Former President Donald Trump drew swift and immediate outrage during a Wednesday interview with Black journalists at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention in Chicago.
The 2024 Republican presidential nominee prompted many gasps and grumbles during the panel conversation that lasted just over 30 minutes. The sit-down, moderated by ABC reporter Rachel Scott, Semafor reporter Kadia Goba and Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner, was expected to last an hour.
Trump, 78, spewed disparaging insults against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as Scott of ABC, repeated his infamous “Black jobs” remarks and struggled to defend controversial comments made by his vice presidential pick, J.D. Vance.
Here are six highlights from the explosive panel event.
Trump falsely says Harris “turned Black”
When asked by Scott if he agreed with Republicans that Harris is a “DEI hire,” Trump falsely claimed that the vice president and former U.S. senator “was always of Indian heritage” and was “only promoting Indian heritage.”
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black,” said Trump, who initially challenged Scott to define what DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) meant rather than answer the question directly. “Now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian, or is she Black?”
Scott rebutted that Harris “always identified as Black” and noted that she attended Howard University, a historically Black college.
In response to Trump’s false claim about Harris, U.S. Rep. Greg Meeks, who serves as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, said Trump’s remarks were “extremely offensive.”
“Donald Trump using the largest convening of Black journalists to publicly question Vice President Harris’ identity as a Black woman and insult her intelligence is extremely offensive to Black voters across our country,” said Meeks.
“This is yet another example of the bigotry that has been apparent throughout much of his public life. Given a platform to make his case to Black voters, Donald Trump chose to offend Black journalists, our communities, and continue his pattern of blatant lies.”
Michael Tyler, communications director for the Harris campaign, slammed Trump’s “tirade” as a “taste of the chaos and division that has been the hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign.”
“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his time in office, and throughout his campaign for president,” Tyler said in a statement. “Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us.”
Trump calls ABC reporter Rachel Scott’s questions “nasty”
Scott asked the first question during the interview with Trump, pressing the former president about his past statements about Black politicians and journalists.
She noted that Trump previously insulted Black female reporters and told Black and brown members of Congress to “go back to where you came from.” Scott also pointed out that he questioned the citizenship of Barack Obama, America’s first Black president, and his former Republican presidential opponent Nikki Haley, who is Indian.
“First of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question so…in such a horrible manner,” Trump bemoaned. He then proceeded to call ABC News “fake news” and, later in the program, accused Scott of posing questions in a “hostile, nasty tone.” He used the word “nasty” three times to describe her line of questioning.
Trump repeatedly blasts NABJ
Despite the invitation to this year’s convention, Trump did not mince words when talking about NABJ and their handling of the event. Within minutes of the interview he blamed the panel’s hour delay on the organization’s equipment.
“I have too much respect for you to be late. They couldn’t get their equipment working or something,” said Trump, who complained throughout the conversation that he could not hear the moderators because the microphones were in “lousy shape.”
Trump also accused NABJ of inviting him under “false pretense” and claimed he was told that his “opponent was going to be here.”
He also complained about Harris being allowed to speak with the organization through Zoom; however, the format of Harris’s sit-down with NABJ has not been determined. The esteemed group representing thousands of Black journalists notably received public backlash since announcing their invitation to host Trump.
As theGrio previously reported, Harris was unable to attend the convention due to scheduling amidst her newly launched campaign for president.
Trump doubles down on “Black jobs”
Though he received public backlash for his “Black jobs” remark during the June 27 presidential debate with President Joe Biden, Trump brought back the term when asked by Faulkner of Fox News why he chose to attend the NABJ convention.
“My message is to stop people from invading our country that are taking, frankly, a lot of problems with it,” he said. Trump added that “millions and millions of people” are “taking Black jobs.”
When Scott asked Trump to define what he thought a “Black job” was, the presidential candidate said, “A Black job is anybody that has a job.”
Trump added, “They’re taking the employment away from Black people.”
Trump unclear on Sonya Massey and police “immunity”
Goba of Semafor took Trump to task for previously vowing to grant police officers “immunity.”
The journalist asked him if he believed former Illinois sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson, charged with first-degree murder for the July fatal shooting of Sonya Massey, deserved immunity.
“I don’t know the exact case, but I saw something, and … it didn’t look good to me,” said Trump.
The Republican presidential nominee said Grayson “might not” get immunity, adding, “it depends.”
Trump tried to clarify that his support for immunity is “different” from the Massey case and pointed to shooting incidents in Chicago.
“Nobody wants that,” he said. “We need to have our police officers have their respect and dignity back.”
Trump said there is a “big difference” between an officer who made an “innocent mistake” and “being a bad person.” He added, “If somebody made an innocent mistake, I would want to help that person.”
Trump struggles to defend running mate J.D. Vance
Scott also pressed Trump for comments made by his vice presidential running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance. The ABC reporter asked Trump if he agreed with Vance’s past remark attacking Democrats as “childless cat ladies.”
Scott aimed to get the former president’s stance on Vance’s suggestion that people who do not have children or choose to not have children are less admirable.
“He is very family-oriented, and he thinks family is a great thing,” said Trump. He added, “That doesn’t mean he thinks that if you don’t have a family,” before trailing off to say he knows people with “great” families, those with “troubled” families, and those who don’t have any families because they didn’t “meet the right person.”
“What he’s saying is that he thinks the family experience is a very important thing,” said Trump.
“But that doesn’t mean that if … you don’t meet somebody … that’s a bad thing.
Scott also asked Trump to clarify Vance’s comment that people with children should get “more votes” than those who do not.
“It’s not something I have ever heard before,” said Trump before reverting back to his usual talking points about the U.S. border and immigrants.