On Trump’s NABJ Appearance: “Distasteful” and “Disgusting”
On Wednesday, July 31, former President Donald Trump spoke before a room full of Black journalists in Chicago at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) conference. This followed widespread social media backlash at the organization’s choice to platform the former president. Notably, Morgan Elise Johnson, publisher of The Triibe, said:
According to Ernest Owens, a journalist, CEO, and former NABJ member, it was the “lack of transparency” that caught members off-guard. For members, the notification came around 9 PM Central Time on Monday, July 29. This two-day notice surprised and upset many members. Some argued that Trump is a presidential candidate, and the NABJ has always invited candidates to speak, but others like NABJ member and veteran journalist Roland Martin noted that Trump declined to come several other times.
Then, when the panel was set to happen, there was an hour delay because Trump and NABJ were in a “standoff” about fact-checking, Phil Lewis reported. After the disastrous panel, calls came in for NABJ’s president to step down. Karen Attiah, who was a co-chair of the convention, stepped down just a day before the Trump panel, and she cited his appearance and the lack of transparency around it as a factor influencing her decision. According to her, she was “not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format.”
This lack of transparency caused riffs with members prior to this year’s convention. Last year, Owens became the first NABJ member to be banned from the organization for five years after he called out NABJ on social media for “being homophobic and also transphobic.”
“Now here we are a year later, and these issues, this lack of transparency, the disregard for members are all coming to light in a larger way,” Owens said in his interview.
Moreover, veteran journalist and former NABJ Journalist of the Year April D Ryan reported that NABJ denied the Kamala Harris campaign an opportunity to host a virtual fireside chat. Owens also mentioned this in his interview. He said, “Given how they treated Kamala Harris’ campaign team, I just feel like they’ve lost a lot of credibility and trust.”
This sentiment was echoed by Martin who noted that modern broadcasts have adapted to be virtual. On X, he wrote, “We do interviews DAILY by satellite, Skype and Zoom, so this should have happened.”
Nonetheless, NABJ went forward with the Trump appearance and also seemingly addressed the backlash about Harris’ absence. Ken Lemon, the president of the organization, posted a statement on the NABJ website noting that: “The last update we were provided (earlier this week) was that Harris would not be available in person or virtually during our Convention. We are in talks about virtual options in the future and are still working to reach an agreement.”
In the same statement, he added, “I consulted with a group of our Founders and past NABJ Presidents Tuesday on-site in Chicago, and as a group, we affirmed that the invitation to Former President Trump was in line with NABJ’s usual practices since 1976. It has always been our policy to ensure that candidates know that an invitation is not an endorsement.”
Yet, to Owens, the Trump invitation was “distasteful and disgusting.” He said, “It was everything that everyone predicted it was gonna be – a hot mess.” At the onset of the panel, ABC’s Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott began by asking Trump about his record of racism. She said, “A lot of people think that it was not appropriate for you to be here today. You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals – from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true…Why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”
Immediately, Trump got on the defensive, saying that he’d never been asked a question in “such a horrible manner.” Then, he went on to criticize ABC as a “fake news network.” This set the tone for the entire panel, and Owens said that Trump was “unhinged.”
As the panel went on, Scott eventually asked Trump about his base’s claims that Harris is a DEI candidate. Trump challenged Scott to define “DEI” and noted that Harris has only recently identified as Black. Joy Reid, another journalist at the conference, used her time in a separate panel to criticize this conversation as “scandalous” and “offensive.”
Trump sat before a panel of Black women and called the first Black and Indian Vice President “not Black.” Yet, to some, this behavior was to be expected.
In an interview following the panel, Martin stated, “That man was rude, he was disrespectful, he did not answer questions, and what happened here is exactly what we told NABJ was going to happen.”
Owens shared similar thoughts about what happened on the panel. He said, “They brought the circus in town, and the circus did what it was going to do.” Owens also called for an apology to the panelists and moderators on the panel. “NABJ owes those Black women panelists an apology,” he mentioned. “Those women were not protected.”
Throughout the panel, Trump was hostile and combative, and he refused to give straight answers to questions. He was about to be asked about Project 2025 by Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner, but his team ended the panel before she could ask her question. However, Faulkner’s appearance on the panel was contentious because Fox News was sued for over $787 Million for touting Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
Additionally, Faulkner later criticized her fellow panelist Rachel Scott for the “emotional” opening to the panel. Then, it was discovered that Faulkner may not be a member of NABJ.
So, the panel was doomed to begin with. As it begins to leave the news cycle, I think there are some important lessons here. As gatekeepers of what’s newsworthy, NABJ’s journalist leaders should have practiced more discernment before platforming a man who said, “In four years, you won’t have to vote again.” This hints at a desire for a dictatorship, although Trump claims he does not know about Project 2025.
After watching the panel, seeing the backlash, and reading the NABJ’s justification, my question is: why are we still giving Trump a platform?
About This Rwebel
Javanna is a multifaceted professional with a rich background in writing, education, and media. She holds a Master of Science in Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in English, which has fueled her passion for storytelling and communication. Javanna is the CEO and founder of Rwebel, where she produces books, articles, and multimedia videos about culture and difference.
