All the Crazy Things Donald Trump Said to a Room Full of Black Journalists

Donald Trump appeared on stage more than an hour late Wednesday for his controversial interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago, citing technical difficulties. But the former president had no problem navigating the conversation—led by ABC News’ senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott, Fox News Host Harris Faulkner, and political reporter Semafor Kadia Goba—off the rails from the start.

Trump called Scott’s opening question “disgraceful,” after she asked why black voters should trust him when he has a relationship with white supremacists as well as his racist criticism of black politicians and journalists. “I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible way,” he replied with disdain. “I love the black community in this country.”

“I am the best president for black Americans since Abraham Lincoln,” Trump added.

This isn’t the first time Trump has claimed that his presidency is somehow synonymous with black liberation. Indeed, Trump spent much of the Q&A regurgitating old tropes about political repression, immigration, and inflation. But there was one moment when the former president sank to a new low: Trump falsely questioned the racial identity of Kamala Harris, The Democratic nominee reportedly did not attend due to her busy campaign schedule. “She’s always had Indian roots and she’s just promoting her Indian roots,” Trump said of the vice president, who has never hidden her mixed-race identity. “I didn’t know she was black until a few years ago when she accidentally passed as black and now she wants to be known as black.”

“So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she black?” he continued. “She was Indian all along, and all of a sudden, she turned the other way and became black.”

The former president, who left after about 35 minutes of the event, which was billed as an hour, did not redeem himself at any other point in the interview. And one could even say he did the opposite by:

• Claiming that “millions and millions of people… happen to be doing black jobs.” Asked to define “black jobs,” Trump replied “anybody who has a job,” drawing boos from the crowd.
• When asked about the police shooting of 36-year-old Sonya Massey, he appeared completely clueless about the case. “It doesn’t look good to me,” he said. “It doesn’t look good to me.”
• He refused to explain how the “federal immunity” he vowed to grant to police officers would actually apply to people who have clearly committed crimes.
• Repeated promise of amnesty for January 6 protesters.
• It is argued without any concrete evidence that abortion rights advocates want to legalize abortion after birth.
• Just admit that JD Vance It is a poor choice to claim that voters only care about presidential candidates.
• Tried and failed to turn around Vance’s vitriolic rhetoric about how the country is run by “cat without children“ .
• declare him don’t know What does DEI mean when his allies refer to Harris as a “DEI hire.” When Scott politely defined the acronym, Trump continued to act dumb.