On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump participated in a Q&A session at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Annual Convention and Career Fair in Chicago. And with it, spewing racist comments about his Democratic opponent in a very contentious panel.
Rachel Scott, senior congressional correspondent for ABC News; Harris Faulkner, anchor for Fox News; and Kadia Goba, political reporter at Semafor, moderated the discussion.
Trump received a lukewarm reception with sparse applause and audible boos from attendees. The event, scheduled to begin at noon, started nearly 15 minutes late.
Scott opened the discussion by asking Trump, “Why should Black voters trust you after you used language like that?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” Trump responded. “First question, you don’t even say ‘hello,’ ‘how are you?’”
Trump then asked Scott, “Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network.”
The next question addressed recent comments by conservatives and Republicans who labeled Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black and Asian American woman to serve in that role, a “DEI hire.”
“I’ve known her a long time, indirectly, not directly, very much, and always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said. “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 Indian. Or is she Black?
Throughout the panel, Trump continued to berate Scott on multiple occasions.
Ahead of the conversation, NABJ partnered with PolitiFact to provide real-time fact-checking during the discussion.
This decision prompted criticism and backlash from NABJ members and leadership, leading to the resignation of the co-chair amid controversy over Trump’s participation at the conference.
In a video released on X, Ken Lemon, NABJ President, addressed the criticism: “It’s absolutely not an endorsement. The first thing you read when we put out that release says it’s not an endorsement. Every year, every presidential election cycle, we invite the presidential candidates to come. We extend that to anyone who is a nominee.”
More to come…
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