The Internet Responds To Donald Trump’s Planned Appearance At NABJ—A Convention And Career Fair For Black Media – Essence
The annual National Association Of Black Journalists Convention is an event aimed at convening, connecting and empowering Black media professionals. However, a recent addition to its speaker lineup is leading some onlookers to believe the move is the antithesis of the event’s mission.
On July 29, it was reported that former President Donald J. Trump will participate in a conversation with journalists during its opening day in Chicago on Wednesday, July 31, at noon CST. The conversation would be moderated by ABC News’s Rachel Scott, Fox News host Harris Faulkner and Kadia Goba Semafor, a politics reporter who covered Congress for Axios and BuzzFeed News.
Journalists took to X to express their thoughts on the addition, with many vehemently opposing it, claiming the move was counterproductive.
Some users pointed to Trump’s fraught relationship with Chicago, the location the convention will be taking place this year. The city’s Mayor, Brandon Johnson stated that the Chicago’s city departments are ‘fully prepared to uphold safety’, a reference to the Trump’s track record of inciting violent loyalists at public events.
During his 2016 election run, Trump blamed President Obama for the blighted conditions some Chicagoans faced in his “home town” during the Republican National Convention, and subsequently almost obsessively mentioned Chicago in a negative light during his public speeches.
“We have a situation where we have our inner cities – African Americans, Hispanics are living in hell because it’s so dangerous,” Trump said in September 2016 presidential debate. “You walk down the street, you get shot. In Chicago, they’ve had thousands of shootings, thousands since January 1. Thousands of shootings. And I say, where is this? Is this is a war-torn country? What are we doing?”
Other X users pointed out that NABJ is a non-partisan organization and have invited past Presidential candidates from both sides of the aisle to participate in the convention.
“People really upset about Trump speaking at NABJ? The organization is non partisan,” one user wrote. “I think some of y’all forget that the job of journalists are to ask the questions, regardless of who they are. This isn’t CNN. NABJ doesn’t monetarily gain anything by doing this.”
