The Harris campaign slammed former President Trump on Wednesday during his appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention in Chicago.
“Before Donald Trump speaks at NABJ today, let’s remember exactly who this man is. Not only does Donald Trump have a history of disrespecting NABJ members and award recipients who are pillars of Black media, he also has a history of attacking the media and opposing the important role it plays in our democracy,” Jasmine Harris, the Harris campaign’s director of Black media, said in a statement before Trump took the stage.
“We know Donald Trump will lie about his record and the harm he has actually caused to the Black community at NABJ, and he must be called out,” she added.
Vice President Harris’ team predicted that Trump would lie about black unemployment rates under his administration, the response to the coronavirus and the U.S. crime situation, which has declined over the past year under the Biden administration after surging during the pandemic.
“Black voters see Donald Trump’s lies and empty pandering for what they are, and they will hold him accountable at the polls in November,” Harris said in a statement.
Trump will be interviewed at the NABJ conference moderated by three journalists: ABC’s Rachel Scott, Semaphore’s Kadia Goba and Fox News host Harris Faulkner.
His appearance at the event drew backlash from several black journalists, who questioned why the organization would invite a former president who has a history of attacking news organizations, particularly journalists of color.
Organizers defended their decision to invite the former president, citing the value of interviewing a potential White House candidate.
Harris, who is the presumptive Democratic nominee after President Biden dropped out of the race earlier this month, will not attend the party’s convention in Chicago this week. She will travel to Texas for a political event on Wednesday and stay there to speak at the funeral of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) on Thursday.
NABJ President Ken Lemon said: It said in a statement The group said early Wednesday that it had been in discussions with Harris’ team even before Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed her.
“However, we were informed by the Harris campaign at the time that her schedule would not allow for this request,” Lemon said. “The final update[earlier this week]was that Ms. Harris would not be able to attend in person or virtually during the convention. We are in discussions about virtual options going forward and are still working to reach an agreement.”
