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Donald Trump To Address Black Journalists At Annual Convention, Sparks Outrage

One of the more polarizing figures in United States history was invited to speak to us.


NABJ

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak with the National Association of Black Journalists at the annual convention in Chicago today. He’s slated to do a Q&A, according to NBC News.


NABJ announced the session late Monday, and the convention is set to kick off Wednesday. Trump, who reportedly was shot in the ear during an assassination attempt that sent shockwaves around the world, now wants to discuss issues plaguing the Black community through questions from ABC News, FOX News and Semafor journalists.


And, of course, the announcement led to backlash from some Black journalists who “said they were disgusted and expressed concerns over Trump’s rhetoric toward Black people."


Black Voters Matter Fund organizers, a voting rights advocacy group founded in 2016 during Trump’s ascent, said the decision was unacceptable in a shared post on X Tuesday.


“It’s a slap in the face to every Black journalist and the communities we serve,” the post read.


As a result, Washington Post columnist and global opinions editor Karen Attiah said on X that she will step down from her position as co-chair of the convention.


“While my decision was influenced by a variety of factors, I was not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format,” she added in a follow-up post


Still, some leaders in the organization supported the decision to host the Republican presidential nominee. In fact, NABJ President Ken Lemon said on social media that NABJ invites presidential nominees from both parties every election year, adding that the organization invited Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, too.


Harris, on the other hand, cited logistical reasoning, saying she needed to attend the funeral of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and had to choose a running mate as to why she couldn’t make it.


According to NBC News, a source confirmed that NABJ turned down Harris’ offer of a virtual discussion or holding one at a later date.


George W. Bush and John Kerry spoke at NABJ’s 2004 convention, and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton did the same thing in 2007, according to The Hill. Clinton would go on to return for a speech and news conference in 2016. And President Joe Biden spoke at the virtual conference held in 2020; Trump didn’t back then.


Co-chair of the convention, Tia Mitchell, said she had organized the Q&A “to create opportunities for journalists to interview the potential next President.”


Still, critics are lambasting the move, especially since Trump has been criticized for "emboldening white supremacists, racist rhetoric and laying the groundwork for education restriction, anti-DEI legislation and anti-LGBTQ laws," according to NBC News.


April Ryan, Veteran White correspondent and the 2017 NABJ Journalist of the Year wrote in a post Tuesday on X that she isn’t for Trump to appear in Chitown.


“To have a presumed orchestrated session with the former president is an affront to what this organization stands for and a slap in the face to the Black women journalists (NABJ journalists of the year) who had to protect themselves from the wrath of this Republican presidential nominee who is promoting an authoritarian agenda that plans to destroy this nation and her democracy with his Project 2025.”

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