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Donald Trump, making a controversial appearance before the National Association Of Black Journalists, quickly blasted one of the moderators for a “rude introduction” and for asking what he called a “hostile” initial question.
Shortly after he took his seat, ABC News’ Rachel Scott asked, “I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room, sir. A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today.”
She went on to cite false claims that Trump had made about Barack Obama and Nikki Haley, along with other remarks attacking Black figures of people of color.
Scott added, “You attack Black journalists calling them ‘a loser,’ saying the questions that they asked our quote, ‘stupid and racist.’ You’ve had dinner with a white supremacist at Mar a Lago resort. So my question, sir, now that you were asking black supporters to vote for you, why should black voters trust you, after you have used language like that?”
Trump responded, “Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked the question, in such a horrible manner, first question. You don’t even say hello, how are you?”
He went on to attack ABC News as “a fake news network” and “terrible.”
“And 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.”
He called Scott’s question a “very rude introduction. I don’t know exactly why you would do something like that. And let me go a step further. 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 isn’t here. You invited me under false pretense.”
The invitation to Trump had generated enormous friction within NABJ, with such high profile members as April Ryan calling it a mistake to give him a platform. That continued earlier today, as Trump posted on social media that Kamala Harris “disrespectfully refused” to attend the event. But Ryan reported that Harris, new to the campaign for just a little over the week, sought to do a virtual Q&A but the NABJ leadership declined, as well as for an in-person event at a later date.
“The reports of attacks on Black women White House correspondents by the then president of the United States are not myth or conjecture, but fact,” Ryan wrote on X/Twitter.
Ken Lemon, the president of NABJ, said in a statement that the organization “has been in talks with both the Democratic and Republican parties since January. NABJ was in contact with Vice President Kamala Harris’ team for an in-person panel before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July.”
“However, we were advised by her campaign at the time that her schedule could not accommodate this request,” he said. “The last update we were provided (earlier this week) was that Harris would not be available in person or virtually during our Convention. We are in talks about virtual options in the future and are still working to reach an agreement.”
He said that NABJ has been inviting presidential candidates of both major parties since 1976.
“While we acknowledge the concerns expressed by our members, we believe it is important for us to provide our members with the opportunity to hear directly from candidates and hold them accountable,” he said.
NABJ also featured a real-time fact checking during Trump’s appearance.
