Former US President and 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump answers questions during the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention in Chicago, Illinois, on July 31, 2024. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP) (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Former president Donald Trump is trending after his reaction to hard-hitting questions at the NABJ Convention.
One clip shows the GOP presidential nominee popping off on a journalist who asked him about gaining Black voters’ trust, given his past racist rhetoric. His evasive answer concluded with him questioning VP Kamala Harris‘ biracial identity, namely her Blackness.
Donald Trump kicked off his appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Chicago on (Wednesday) July 31, with a spicy response to the first question. He sat on stage with three Black female journalists, including Kadia Goba and Harris Faulkner.
Senior Congressional Correspondent for ABC Rachel Scott began the interview by running down a list of times Trump has spewed racist and prejudiced language, including questioning the birthplace of other politicians like Barack Obama and Nikki Haley.
Ultimately, Scott asked, “Why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”
“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 are 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, including employment, including opportunity zones with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, which is one of the greatest programs ever for Black workers and Black entrepreneurs.”
As he continued on the NABJ stage, Donald Trump added that he’s given “stone-cold broke” historically Black universities and colleges money, saving them and providing long-term financing. For context, he DID sign a bipartisan bill in 2019 that addressed long-term HBCU funding.
“I think it’s a very rude introduction. I don’t know why exactly you would do something like that. And let me go a step forward. I was invited here, and I was told my opponent, whether it was Biden or Kamala, I was told my opponent was going to be here. It turned out my opponent wasn’t here. You invited me under false pretenses.”
As he continued to evade the question about why Black voters should trust him, Donald turned the spotlight on Kamala Harris. The Republican former president claimed that Harris had in the past only promoted her Indian heritage. For context, she is the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president.
“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,” Donald Trump said at the annual NABJ Convention.
See everything Donald Trump said about Kamala Harris’ Black and Indian heritage.
As an undergraduate, Harris attended Howard University, one of the nation’s most prominent historically Black colleges and universities. While there, she pledged to the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. As a U.S. senator, Harris was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, supporting her colleagues’ legislation aimed at strengthening voting rights and reforming policing.
As for Donald Trump on the NABJ stage, he circled back to attacking Scott’s network, ABC. Note that he has been arguing ABC should not host the next presidential debate, despite his earlier agreement to that.
Additionally, the Republican repeated his false claim that immigrants in the country illegally are “taking Black jobs.” When pushed by Scott on what constituted a “Black job,” Trump responded by saying it was “any job.”
As previously reported, Trump first used the phrase “Black jobs” in June, during the first debate against former presidential candidate President Joe Biden.
At one point while at Wednesday’s convention, he said, “I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.” The audience responded with a mix of boos and some applause.
As he campaigns for the White House for a third time, Trump’s campaign has touted his efforts to win over Black Americans, Democrats’ most committed voting bloc. His campaign has emphasized his messages on the economy and immigration as part of his appeal.
However, some of his outreach has played on racial stereotypes, including the suggestion that African Americans would empathize with the criminal charges he has faced and his promotion of branded sneakers. When asked to comment on Sonya Massey and the issue of immunity for police, Donald could not elaborate on who she was.
Later Wednesday, he’s headed to Pennsylvania for the first time since the attempted assassination against him. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris’ first rally in Atlanta on Tuesday (July 20) has sparked divided reactions.
Associated Press staff Matt Brown and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
