NABJ panel with Donald Trump goes off rails quickly

Trump interview a complete, total disaster as former President attacks journalists, Kamala Harris 

[Editor’s Note: This post was updated August 3.]

On Wednesday, an event in Chicago turned into quite a disaster.

No, I’m not talking about the White Sox game at Guaranteed Rate Field, which was another level of disaster. 

It was the opening day of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention a few miles north at the Hilton Hotel in the South Loop and their last-minute scheduling of presidential candidate Donald Trump in an all-too-short Q&A panel, which lasted only a half-hour and televised by all four cable news networks and news streamers ABC News Live, Scripps News, and others. After turning down the invention in 2016, he accepted this year as he is running for President against Kamala Harris, who replaced Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. 

The panel started a half-hour late as a dispute reportedly erupted over whether NABJ should fact-check the ex-president, an idea he clearly did not like so he could lie at will. Trump later said it was “audio issues”, but Axios later reported it was indeed a fact-checking issue (so Trump lied about wanting to um…lie.)

And as expected, the interview turned nasty very quickly. ABC News reporter Rachel Scott listed the criticisms of Trump regarding racial issues and how he treats people of color – including meeting with a white supremacist at his Mar-A-Largo estate and asking why Black voters should support him. His response:

“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner. A first question. You don’t even say hello, how are you. Are you with ABC, because I think they’re a fake news network, a terrible network. I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country, I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country.” (Of course, he declined to list those “accomplishments.”)

“I think it’s a very nasty question”, he continued. “For you to start off a question and answer period especially when you’re 35 minutes late … in such a hostile manner, I think it’s a disgrace.”

Throughout the session, Trump talked over the journalists whenever they asked questions, including Fox News’ Harris Faulkner and Semafor’s Kadia Goba.

In the session, Trump questioned  Harris’ racial identity, saying she turned “turned Black”, which stunned the crowd; on the subject of the recent police murder of Sonja Massey in downstate Springfield, Trump instantly took the side of law enforcement; his comments about “being the best President for Black people since Abraham Lincoln” drew laughs from the crowd – that is when some weren’t booing him. 

Trump slammed the NABJ, saying he was told Harris would be at the convention but wasn’t able to make it because of the last-minute timing of the announcement. “It turned out my opponent isn’t here,” he told Scott. “You invited me under false pretense,” – which is strange given he has yet to commit to an ABC debate with Harris on Sept. 10.

This is Trump’s first appearance in Chicago since 2019. The Democratic National Convention, where Harris is certain to be nominated for the presidential nomination, will be held at the United Center this month. Even though Trump has criticized the city and its administration in the past, he declined to do so this visit, though he did mention the city’s violent July 4th weekend in passing. 

The decision to include Trump came under fire from NABJ members as some decided to boycott the event; one potential member decided not to join the organization as a result. The co-chair of the convention stepped down on Monday. The Harris campaign slammed Trump’s remarks; so did Mayor Brandon Johnson and other Democrats while Scott received mixed reviews on social media. 

Should the NABJ should have invited Trump? Given what he has said about Black people – and Black journalists in general – which was in full display Wednesday, this was a disaster waiting to happen. As a Black person myself, I have a lot of respect for NABJ – an organization I once considered joining some fifteen years ago.

But this decision to invite Trump was outright dumb – why would this organization invite a person known for his contempt for Black people and the press for a Q&A? This “interview” had no place at an event like this, and shoving this down the attendees’ throats at the last minute – causing the rescheduling or cancellations of other events due to security concerns – makes this move even worse. In the past, his racist actions would sink his chances to attract Black voters. But in these crazy times, nothing is guaranteed anymore. 

As for Scott being “rude” to Trump, he and his supporters have no idea what a journalist does as she was doing her job. Besides, this was a panel on issues regarding Black America, not a meet and greet at the local department store. Trump used NABJ’s platform for himself and it’s too bad some of the leaders of this organization couldn’t see through this. 

It was clear Trump didn’t want to be there. It looked like the journalists and the crowd didn’t want to be there either.