Former President Donald Trump's confrontation with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) on Wednesday has sparked controversy among its members.
The group is discussing the possibility of having a question-and-answer session with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, Fox News reported.
Speaking to The Hollywood ReporterFormer Ohio State University journalism professor Justice B Hill, who has been a member of NABJ for nearly 50 years, commented on the panel discussion held on Wednesday.
“It's a disaster,” Hill said. The Hollywood Reporter“It's all come together in the last few days. And I hate that things aren't transparent. There's a controversy among the members: one of the co-chairs of the Chicago convention resigned. The members are not surprised in this way. He has never spoken at our convention before. He was invited in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and he refused to come. So why is he coming now? He's coming now because he sees some advantage.”
Hill also described the panel as divisive, a sentiment echoed by other NABJ members on social media.
“Trump came to our house, to a convention supporting the Black press, and insulted us to our faces. Worse, he was invited to do so by NABJ leadership,” White House correspondent April Ryan tweeted Wednesday.
The former university professor continued his conversation with The Hollywood Reporter and questioned why Trump attended the Chicago convention.
“I understand he's running for president, but Republicans by and large have refused to attend or speak at our conventions. And he has done that, why now? Because he's trying to discredit Vice President Kamala Harris? And I don't think that's fair to our members,” she said.
He also surprisingly said that none of the three individuals who interviewed Trump were Black Press journalists.
“You can't marginalize the black press, especially when it comes to issues related to this. It's something that concerns them directly,” she said. “So we can't just be left without a seat at the table, particularly with the organization that deals with blackness and the power of the press.”
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) President Derrick Johnson also weighed in on the event.
“Walking into a room full of black journalists and attacking someone's 'blackness' is a whole other level of disrespect. To anyone who needs a reminder: we can't change the color of our skin and we don't want to.”
However, the NABJ president did mention the possibility of holding a question-and-answer session with the vice president in the near future.
“At that time, her campaign informed us that her schedule could not accommodate this request. The last update they provided us (earlier this week) was that Harris would not be available in person or virtually during our Convention,” NABJ President Ken Lemon said in a statement. “We are negotiating virtual options going forward and are still working to reach an agreement.”
