Donald Trump On stage national association of black journalists‘ yearly chicago convention As he reorganizes his presidential campaign to counter his possible electoral opponentVice President Kamala Harris.
Trump’s question-and-answer session in front of a live audience focused on the biggest issues facing the black community, sparking backlash within the organization.
The Republican candidate is speaking with Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner, ABC News senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott and Semafor political reporter Kadia Goba. The hour-long event is being streamed live on the group’s website Facebook and Youtube Page.
Audience members will not be allowed to ask Trump questions, NABJ reported.
Harris did not attend the convention, but NABJ at On Wednesday, she said she was in discussions with her team to arrange a virtual or in-person Q&A session in September.
The appearance at the convention made the victorious Trump only 12% Black voters who lost the 2020 election to the president Joe Bidenan opportunity to directly engage voters of color on a major platform.
But he may have more trouble running against Harris, the first black man, first woman and first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president.
Some poll Harris was shown to have more support among black, Latino and young voters than Biden did before she supplanted him as the de facto Democratic nominee.
Tuesday, a new one Bloomberg/Morning Consult survey Surveys in key battleground states found that Harris had effectively eliminated Trump’s lead in seven battlegrounds that could determine which candidate wins the Electoral College.
The Trump campaign tried to make the most of Harris’ absence from the convention stage.
In a press release announcing his appearance on NABJ late Monday, the campaign claimed he has “accomplished more for Black America than any other president in recent history.”
in a truth society Trump posted Wednesday morning claim There was no evidence that Harris “rudely refused to attend” the meeting.
he angrily claimed another post Later Wednesday, Harris actually attended the NABJ event, though he was told the option was “not allowed or acceptable!”
“What’s going on here?” Trump wrote.
Ahead of Trump’s appearance, the Harris campaign issued a statement predicting that the Republican leader “will lie about his record and the real harm he has caused to the Black community.”
“Black voters have seen Donald Trump’s lies and empty pandering — and they will hold him accountable at the polls this November,” Jasmine Harris, the campaign’s director of black media, said in a statement .
The decision by NABJ, the nation’s largest association of journalists of color, to host Trump quickly sparked outrage within and outside the organization.
Conference Co-Chair Karen Atiyah He resigned from his position on the eve of the event, writing in a statement social media posts“To reporters covering Trump, I wish them good luck.”
“While my decision was influenced by many factors, I was not involved in or consulted in any way on the decision to stand for Trump in this form,” wrote Atiyah, a columnist for the Washington Post.
NABJ President Ken LemonIn a statement Wednesday morning, he said he consulted with NABJ founders and former leaders this week about the decision to invite Trump to the event.
Lemon said the organization “confirms that the invitation to former President Trump is consistent with NABJ practice since 1976.”
Although Biden had planned to attend the event when he was still a candidate, a person familiar with Harris’ plans told NBC News on Tuesday that the vice president was unable to fit an appearance at the convention into his schedule this week.
Harris’ overlapping plans include attend a funeral Remarks by the late Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and the ongoing running mate selection process.
People who spoke to NBC said NABJ rejected requests from Harris’ team to have the vice president attend a virtual fireside chat or schedule an in-person event with the team at a later date.
But Lemon said in a statement Wednesday that the Harris campaign told his team she could not attend the convention in person or virtually.
“We are discussing virtual options going forward and are still working to reach an agreement,” Lemon said.
After Lemon’s statement, theGrio’s White House reporter April Ryan said it was NABJ that “shut down the conversation at the virtual town hall.”
“Only after the report on what happened was released did NABJ leadership begin feverishly demanding @VP now consider a virtual town hall,” Ryan wrote on X, citing people familiar with the matter.
“NABJ leadership has even called for a vice presidential replacement, such as Megan the Stallion, Oprah or Barack Obama,” NABJ’s Ryan writes. 2017 Journalist of the Year.
A spokesperson for NABJ did not immediately respond to CNBC when asked about the Ryan and NBC reports.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
