Donald Trump’s Ex Confirms He Said Her Intelligence Came from ‘Her White Side’
The biracial '90s supermodel responded to the racist anecdote, which was included in Maggie Haberman's new biography of the former president, on Inside Edition.
Politics
Donald Trump’s ex-girlfriend, former supermodel Kara Young, revealed new details about her relationship with the former president during an interview with Inside Edition’s Deborah Norville on Monday. Mostly, she confirmed Trump’s casual racism—a walk-back from a rare, previous interview she gave about Trump in 2017.
During the interview, Norville (who disclosed that she and Young have been friends “for nearly 20 years”) read a passage from Maggie Haberman’s behemoth biography of Trump, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America: “Trump told her that she had gotten her beauty from her mother and her intelligence ‘from her dad, the white side.’”
Young, who is biracial, confirmed that Trump made the “joke” after meeting her parents and emphasized that she was not amused by his racist attempt at humor. “It wasn’t a fight or anything like that, it was just more like, ‘No. Don’t say that, it’s not funny,’” she said. “He said ‘I was just joking, I was just kidding. No, I don’t think that.’”
Young, who was one of the biggest supermodels of the ‘90s, dated Trump for two and a half years after first getting together in 1997. Young said there was no ill will when it ended; the relationship just ran its course. For “years and years and years,” Young said she chose not to talk about their relationship. However, not talking about Trump got “as frustrating as if I spoke all the time,” she told Inside Edition.
In 2017, Young told The New York Times that Trump was never “disparaging” toward other races. “I didn’t hide my race from Donald Trump. He knew,” Young said in the piece co-bylined by Haberman. “He would say, ‘You’re like Derek Jeter.’ And I would say, ‘Exactly.’”
Young added: “I never heard him say a disparaging comment towards any race of people.” I think joking about how your black heritage only gave you your looks counts as disparaging, but c’est la vie!
In Tuesday’s interview, Young also said that Trump was “very funny” and had a “really good personality”—which has to, emphasis my own, has to have atrophied since their 90s relationship. She hasn’t spoken to him in six years, but congratulated him on winning the presidency in 2016. And she said she will not be publicly speaking about their relationship again.
Jezebel has reached out to Trump’s office for comment, and we will not be surprised if we don’t hear back.