Trump, the television host turned politician, who came to the 2024 NABJ convention in Chicago as the Republican presidential candidate. A record 4,336 participants attended with Trump as the main attraction.
ABC’ s Rachel Scott was the moderator of that plenary session, and true to her strong journalistic form, she drilled Trump with hardhitting questions. Some people, in and out of NABJ, objected to his presence at our convention because of his long record of racism. Especially controversial was his record of repeated and vicious attacks on news organizations and journalists— especially Black women.
But, in my opinion – and that of the organization’ s leadership – there was no journalistic justification for not inviting him.
NABJ has a history of inviting presidential candidates from both parties. Black journalists also have a responsibility to put tough questions to top newsmakers, not avoid them. The more damage Trump does, the more reason Black journalists have a duty to challenge and expose him.
Though he failed to answer most of her questions, the reaction Scott’ s questions got from Trump made big news, further cementing NABJ’ s importance not just to Black journalists but to the industry and the nation.
“ I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room,” Scott said as she began her questioning of the GOP presidential candidate.“ A lot of people did not think it was 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. You have told four congresswomen, women of color, who were American citizens, to go back to where they came from. You have used words like‘ animal’ and‘ rabid’ to describe Black district attorneys. You’ ve attacked Black journalists, calling them a‘ loser,’ saying the questions that they ask are‘ stupid and racist.’ You’ ve had dinner with a White supremacist at your Mar a Lago resort. So, my question, sir, now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you after you have used language like that?”
Trump dodged that question with this response:“ Well, first of all, I don’ t think I’ ve ever been asked a question so – in such a horrible manner, a first question. 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. I love the Black population of this country.”
During the interview, Trump left people shaking their heads or laughing when he said this about Vice President Kamala Harris:“ 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,” Trump said.“ So, I don’ t know, is she Indian or is she Black?”
Immediately fact-checking Trump, Scott said Harris“ has always identified as a Black woman.” Then she added:“ She went to a historically Black college.”
NABJ Conventions: A Final Thought
Now, as the membership celebrates the organization’ s golden anniversary, the thing that makes“ NABJ so special is connecting with the people each year,” said Sandra Dawson Long Weaver, chair of the NABJ Founders Task Force. Citing“ the growth from 44 of us to more than 4,000 members and the resilience of our organization,” she said“ NABJ was and is still the place where we can celebrate the successes of each other in the business and welcome in the young people who are entering the business.” n
Joe Davidson is one of NABJ’ s 44 founders and a member of its first board of directors. A retired columnist for The Washington Post, he previously worked for the Detroit News, Philadelphia Bulletin, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the National Leader and The Wall Street Journal.
For more information about NABJ’ s 50 years, consult the works of Wayne Dawkins, who was a resource for this article. He has chronicled the organization in three books – Black Journalists, The NABJ Story; Rugged Waters: Black Journalists Swim the Mainstream; and Black and Golden: Fifty Years of the National Association of Black Journalists 1975-2025.
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