At this point, you can never be shocked by anything former President Donald Trump says or does, but many were surprised when the GOP nominee accepted an invitation to attend this year’s National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) annual conference.
What was meant to be a civil conversation between Trump and three Black moderators quickly turned into 30 minutes of the former president spewing lies and insults, mostly directed at Vice President Kamala Harris and undocumented immigrants.
In case you missed the chance to watch the Q&A session in real time, The Root has you covered with a list of all of the out-of-pocket things Trump said.
Calling ABC Network a “fake, terrible news network”
The 45th president couldn’t even make it two minutes without attacking moderator ABC moderator Rachel Scott. After being asked “Why should Black voters trust you?” in context of his history of racial statements, the former president went on a rant about the “horrible manner” in which Scott posed the question.
Of course, he never directly answered Scott’s question. Instead, Trump called ABC a “fake, terrible news network” before expressing his “love” for Black people and vaguely referencing his past work with opportunity zones with South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Trump called moderator Scott “rude” and continued to attack her throughout the entirety of the Q&A.
Attacking NABJ and Kamala Harris
Trump wasted no time name dropping Harris after saying NABJ invited him under the “false pretense” that the vice president would also be in attendance. Before the Q&A took place, NABJ announced they also invited Harris to the conference, as they do with all current and past presidential nominees.
Although the presumptive Democratic nominee will not be attending the ongoing conference, Harris is in talks to schedule a conversation with NABJ later this year.
“I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln.”
Now, Trump has said it before, but during this conversation, he once again referred to himself as the best president for Black America since Lincoln freed the slaves.
The NABJ crowd quickly booed the former president in response, but that didn’t stop Trump from standing on his claim.
The former president said he didn’t know the vice president was Black
Trump accused the vice president of never acknowledging her Blackness until recent years. Kamala Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian descent, has never denied her Blackness — she even attended Howard University, a historically Black college — but apparently, this is news to the former president.
He claimed Harris was “Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden, she made a turn and she went, she became a Black person.” He continued saying he doesn’t know if Harris was a DEI hire but she “could be” in his opinion.
Doubling down on his controversial ‘Black jobs’ comment
When asked why he decided to attend this year’s conference, Trump quickly began a rant about his message to “stop people from invading our country” and taking “Black jobs.”
Yes.... he said it again — three more times in fact — and he’s sticking behind it! Trump went on to blame Harris for the ongoing southern border crisis, calling her “the worst border czar in the history of the world.”
Insisting Democrats allow abortions to take place after childbirth
Although the GOP candidate said he’s for abortions in one of three circumstances— incest, sexual assault, and emergency situations regarding the mother’s life — Trump made the false claim that Democrats “allow abortion in the ninth month” and even after the baby is born.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than one percent of abortions take place after 21 weeks of pregnancy. After moderators attempted to correct the former president, he ignored them and even targeted former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. Trump said Northam is “willing to... rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month and kill the baby.” This is also not true.
Trump went on to say that thanks to him, the Republican party has become “less radical.”
Many NABJ attendees like X user @carronJphillips called the move to host Trump “the worst decision in NABJ history.” Although the conversation didn’t go exactly as planned, former President Trump’s appearance definitely gave Black folks plenty to talk about as the conference continues this week.