Former President Trump questions vice president’s race and punts policy questions during NABJ event

What questions do you have about the 2024 elections? What major issues do you want candidates to address? Let us know.

Amid much chatter and contention, former President Donald Trump addressed the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago today as the Republican presidential candidate.

Though there was criticism of the journalism organization reported by numerous news outlets for allowing Trump to speak at the event, many disagreed, including a Philadelphia journalist.

“The [NABJ] board made the right decision to have former President Trump address the gathering,” said Melanie Burney, a writer with the Philadelphia Inquirer and former NABJ board member. She complimented the panel for “asking tough questions.”

“While it may have been unsettling for some, Black journalists have a job to do. We have never backed away from a challenge because it made us uncomfortable,” Burney added.

In a conversation that lasted more than half an hour, Trump was asked about topics including border security, abortion and his vice presidential pick, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.

ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott started by addressing “the elephant in the room” and referred to past comments Trump made.

Those comments include telling four congresswomen of color to “go back to where they came from,” suggestions that former President Barack Obama and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley were not born in America, attacks on Black journalists and descriptions of Black prosecutors as “racist.”

“So, my question, sir, now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?” Scott asked.

Seeming to dodge the substance of Scott’s inquiry, Trump said, “Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question … in such a horrible manner, a first question.”

“You don’t even say hello. Who are you? Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network. A terrible network,” he continued.

The exchange set the tone for a more than a half-hour long conversation before an audience of 1,000. It also included a live fact check on NABJ’s website. When Trump was introduced to the audience, a sprinkle of applause greeted him.

Jumping into an expression of disdain for the first question, Trump proceeded to complain about the event starting 35 minutes late and claimed he was invited “under false pretenses,” because Vice President Kamala Harris was not in person to join him; this, despite his separate refusal to agree to a debate invitation from the Harris presidential campaign.

As Scott attempted to redirect the conversation back from scheduling matters, Trump then proclaimed to “love the Black population of this country,” citing his work with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott on opportunity zones.

“I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” Trump said. The assertion received some jeers and audible expressions of seeming discontent.

Responding to a question about comments from fellow Republicans that Harris is “a DEI hire,” Trump flipped the question, demanding Scott define the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion before stating that he disputes the vice president’s racial lineage.

“She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage,” Trump said. “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.”

Trump said if he’s elected, he would close the border on the first day and “drill, baby, drill,” a repeated call for the U.S. to drill for oil on its own land.

Harris Faulkner, anchor of The Faulkner Focus and co-host of Outnumbered on Fox News Channel, also moderated the event.

She asked Trump why he decided to come speak at NABJ. He responded with his comment about immigration and doubled down on previous claims that immigration at the Southern border is taking away what he refers to as “Black jobs,” which he said are “all jobs” and “anybody who has a job,” to which some members of the audience chuckled.

“My message is to stop people from invading our country … from the border there are millions of people who are taking Black jobs,” said Trump.

The “Black jobs” comment became a hot topic when Trump used the term in a debate against former opponent Joe Biden. According to PolitiFact, employment data does not include information specific enough to confirm or deny this claim. While “foreign-born workers” — which includes anyone born in a foreign country — have made unusually fast employment gains under the Biden administration, native-born workers, which includes Black workers, have also gained.

Fellow moderator Kadia Goba, politics reporter at Semafor, asked Trump if the Republican Party was being moralistic.

“Do you think the Republican Party is getting too judgy about people’s lives, when you think about abortion and when you think about what JD Vance has said?” Goba asked.

Trump defended his party and launched into another attack.

“The Democrat party has the problem, I think they are radical on abortion,” he said. Trump then repeated false assertions that U.S. states permit “abortions after birth.” Trump’s comments were not accurate, as abortions after nine months or after birth do not exist legally anywhere in the nation, according to PolitiFact.

NABJ President Ken Lemon said in a statement the organization had been in discussion with both political parties since the beginning of the year for candidates to appear at this year’s convention. Specifically regarding Harris, he said an invitation was extended to her before President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race.

Before the start of the event, attendees were told that NABJ is negotiating an event to feature Harris in September.

WHYY News staff are present in Chicago and attending the NABJ convention.