Former President Donald Trump made a contentious appearance in Chicago on Wednesday at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention & Career Fair.
The moderators of the Q&A session were Rachel Scott of ABC News, Harris Faulkner of Fox News, and Kadia Goba of Semafor.
Scott welcomed Trump to the stage, and it didn’t take long for the event to descend into chaos.
The ABC News journalist asked about his past comments questioning former President Barack Obama’s birthplace, his attacks on Black journalists by calling them “losers,” and his decision to host a White Supremacist as a guest at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Trump responded to the questions with anger.
“Well, first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question so, in such a horrible manner, a first question,” said Trump. “You don’t even say ‘Hello, how are you?’ Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network, a terrible network. And I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit.”
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He then vented about the event starting late and circled back to Scott’s opening questions, which he said were “very rude.” He said the microphones weren’t working properly, noted he couldn’t hear Faulkner well, and called the technical equipment at the gathering “terrible.”
Trump went on to voice frustration that he wasn’t allowed to do the Q&A via Zoom and complained that he was told his Democratic opponent — Vice President Kamala Harris — “was going to be there.” In Trump’s words, he was invited to the convention under “false pretense.”
The Harris campaign said she was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict. Instead, she plans to address NABJ members in the coming weeks.
As for his policies, Trump said he was the best U.S. leader for Black Americans since the 1800s.
“I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” said Trump.
He insisted he’ll bring down inflation if elected again, and make it more affordable for Americans to eat bacon and ham.
“I’d bring energy way down. I’d bring interest rates down. I’d bring inflation way down, so people can buy bacon again. So people can buy a ham sandwich again. So that people can go to a restaurant and afford it,” said the former president.
At another point, he brought up the border crisis and insisted undocumented immigrants are taking “Black jobs.”
When pressed, he said: “A Black job is anybody that has a job. That’s what it is. Anybody that has a job. And they take it. They’re taking the employment away from Black people.”
“They’re coming in. They’re invading. It’s an invasion of millions of people, probably 15, 16, 17 million people. I have a feeling it’s much more than that. And everybody’s been seeing what’s happened. The first group of people, the Black population, is affected most by that. And Kamala is allowing it to happen,” Trump added.
Beverly White Higgs, a retired KNBC-TV reporter and anchor, was in the audience and described the atmosphere during Trump’s remarks.
“The loudest groans were heard once he went down that familiar road of lies and racism,” White Higgs told Urban Hollywood 411. “The more he spoke, the more audible was the disdain. It was never enough to drown him out. But it made clear the displeasure of audience members who will never buy the argument that the undocumented people are a threat to Black Americans.”
Trump also made controversial comments about Harris, by questioning her biracial identity.
“She was always of Indian heritage. She was only promoting Indian heritage, I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” he said. “So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black? I respect either one but she obviously doesn’t because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.”
Trump was asked about Sonya Massey by Semafor’s Goba. He refused to condemn the white police officer who shot and killed the 36-year-old Black woman in Illinois.
“Sometimes very bad decisions are made. They’re not made from an evil standpoint,” he said about the officer who killed Massey in her own home.
Trump touched on his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, and Vance’s comments about single women being “cat ladies.”
“What he’s saying is that he thinks the family experience is a very important thing. It’s a very good thing,” said Trump. “But that doesn’t mean that if you grow up and you grow older and you don’t meet somebody — that would be wonderful to meet and would have been good — that, that’s a bad thing. He’s not saying that. That would be my interpretation — you’ll have to ask him actually, but my interpretation is he’s strongly family oriented.”
The Q&A session ended abruptly while Faulkner was in the middle of asking a question about the controversial Project 2025 plan to reshape the nation. Scott cut her off and said the panel would have to conclude because Trump’s campaign team told them to end it.
White Higgs said hours after Trump’s appearance, it was still the talk of the convention.
“NABJ members all over the massive Hilton host hotel are still talking about his disrespectful remarks made earlier today,” she shared.
As reported earlier this week, news of the Republican presidential nominee participating in the convention was met with backlash.
Some NABJ members said they would boycott the appearance, while a smattering of local groups called for protests outside the Hilton hotel where the convention is taking place.
Watch the NABJ Q&A session below:
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About Kellie Haulotte
Kellie Haulotte is an editor and writer based in Stephenson, Michigan.
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3 thoughts on “Trump Makes Bizarre Comments About ‘Black Jobs’ and Bacon at NABJ Black Journalists Convention”
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This was a wild interview.
Fake News and B.S. When Trump mentions “black jobs” he knows what he’s talking about. 84% of blacks work in three sectors, food related, construction, and health care. And in those three industries, three quarters of the workers are in the lowest 1/3 of wage earners thanks to the policies of the Democrat Party. In other words, like it or not, blacks on average work in lower paying jobs. That’s a fact whether the vicious fake news so-called journalists admit it or not.
The interview was wild and aggressive by both sides. Say what you will about Trump, but please try to be accurate. The following part of the article is completely untrue. The statement he made was not about Massey as it is attributed in this snip. “Sometimes very bad decisions are made. They’re not made from an evil standpoint,” he said about the officer who killed Massey in her own home.