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. During the speech, he continued to make racist comments and mispronounce the name of 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 at noon, started nearly 15 minutes late.
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Scott opened the discussion by asking Trump about his controversial and false statements, such as Obama and former GOP rival Nikki Haley not being born in the U.S., among others: “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 multiple times, criticizing the “bad equipment” and being unable to hear the moderators sitting feet away from him.
Trump received questions about his vice presidential pick JD Vance’s comments about “childless women,” in which he responded with a familiar but incorrect talking point about Democrats having abortions after a baby is born.
The GOP nominee, who was found guilty of 34 felony charges, was asked about his proposal for police officers to have immunity. The moderator connected it to the recent killing of Sonya Massey, who was unarmed when she was shot by an officer in her home. Trump replied, “I don’t know the exact case, but I saw something.”
He drew audible gasps from the audience when he spoke about wanting “to stop people from invading our country” who are “taking Black jobs.”
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.
Harris’ campaign social accounts quickly responded to many of Trump’s comments, mainly when Scott told Trump she was repeating his previous statements.
Vice President Harris is in Houston for three fundraisers and campaign events before heading out on Thursday to deliver a eulogy to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson, who died earlier this month.
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.”
