Donald Trump has been invited to appear at National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention in Chicago on Wednesday, and some of the nation’s top black journos are furious. Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah even stepped down as co-chair of the convention after the move.
Trump is expected on opening day to participate in a “special conversation” with moderators Harris Faulkner of Fox News, ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Semafor’s Kadia Goba.
Some members of the organization are outraged over the decision, we’re told, and some are so disgusted they’ve even canceled their plans to attend.
It’s become a hot topic on social media with several prominent journos and longtime members of the association saying they’re frustrated with the NABJ’s decision to provide a platform for the former president.
NABJ’s 2023 Journalist of the Year recipient, Jim Trotter, was so upset by the “poor decision” that he said “it’s difficult to put into words.”
Pulitzer Prize nominee and past NABJ award winner Carron J. Phillips wrote on X, “This is the single dumbest and worst decision in NABJ history. Whoever made this call is an idiot. And I’ll say it to their face this week.”
Tia Mitchell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution responded to Phillips, revealing that she was a part of the decision to host Trump.
“I helped make this call. And it’s in line with invitations NABJ has sent to every presidential candidate for decades. But continue to go off on your feed. I’ll continue to work to create opportunities for journalists to interview the potential next President,” she shot back.
Attiah, on the other hand, made it clear she had no say in the plan when she announced she’s stepping down as co-chair on Tuesday.
“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,” she wrote.
The Atlantic’s Jemele Hill wrote: “As journalists, we can never be afraid to tackle someone like Trump… Mainstream media keeps trying to convince us that he actually is gaining support among Black people. Let’s see if it’s true.”
Others pointed out that Trump has consistently insulted black journalists like CNN’s Abby Phillips, Don Lemon, Yamiche Alcindor and White House vet April D. Ryan, who was NABJ’s 2017 Journalist of the Year recipient.
Ryan, too, objects to Trump’s NABJ visit. “The reports of attacks on Black women White House correspondents by the then president of the United States are not myth or conjecture, but fact,” she wrote.
“To have a presumed orchestrated session with the former president is an affront to what this organization stands for and a slap in the face to the Black women journalists… who had to protect themselves from the wrath of the Republican presidential nominee… I object to this NABJ session with Donald Trump in Chicago,” she concluded.
A rep for Trump did not immediately respond.