from left) Kamala Harris, Harris’ grandparents Rajam Gopalan and P.V. Gopalan, and Harris’ sister, Maya. With them are (from left) Maya’s daughter, Meena, and Harris’ cousin, Sharada Balachandran Orihuela – who the caption credited for the photograph.

We reached out to the Harris marketing campaign, Maya Harris, Meena Harris, and Orihuela – now a professor on the College of Maryland – and Meena Harris’ spokesperson confirmed by way of e-mail that the photograph is actual, and that the above caption figuring out these individuals is correct.

A number of retailers have additionally both featured the photograph or linked to it, together with The New York Times (archived) and CNN (archived). CNN credited Orihuela for the photograph.

A 2019 story for The Los Angeles Occasions (archived) described a visit Harris took together with her household in 1991 to Chennai, India, to rejoice her grandfather’s eightieth birthday, which the photograph might depict. “It had been a minimum of 20 years since everybody was collectively,” the article learn. In 1991, Meena Harris would have been about 7 years outdated – and within the photograph, she seems to be about that age.

In sum, as a result of Meena Harris independently verified the authenticity of the photograph and in addition recognized these within the image, we charge this declare “True.”

Sources