President Donald Trump participated in a Q&A segment at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) event in Chicago. Trump sat on a panel with three black female journalists, one of whom being Harris Faulkner of Fox News. The event was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 31st, 2024. It did not start until almost 2:30 p.m. Trump was asked quite an ugly and prejudicial question to open the conversation. He expressed his displeasure with the rude question and the overall lack of professionalism from the staff for being 35 minutes late due to audio issues.
President Trump also pointed out the elephant in the room: Vice President Kamala Harris’s absence. She was supposed to be at the same event, but it is unclear if Trump and Harris would be on stage together if she showed up. She did not appear despite the invitation, even though Presidential candidates are invited to the same event every time they have it.
It was impossible for the Vice President to be blindsided by the invitation. The irony here is that a so-called “black woman” that many in the black community champion could not be bothered to show up to a professional black event. However, Harris had no issue partying with rappers in Atlanta to create an illusion of widespread “diverse” support for her campaign.
The journalists asked some hard-hitting questions. Much of it came from a place of ignorance, though. One of the women asked Trump about “immunity” for officers being something that he would pass through. Trump addressed it, but he didn’t quite get down to the core of the real question: “What is qualified immunity?” Many people in the community think that this gives officers a license to do whatever they want without penalty, whether civil or criminal. In reality, qualified immunity is about protecting officers from most lawsuits. It has nothing to do with criminal penalties at all. An officer’s “qualified immunity” does not protect him from any criminal case, such as murder.
Several other questions were asked, many of which were pulled straight from current headlines. Overall, Trump did well despite the hostile environment on stage and in the audience. Many black community media outlets will criticize him for his answers like they would criticize him any other day.
SOURCES:
LIVE: Trump Q&A at NABJ convention in Chicago (FULL STREAM) – YouTube
Trump lies about Kamala Harris’ race and bashes journalists at NABJ appearance in Chicago – Chicago Sun-Times
Trump spars with reporters at Black journalists’ conference over Kamala Harris’ ethnicity, immigration and jobs – CBS Chicago
Trump Questions Harris’s Black Identity at NABJ Conference: Election Live Updates – The New York Times
Trump questions whether Harris is ‘Black’ at conference of Black journalists | Reuters
Trump says Harris ‘became a Black person’ as NABJ event turns hostile, chaotic – The Washington Post
