AP says it was 'racist' for Donald Trump to call Kamala Harris 'lazy'

The Associated Press sparked backlash after saying it was 'racist' for Donald Trump to call Kamala Harris 'lazy.'

Following an event in Miami on Tuesday aimed at Latino voters, the Republican presidential nominee took to the stage and said that his opponent was 'lazy as hell' for not holding a campaign event. 

Trump, 78, then referred to the Vice President as 'slow' and having a 'low IQ' before calling her a 'stupid person' during a later rally in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

The AP reported on Trump's comments in an article titled: 'Trump hurls a string of insults at Harris including "lazy," a racist trope against Black people.' 

The outlet explained in the story that the term 'lazy' has been 'long used to demean Black people in racist terms,' adding that Trump has 'repeatedly' questioned Harris' 'intelligence and stamina.' 

People quickly reacted to the article online, with many tearing into the news agency for its characterization.

'So "lazy" is racist now,' one critic wrote on Facebook. 

'This news article is one sided,' said another. 

Meanwhile, users on X offered their own explanations for how Harris is 'lazy' and accused the AP of overemphasizing Trump's statements.

'@AP she literally is lazy. She worked only 20hrs/ wk while VP. He [sic] staffers frustrated she never prepared for meetings,' one user commented. 

'Connecting what Trump said about her to black people is what you did and that's racist.. you propagandist clowns,' they added. 

'Someone should tell fake news @AP that they've worn out the racist card,' another wrote. 

While many were left outraged by the piece, others agreed with the AP's take.

'Says the clown who’s never had a real job,' one user wrote about Trump.

Another user on Facebook wrote: 'He's the racist ask the kids in Central Park...,' referring to the Central Park Five, for whom Trump called for the death penalty over accusations that they raped and beat a white female jogger in 1989. 

The five men were later found not guilty of the crime and set free in 2022 based on newly discovered DNA evidence. 

'He's a pig,' a user on X wrote.'

After explaining that Trump called out Harris for not holding a campaign event, AP noted that his comments 'ignored' that the Democratic nominee was in meetings in Washington all day, 'recording interviews with Telemundo and NBC.'

'Tuesday marked the first day in more than two weeks that Harris had no public events scheduled after a run of more than 14 consecutive days of travel to political events in pivotal states, including a three-state run on Monday, starting in Pennsylvania, continuing to Michigan and ending in Wisconsin,' the AP reported. 

With less than two weeks until the 2024 election, the AP said that 'Trump signaled he will lean harder into disparaging Harris,' even though his allies 'have repeatedly suggested he should steer clear of personal attacks including references to her race and gender.' 

Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson, told the outlet that the former president's comments had 'nothing to do with her race or gender.' 

'It's simply because she has no respect for the American people and takes voters for granted,' he said. 

Harris' campaign did not immediately respond to AP's request for comment. Ian Sams, a spokesperson for Harris, told the outlet that Trump 'canceled a Tuesday afternoon town hall with allies Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard before his evening rally in North Carolina.' 

Later that night, Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, took the stage in Greensboro and announced she's joining the Republican party. 

This is not the first time the AP has taken a 'racist' jab at Trump, as the outlet said he's used the words 'rabid' and 'animal' to describe black people in the past. 

The publication also touched upon Trump's role in the Central Park Five case, just a day after the men, Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise, sued the former president for using 'false and defamatory statements' about them in his face-off with Harris last month.

They seek a jury trial to determine damages in a case that turns up the heat once again on a tense campaign. 

'Defendant Trump falsely stated [at the debate] that Plaintiffs killed an individual and pled guilty to the crime,' says the civil lawsuit.

'These statements are demonstrably false.'

The suit says the five men 'never pled guilty to any crime and were subsequently cleared of all wrongdoing.'

It adds: 'Further, the victims of the Central Park assaults were not killed.'

Trump's campaign called the lawsuit a 'frivolous' example of 'election interference'.