President Donald Trump participated in an interview at the National Association for Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago on Wednesday, making an attempt to court black voters as the race for the presidency draws nearer.
The president joined three panel moderators on stage, including ABC News’s Rachel Scott, Fox News’s Harris Faulkner, and Semafor’s Kadia Goba, and for one hour answered questions surrounding his plans to help black Americans if they elect him to the nation’s highest office.
However, President Trump frequently faced hostile questions from moderators, particularly Scott, who accused him of making disparaging comments towards prominent black figures only seconds into the interview.
Scott began the forum “addressing the elephant in the room,” telling the president that “a lot of people did not think that it was appropriate” for him to be there.
She accused him of pushing “false claims” about Nikki Haley and Barack Obama’s citizenship, telling congresswomen of color to “go back to where they came from,” using words like “animal” and “rabid” to describe black district attorneys, attacking black journalists, and having “dinner with a white supremacist” at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
“Why should black voters trust you after you have used language like that?” Scott asked.
“Well first of all, I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” said President Trump, who then questioned whether she was with “fake news” ABC.
“I think it’s disgraceful,” he added. “I came here in good spirit. I love the black population of this country. I’ve done so much for the black population of this country, including employment, including opportunity zones with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina—which is one of the greatest programs ever for black workers and black entrepreneurs.”
Speaking to more of his accomplishments for the black community, President Trump claimed that he was “invited” to the NABJ convention “under false pretense,” saying how he was told his opponent, either Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, would attend, but that the vice president is now attending virtually.
“And then [the convention] said you can’t do it with Zoom,” he argued. “[Harris is] gonna do it with Zoom, and she’s not coming.”
He continued, “And then you were a half an hour late. Just so we understand, I have too much respect for you to be late. They couldn’t get their equipment working, or something was wrong.”
President Trump’s campaign posted to X shortly before the event was to take place that the president had to stand back stage while the venue tried to “fix their audio issues,” prompting him to come out nearly two hours after he was set to speak to the audience.
Wrapping up his answer to the forum’s first “very nasty” question, the president concluded that he had been “the best president for the black population since Abraham Lincoln.”
As the speech continued, moderators asked the president tough questions surrounding his policies on the southern border, his ongoing court cases and legal battles, his choice in running mate, and the January 6th Capitol attack.
Following the speech, President Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social that, despite the “Rude and Nasty” questions, he still “CRUSHED IT!”
“The questions were Rude and Nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!” he wrote.