Former President Makes False Remarks at NABJ Conference
What were they trying to show us about this liar that we haven’t already seen?
Donald Trump participated in a question and answer session hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago on July 31, 2024.
The event was moderated by Rachel Scott, senior congressional correspondent for ABC News; Harris Faulkner, anchor of The Faulkner Focus and co-host of Outnumbered on FOX News; and Kadia Goba, politics reporter at Semafor. The focus: key issues facing the Black community.
NABJ Political Journalism Task Force chair Tia Mitchell claimed Trump’s appearance was “in line with invitations NABJ has sent to every presidential candidate for decades.”
An organization that “advocates for Black journalists worldwide” should never have invited Trump to an event created to celebrate and recognize Black journalists. As Michael Harriot said, “Welcoming Donald Trump to a place created to protect Black journalists is like asking a slave catcher to the abolitionist’s meeting.”
Harriot continued, “If the greatest Black journalists who ever existed manage to expose Donald Trump for the vile, racist, wannabe dictator that he is, will we learn anything new? Even if they manage to achieve the most rigorous interrogation of the aspiring dictator to date, how many minds will they change? What are they trying to show us about this hate monger that we haven’t already seen? I thought we were going to “protect Black women?” How are we “saving democracy” while aiding and abetting the man who wants to destroy it?”
Read Harriot’s full article at thegrio.com/2024/07/30/the-national-association-of-black-journalists-should-rescind-donald-trumps-invitation-to-the-cookout.
Donnell Jackson, a NABJ member for nearly 20 years, shared this on social media:
“You can’t scream ‘protect Black women’ then give someone like him a platform to publicly denigrate the first Black woman VP, in our own house. I guess I was raised different. Although I am attending NABJ Chicago, I exercised my right as a dues-paying member to boycott the Q&A that quickly transitioned into being disrespected in our own house.
“Part of our responsibility as professional journalists is to respectfully debate others on our team in editorial meetings about what we present to our audience, who we give a platform to, and if it’s beneficial to our audience and organization. I’ve covered him since 2008 when he started false birther rumors about Barack Obama. He showed us who he is years ago. Simply put, we did not need this Q&A… but I guess some will argue, the NABJ bank account did.
“Unfortunately, there are “leaders” who would rather tap dance for sponsorship dollars and shock value headlines because it’s easier to choose pretentious beliefs like societal relevancy over self- and organizational values.”
The NABJ must stand on authenticity and integrity for the greater good of our community.
All Lies Fact-Checked
The former President argued with moderators and opened the conversation by baselessly accusing Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ presumptive presidential nominee, of only recently identifying as Black.
PolitiFact fact-checked the former President’s statements. Find the truth at www.politifact.com/article/2024/jul/31/live-trump-fact-check-nabj-convention.
