NABJ convention invites Donald Trump for an Q&A panel – and he accepts
Marks first appearance in Chicago since 2019
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is coming under fire – including from some within their organization – after they sent an invitation to Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump to be interviewed at a Q&A panel Wednesday at their annual convention in Chicago and accepted, which starts on the same day and lasts until Sunday.
Announced Monday night, the NABJ will speak to journalists to address “the most pressing issues in the Black community.” The moderators are ABC News’ Rachel Scott; Fox News’ Harris Faulkner; and Semafor political reporter Kadia Goba. The NABJ usually sends invitations to Presidential candidates to address their convention. Trump accepted but Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, who is replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, won’t be able to attend the NABJ convention because of scheduling conflicts.
The fallout from the decision by NABJ to invite Trump was swift – on Tuesday, Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah decided to step down as co-chair of this year’s convention:
I have decided to step down as co- chair from this year’s #NABJ24 convention in Chicago.
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) July 30, 2024
To the journalists interviewing Trump, I wish them the best of luck.
For everyone else, I’m looking forward to meeting and reconnecting with all of you in the Windy City. #nabj
And this from Triibe co-founder Morgan Elise Johnson:
I would like to unwelcome @NABJ for surprising Chicago with this Trump news, a man who has threatened Chicago with state violence in his stump speeches–and attracts a white supremacist following to a Black affinity space.
— Morgan Elise Johnson (@MorganEliseJ) July 30, 2024
Another criticism came in a guest column from Tyler J. Davis in the same publication: “Instead we get last-minute notice of a huge scheduling change with no opportunity for input, and a dismissive leadership hiding behind “well, we’ve always done this,” which is a poor excuse newsrooms often use to explain unpopular decisions.” He noted he had planned to register as a member of NABJ, but decided not to.
Publisher Tiffany Walden called the NABJ’s decision “irresponsible” in an interview with The Guardian.
And right on cue, protests are already being planned for his visit Wednesday.
“While NABJ does not endorse political candidates as a journalism organization, we understand the serious work of our members, and welcome the opportunity for them to ask the tough questions that will provide the truthful answers Black Americans want and need to know,” said NABJ President Ken Lemon in a statement.
The Republican party has slammed Chicago’s political leadership for years – even as far back as when Barack Obama, a community organizer when he lived here, announced his presidential run in 2007. When Trump won the Republican nomination for President in 2016, he ramped up criticism of the city, often using racial tropes to describe the city’s crime epidemic as he and other Republicans used Chicago as a code word to describe “Black people” and “black-on-black crime.”
The last time Trump was in the city proper was on October 28, 2019, when he addressed The International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference at McCormick Place. In his address, he called the city “an embarrassment to the US” and falsely claimed Chicago was more violent than Afghanistan. In March 2016, A Trump rally scheduled at the formerly named UIC Pavilion never took place as protests erupted inside the arena before he even spoke.
Trump’s slams against the city have eroded Chicago’s image as businesses have left the city due to crime and high taxes and ranked only ninth in a poll conducted by Sports Business Journal last year on best cities to do business when it should be ranked higher given its stature.
This comes as Black journalists from around the country – including several big names – are coming to the convention – including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who’ll anchor a live edition of First Take from the convention on Friday (First Take was last here in 2016 where it did a live edition from the South Side YMCA in Woodlawn on the city’s violence epidemic.) Local names speaking at NABJ include Mayor Brandon Johnson, Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles, and team president Kevin Warren.
After turning down NABJ twice, the reason for Trump accepting the invitation this time may have a lot to do with Harris announcing her run in Biden’s place. She had already raised millions of dollars and doing better than Biden did in the polls.
While Trump hasn’t criticized the city in his third presidential run (give it time, he will), his presence certainly stirs up emotions in residents. But if there’s anyone who could hold him accountable for his actions and what he plans to do for Black Americans if he’s elected for a second term, it’s the journalists on stage at NABJ questioning him Wednesday – journalists who were once called “the enemy of the people” by Trump himself.