Trump vs. NABJ: Hostility and questions about journalism
There was a fiery test yesterday, not just for Donald Trump but for the National Association of Black Journalists.
The organization, which has "journalists" in its name, did not fare well in my view.
Nor was it Trump’s finest hour.
But I will say this: I don’t buy the post-game commentary that Trump went to the Chicago gathering to appeal to his MAGA base by picking a fight with Black folks.
Keep in mind that when Joe Biden was still running, Trump drawing Black support in the polls at levels not seen for a Republican in decades. Obviously the passing of the torch to Kamala Harris scrambles that calculation.
Trump’s view, as I see it, was that he was stepping into the lion’s den, knowing he’d get some negative questions but hoping he’d get some credit for showing up and highlighting such initiatives as helping finance historically Black colleges and universities.
But on the NABJ side, there was something of a revolt at the opportunity to question a former president who heads the Republican ticket.
The group’s co-chair resigned, in part because of the invitation.
April Ryan, who constantly tangled with Trump and is now a White House reporter for The Grio, tweeted that the invite "is an affront to what this organization stands for and a slap in the face to the Black women journalists (NABJ journalists of the year) who had to protect themselves from the wrath of this Republican presidential nominee who is promoting an authoritarian agenda that plans to destroy this nation."
No bias there, right?
This is how the panel, which included Fox’s Harris Faulkner, began.
ABC’s Rachel Scott didn’t so much ask a question as deliver an indictment.
"You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals," she said. "From Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told former congresswomen of color who were American citizens, to go back to where they came from. You have used words like animal and rabbit to describe black district attorneys. You've attacked black journalists, calling them a loser, saying the questions that they ask are, quote, stupid and racist. You've had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So my question sir, now that you are asking black supporters to vote for you. Why should black voters trust you after you have used language like that?"
Trump’s response: "Well first of all, I don't think I've ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner. 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. And I think it's disgraceful that I came here in good spirit. I love the black population of this country."
Trump also said he was invited under false pretenses because he was told he had to be there in person. But yesterday, after rejecting a virtual appearance by Harris, the group changed its mind and allowed it.
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Trump’s biggest misstep came after another question by Rachel Scott.
"Do you believe," she asked, "that Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a black woman?"
Trump’s response: "She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. 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. So, I don't know, is she Indian or is she black?"
Scott interjected: "She has always identified as Black. She went to a historically Black college."
"I respect either one," Trump said, "but she obviously doesn't because she was Indian all the way. And then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went. She became a Black person."
Questioning the racial identity of a Black woman who went to Howard University is not the way to win friends in that community.
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But it was not a great day for NABJ either.
Meanwhile, I was scrolling through X the other day – yes, it’s part of the job – and within a couple of minutes came across plenty of controversial past stances by Harris.
"THE ROOT: ’Should black people get reparations?’
"KAMALA HARRIS: ‘There have to be some form of reparations.’"
"Kamala Harris says mandatory gun confiscation is ‘a great idea’ — then says she'll do it by executive action within her ‘first 100 days.’"
"Kamala Harris Once Pledged To Keep Transgender Criminals Out Of Prison As President"
"Here's Kamala bragging about her work to ensure ‘every transgender inmate in the prison system’ has access to taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries."
These were originally posted by the RNC, the Trump campaign or conservative groups – but have drawn remarkably little media attention.
Now this might surprise you – I don’t think most voters particularly care about flip-flops. After all, Donald Trump used to be a Democrat. He used to be pro-choice. He donated money to Harris when she was a California official.
Most Americans want to know what you’re going to do tomorrow, not what you said four or five years ago.
And while the mainstream media don’t much care, it helps to offer an explanation.
When I interviewed Donald Trump, I asked why he had tried to ban TikTok as president and now supports it. He said it would unfairly help Facebook, which people can buy or not, but at least he had a rationale.
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Harris has made no attempt to do that, in part because she’s basically taking no questions (though she regularly talks to her traveling press corps off the record). That was a major criticism of the president, for reasons we now more fully understand.
And that gave the Trump campaign an opening to counter her taunts on why he won’t commit to debating her:
"It has been ten days since Kamala's coup to force Crooked Joe Biden off the ballot, but she hasn't done a single interview nor press conference…The only logical conclusion is that she's terrified.
"Is Kamala trying to make history as the first major nominee to take zero questions from the press?"
I really hope that’s not the case.