Former President Donald Trump returned to Chicago on Wednesday in front of a crowd of journalists during a moderated Q&A panel led by Rachel Scott, ABC News senior congressional correspondent; Harris Faulkner, FOX News anchor, and Kadia Goba, political reporter at Semafor.
Trump’s appearance marked the opening of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Annual Convention and Career Fair. Trump’s audience consisted of registered convention attendees and was closed to the public.
The former president has previously criticized the media, particularly journalists of color, and the City of Chicago. Before his appearance at the convention, the Republican nominee had not visited Chicago since 2019.
Tiffany Payton, a reporter attending the convention, said she “was shocked” to find out the Former President would be speaking.
“I would have liked the platform to be used to give both candidates the opportunity to connect with black journalists,” she said.
Trump’s invitation to speak was not announced until shortly before the opening of the convention. After facing backlash, NABJ President Ken Lemon released a statement claiming NABJ is currently in conversation with the Harris for President campaign team to schedule a Q&A session between Vice President Harris and NABJ, in September 2024.
According to a recent AP-NORC poll, Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is favorable among about seven in 10 Black adults. During Wednesday’s discussion, Trump questioned the racial identity of Vice President Harris. He falsely claimed that Harris mislead voters about her race.
“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,” Trump said during the Q&A.
While Q&A questions were reserved for moderators, NABJ claimed the decision would create space for the former president to answer questions most pressing to the Black community.
Following the decision, Karen Attiah, co-chair of the 2024 convention, announced via X that she would step down from her role. “While my decision was influenced by a variety of factors, I was not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format,” Attiah wrote.
At the panel’s start, Trump was hit with a hard-hitting question by moderator Rachel Scott who asked whether or not Trump found it appropriate to speak on behalf of the convention.
“Now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you?” Scott asked; to which Trump replied that while he came to the convention in “good spirits” he had never been “asked a question in such a horrible manner.”
Rather than an opportunity, Chicago journalist Marcus Pruitt felt the decision to invite Trump to speak was more about platforming a campaign rather than supporting the Black community.
“I think this serves as a reminder that journalism needs a return to objectivity,” Pruitt said.
“Platforming politicians and other figures who distance the practice [of journalism] from its principles is not good for democracy in the long run.”
At the convention, Trump also claimed he has been “the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.”
The pushback marking the start of the NABJ convention spread from inside, to outside as well – where a coalition of over 100 organizations protested Trump’s appearance.
According to Block Club Chicago, some protestors denounced NABJ for allowing Trump to speak.
“The way Trump won in 2016 was because the media gave him such a platform,” said Kobi Guillory to Block Club, on behalf of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression (NAARPR).
The NAARPR, in solidarity with the Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention continue to plan protests slated during the DNC in Chicago, Aug. 19-22.
