CHICAGO —Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the 2024 election, faced criticism for his previous comments about the Black community during his panel conversation at Wednesday’s National Association of Black Journalists conference.
After an hour delay, ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott wasted no time asking Trump heavy-hitter questions, which he took offense to. When asked about his reason for accepting the invitation to speak at the convention after the remarks he made about Black journalists, Trump answered,
“Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner.”
He went on to express his love for the Black community, but made his disappointment about Vice-President Kamala Harris’ absence known to leadership at the convention.
“It turned out my opponent isn’t here, you invited me under false pretenses,” Trump said.
When asked about his role in aiding the Black community, Trump said, “I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.”
Trump was then asked by Scott about his thoughts on Vice-President Kamala Harris being called a “DEI hire” by his own supporters, which he responded to with a question for Scott: “How do you define DEI?”
Instead of directly answering the question, Trump made comments about his recollection of Harris’ ethnicity, stating that she just started claiming her Blackness in recent years.
Harris Faulkner chimed in with a question, and asked Trump to give an explanation for his attendance at Wednesday’s convention, and his motives for speaking after declining offers to speak from the leadership since 2016.
“My message is to stop people from invading our country … there are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs,” Trump said.
The crowd met him with laughter as he was asked what he considered a “Black Job,” to which he replied that any job is a Black job. He continued by ridiculing Harris’ attempts to help the Black community and comparing it to the work he has accomplished during his presidency.
The topic of age and competency when running for office came up during the conversation. Trump spoke proudly of his current age of 78. He said he took two aptitude tests to measure his capabilities as president and he “aced” both, and would like to implement taking these tests as a requirement to assume office, into law.
Trump was questioned on his vice-president elect, J.D Vance, and if he would be ready to hit the ground running on day one. Instead of talking about Vance’s qualifications for the position, Trump spoke on his accolades, emphasizing his degrees from Ohio State and Yale’s law school.
“Like I respect you, Harris, for your success, I respect people for their success,” Trump said.
The conversation ended after a little over 30 minutes, as Trump’s team instructed the moderators to end the discussion.
During the conversation, there was considerable heckling from the audience, with one of them being Roland Martin, a well–known journalist in the Black community. Martin has been very vocal on his thoughts of Trump’s presence at this year’s convention through social media, and voiced his opinion after the conversation.
“My phone was blowing up with folks from around the country,literally saying what the hell are we witnessing,” Martin said.
The X hashtag for the conference, #NABJ2024, was filled with comments before, during and after the conversation, with names such as Shark Tank host and entrepreneur Mark Cuban chiming in asking for the thoughts of Trump’s words.
