If Harris wins, she would make history. But she isn’t talking about that

If Vice President Harris wins in November, she would make history as the first female president and the first woman of color to hold the highest office in the land. But Harris’ campaign isn’t leaning into this, and Harris herself studiously avoids getting dragged into conversations about her identity.

She had only been running for president for a little more than a week when her opponent, former President Donald Trump said Harris “happened to turn Black” during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference.

Trump was asked to explain his comments during Tuesday night’s ABC News presidential debate, and he doubled down, saying he had read that “she was not Black” and that “I read that she was Black.”

Harris, whose mother was Indian and whose father is from Jamaica, was asked to respond, and she chose not to focus on herself.

“I mean honestly, I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who wants to be president who has consistently, over the course of his career, attempted to use race to divide the American people,” Harris said.

It was vintage Harris.

Although she often talks about her parents, it’s usually in the context of the values they taught her or to underscore her middle-class upbringing.

The 'first' question seems to irritate Harris

Since she first ran for office, Harris has never centered her campaigns on her race or gender, even as she has repeatedly made history in 20 years of public life. She often seems annoyed when asked about it.

In Harris’ recent CNN interview, anchor Dana Bash asked Harris about the viral photo of her grand-niece watching her accept the Democratic nomination last month.

The little girl, her hair in braids, is in the foreground of the photo, watching Harris on