The National Association of Black Journalists invited Donald Trump to be interviewed at their annual meeting. He came. By that, I mean not only was he physically present, but he was Trump at his Trumpiest.
In reaction to the interview, some expressed outrage or sorrow at Trump’s interview.
I am so angry right now. N.A.B.J., this was a colossal mistake.
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) July 31, 2024
Attiah, a WaPo columnist, was co-chair of the event who resigned after inviting Trump.
On a personal note, NABJ has meant a lot to so many of us, so this has been hard to see play out on multiple levels. But I will never forget that Donald Trump insulted and was hostile to a Black female journalist in our own communal space and was unchecked. And the feeling of…
— Natasha S. Alford (@NatashaSAlford) July 31, 2024
How would a journalist “check” Trump other than by doing what ABC News reporter Rachel Scott did, ask pointed questions of the man who would be king? Should someone have run on stage and beaten him with a stick? Should Scott have snapped her fingers in a Z shape? Scott did exactly what a good journalist does, putting tough questions to Trump and calling him out (“They were convicted”) when needed.
If Trump’s answers, or more to the point, deflections to avoid being responsible for his own words, are either the ones you prefer or the ones you can ignore for the sake of not having Harris as president, that’s fine. But this is exactly what an interview should be, handing a candidate a piece of rope and providing the opportunity for him to hang himself.
Well done, NABJ. You revealed the real Trump. Now it’s up to the voters to decide whether this real Trump should be re-elected. That’s exactly what good journalists should do.
Trump told NABJ that he’d done more for blacks than anyone “since Lincoln”.
Just spitballing here, but could he be confusing George Lincoln Rockwell and Abraham Lincoln?
Easy mistake to make if you’re an septagenarian, ignorant of history, and suffering from dementia…
“They were convicted by a very tough system” was the Trump answer and I agree.
In the hopes our host is feeling generous;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JurvC4kF1Sw
Enjoy!
The invitation had been declared an “outrage” on the Internet before he said a word. Hence, it isn’t surprising that everything he said was found to be terrible, horrible and very bad. Like all his performances, I didn’t watch. The doofus, clownshow quality of the event was predictable. For anyone that actually thought he might be worth further evaluation as a candidate, I think they would need to do it by reviewing statistical data from his first term, rather than his buffoonishly grandiose pronouncements of his accomplishments.
Whatever else he is, Trump is not a racist. Being a racist requires an ideology, and Trump is just about the least ideological person alive. He doesn’t look at the race of someone he is dealing with; rather the interactions are 100% transactional. The left doesn’t understand this; they think everyone thinks everyday about race and identity issues. If the media is trying to convince me that Trump is a racist, they should stop using the example, “Trump referred to a black journalist as stupid.” Yes – and if the black journalist was giving his softballs he would call them brilliant.
It sounds like it went just how he probably wanted it to. News cycle reclaimed, campaign further desensitized to outrage, rabble roused, and opposition apoplectic. Mountain Dew Camacho didn’t get to be president by channeling Adlai Stevenson.