Trump invite sparks fierce infighting within Black journalist group

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

Trumps the GOP nominee...don't really understand the backlash. Just ask him tough questions...


Karen Attiah, a longtime Washington Post columnist, on Tuesday said she was stepping down as co-chair of the annual National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention following internal and external backlash over the announcement of former President Trump as a featured speaker.
Why it matters: The group has a history of inviting presidential candidates to its annual conference, but Trump's participation is causing a rift between members.

• President Biden addressed a virtual conference between the NABJ and NAHJ in 2020.
• Hillary Clinton spoke at a joint conference between the NABJ and the National Association for Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) in 2016.
• Former President Obama spoke at a Unity conference amongst four journalism diversity groups, including NABJ, in 2008.

Catch up quick: NABJ announced Trump's participation at the conference Monday evening, drawing swift pushback from NABJ members and journalists broadly.

• Trump will be interviewed on Wednesday at noon CST by a panel of Black journalists, including ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott, Fox News host Harris Faulkner and Semafor reporter Kadia Goba.
• The focus of the discussion is on the most "pressing issues facing the black community," per NABJ. The Trump campaign confirmed his participation in a statement.

State of play: "While my decision was influenced by a variety of factors, I was not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format," Attiah said.

• The conference co-chair Tia Michell reportedly defended the decision to invite Trump, posting on X, "I helped make this call. And it's in line with invitations NABJ has sent to every presidential candidate for decades." (Her post is limited in visibility to only select followers on X.)

Zoom in: An Instagram post from NABJ on Monday has racked up over 800 comments from members and onlookers of NABJ who are expressing frustration either with Trump's participation or with the pushback against it.

• Some factions within the group argue NABJ shouldn't veer from the tradition of offering the speaking slot to candidates, just because it's Trump.
• Others argue Trump poses a unique threat to journalists of color, especially Black women, and shouldn't be allowed to speak.

The intrigue: NABJ President Ken Lemon told Axios the organization put out the call months ago to "both candidates and one candidate responded."

• "There was a point when we were certain Biden and Trump were both going to say yes," he said, noting that Biden dropped out. The organization has been in contact with the Harris camp over the past nine days, but they did not have a commitment as of Tuesday.

The Biden campaign agreed to join before the president dropped out of the race, a source told Axios.

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/30/trump-nabj-chicago-speech

 

[Huey Grey]

Trump is a felon, a rapist, and a racist. Not hard to see why people don't want to invite him to anything.

 

[seminole97]

• Others argue Trump poses a unique threat to journalists of color, especially Black women, and shouldn't be allowed to speak.

What makes them so fragile?

 

[Huey Grey]

• Others argue Trump poses a unique threat to journalists of color, especially Black women, and shouldn't be allowed to speak.

What makes them so fragile?

Speaking of fragile, if Trump wants to speak to a black woman, let him do it during the debate.

 

[binsfeldcyhawk2]

Trump is a felon, a rapist, and a racist. Not hard to see why people don't want to invite him to anything.

I'm actually surprised he agreed to it.

 

[joelbc1]

• Others argue Trump poses a unique threat to journalists of color, especially Black women, and shouldn't be allowed to speak.

What makes them so fragile?

In retrospect Seminole, what made Trumpf so fragile? He was given the reception you suggested these journalists should give him but Trumpf was offended they treated him so badly? And then, not surprisingly, Trumpf tells a “half-truth” that the only reason he showed up was because “she” had agreed to be there too… when in fact it was Biden who had agreed to attend before he dropped from the race. Maybe your boy is showing some signs a of mental confusion and dementia?