Black Journalists Object to Trump Invitation to Annual Convention

BLACK Journalists REJECT Trump

At their annual conference in Chicago on Wednesday, a group of Black journalists are incensed at their professional association for extending an invitation to former President Donald Trump to take part in an event on stage. 

 

Some members of the National Association of Black Journalists are furious over Mr. Trump’s planned attendance at their annual convention and career fair; one termed it “a slap in the face” to Black women journalists. Three journalists will be asking questions of the GOP presidential contender.

 

Amid the uproar, co-chair of the convention Karen Attiah announced Tuesday that she was quitting her position as meeting organizer.

 

Longtime Washington Post columnist Ms. Attiah remarked on X, “I wish the journalists interviewing Trump the best of luck. Although several factors impacted my choice, I was not involved in or given any input regarding the decision to endorse Trump in this manner.”

 

Journalist April Ryan, whom Mr. Trump called a “loser” when she covered his presidency, said, “The reports of attacks on Black women White House correspondents by the then president of the United States are not myth or conjecture, but fact.” The NABJ named her its Journalist of the Year in 2017, Mr. Trump’s first year in office.

 

“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,” she said on X. “I object to this NABJ session with Donald Trump in Chicago.”

A conservative think tank in Washington called the Heritage Foundation wrote the policy paper known as Project 2025. Democrats have framed it as Mr. Trump’s program, even though he has stated that it is not part of his platform.

 

Moderators for Mr. Trump’s event include Kadia Goba, a politics reporter at Semafor, Harris Faulkner of Fox News, and Rachel Scott, senior congressional correspondent for ABC News. He would respond to inquiries “that will concentrate on the most pressing issues facing the Black community,” according to his campaign.

 

“Except for Abraham Lincoln,” Mr. Trump has boasted that he has done more for African Americans than any other president while in office. Before President Biden’s withdrawal from the campaign earlier this month, polls revealed that, in comparison to the 2020 election, Mr. Trump was significantly ahead among Black voters.

 

According to a statement from the campaign, “Black voters know that President Trump is the only presidential candidate who can deliver results on day one because he already has.” This is why historically high percentages of Black voters now back Trump.

 

The group claims that Vice President Kamala Harris was also sent an invitation to attend the conference; however, her confirmation is still pending. NABJ and Ms. Harris have been contacted by The Washington Times for comments.