Election 2024 updates: Harris interviewing top VP contenders Sunday, source says

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke out on the campaign trail on Wednesday night, reacting to former President Donald Trump's headline-making appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists earlier in the day.

While not calling out any specific comments, Harris said that Trump's appearance at the conference "was the same old show -- the divisiveness and the disrespect."

"And let me just say, the American people deserve better," Harris added as she addressed a Houston crowd at the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc.'s Boulé. "The American people deserve a leader who tells the truth; a leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts; we deserve a leader who understands that our differences, do not divide us. They are an essential source of our strength."

-ABC News' Jolie Lash

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a vice presidential short-lister, criticized former President Donald Trump's comments at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention about Vice President Kamala Harris Wednesday evening.

"I think those are the comments of a desperate scared old man, who over the last week especially has been having his butt kicked by an experienced prosecutor," he said.

"And his comments are not unexpected from him. We've seen this over since when, 2015 or so? So he's done this before he is not going to change it's pretty obvious to me why he is doing this," the senator added.

When asked by ABC News if he felt that Trump's comments were rooted in racism, Kelly responded, "I think it's who he is."

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin and Noah Minnie

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for Senate, came down on former President Trump's comments about Vice President Kamala Harris' race.

"It's unacceptable and abhorrent to attack Vice President Harris or anyone’s racial identity. The American people deserve better," he said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

-ABC News' Rick Klein

Michael Tyler, a spokesman for Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, released a statement Wednesday responding to former President Donald Trump's interview at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago.

"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 and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people," he said.

"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. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us," Tyler added.

"Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign. It’s also exactly what the American people will see from across the debate stage as Vice President Harris offers a vision of opportunity and freedom for all Americans. All Donald Trump needs to do is stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on September 10," he concluded.

-ABC News' Mary Bruce