Kamala Harris’ campaign on Sunday shared a clip on X (formerly Twitter) featuring former President Donald Trump’s controversial remarks from his February 24 speech in Columbia, South Carolina. The speech, delivered to a predominantly Black conservative audience, has drawn significant backlash due to Trump’s choice of words.
In the video, Trump can be heard saying, “These lights are so bright in my eyes I can’t see too many people out there, but I can only see the Black ones, can’t see any white ones.That’s how far I’ve come. That’s a long way, isn’t it?”
The comment, perceived by many as racially insensitive, immediately sparked a wave of criticism across social media.
Users on X quickly voiced their disapproval. One user tweeted, “Blacks for Trump are like MLK for KKK,” (Martin Luther King Jr was a civil rights leader who advocated for peaceful protests to fight racial injustice in the 1950s and ’60s. He led efforts against discrimination, poverty, and war. The Ku Klux Klan referenced in the tweet, founded in 1865 after the Civil War, was a racist group that believed in white supremacy and aimed to keep Black people oppressed, often through violence and intimidation.)
While another added, “Racist Trump, nothing new here.” A third user commented, “He’s getting closer and closer to THE WORD,” suggesting that Trump’s remarks were skirting even more inflammatory rhetoric.
Despite the mounting criticism, some came to Trump’s defense, arguing that his statement was taken out of context. “That is humor, something you will never understand,” one user countered.
Another user wrote, “Remember when President Trump used a fake black accent to pander to black people? Oh wait, that was Kamala who did that.”
This is not the first time Trump has faced accusations of making racially charged comments. Throughout his political career, he has often been criticized for his divisive language on race and immigration.
From his 2016 campaign launch, where he referred to Mexican immigrants as “rapists,” to his controversial response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville in 2017, Trump’s rhetoric has frequently sparked outrage. His remark in 2020, suggesting that Haitian immigrants were “eating your pets,” further contributed to his reputation for provocative, racially-tinged comments.
