Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former aide to Donald Trump, has accused the former president of dishonestly changing his ethnic identity, revealing that he previously claimed Swedish ancestry.
This revelation comes amid Trump’s controversial remarks about Vice President Kamala Harris’s heritage.
During an appearance on CNN’s Laura Coates Live, Newman criticized Trump for his inconsistent ethnic claims, particularly in light of his recent statement that Harris “happened to turn Black” despite being “always of Indian heritage.”
Newman recounted that Trump had previously identified as Swedish, allegedly to avoid acknowledging his German and Irish heritage.
“Trump’s attempt to distance himself from his actual background by identifying as Swedish reflects his broader issue with understanding and acknowledging racial and ethnic identities,” Newman stated. “He doesn’t grasp the nuances of ancestry versus race, which I believe disqualifies him from serious political discourse.”
According to The Daily Beast, Trump’s grandfather, Frederich, immigrated to New York City from Kallstadt, Germany.
Trump’s father perpetuated the myth of Swedish heritage to facilitate selling apartments to Jewish tenants after World War II, as reported by The Boston Globe.
This false narrative was perpetuated in Trump’s 1987 bestseller, The Art of the Deal, where he inaccurately described his grandfather as Swedish. The mistake was only corrected in a subsequent book published 13 years later.
“Can we call the question of his past, self-identifying first as Swedish, then German and then Irish whenever it’s convenient,” Omarosa stated.
Newman also corrected misinformation about Trump’s mother, stating she was identified as Irish in previous accounts, though she was actually Scottish by birth.
