Chicago, Aug 1 : Former US President Donald Trump has triggered a controversy by raising questions on the racial identity of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris during a convention of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Chicago.

"She (Harris) was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black," media reports quoted Trump as saying.

"So, I don’t know, is she Indian or Black?... I respect either one but she obviously doesn't," the Republican former President added while addressing NABJ's annual convention on Wednesday.

Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both immigrants to the US.

As a senator, Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Michael Tyler, the communications director for Harris' campaign, in a statement on Wednesday, said that "the hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power".

"Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency -- while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in," Tyler said.

Reacting to the former President's remarks, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "It's insulting and no one has any right to tell someone who they are how they identify."