Why Donald Trump Will Be Speaking at the NABJ Convention – but Not Kamala Harris

The National Association of Black Journalists’ 2024 Convention will feature an appearance from former president Donald Trump, but not Vice President Kamala Harris, which the organization says is the result of a scheduling conflict. 

The NABJ has faced criticism in recent days for inviting Trump to appear at the conference, with even the event’s co-chair Karen Attiah stepping down from her role partially due to the booking. 

“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 wrote on social media.

NABJ president Ken Lemon said in a Wednesday statement that the organization has engaged in conversations with both political parties since January. He further noted that they were in contact with Harris’ team for an in-person appearance prior to President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race. 

“However, we were advised by her campaign that her schedule could not accommodate this request,” Lemon explained. “The last update we were provided was that Harris would not be available in person or virtually during our convention. We are in talks about virtual options in the future and are still working to reach an agreement.”

But according to journalist April Ryan, the NABJ initially “shut down the conversation for a virtual town hall.” “Only after reports of what happened were posted did the NABJ leadership feverishly begin to ask the @VP to now consider a virtual town hall,” Ryan posted on social media. 

Tia Mitchell, chair of the Political Task Force for the NABJ, also posted on social media that after Harris’ camp confirmed the presidential hopeful would not be able to attend, they attempted to encourage the campaign to provide a surrogate instead. However, Mitchell noted that NABJ leadership was not aware of these conversations and only wanted Harris, not an alternate to speak at the conference.

“I stand behind NABJ’s decision to invite former President Trump to answer questions from Black journalists relevant to the Black community,” Mitchell wrote. “I remain hopeful that NABJ members will get to hear from VP Harris in the same way in some fashion.”

Lemon’s statement also highlighted how an invitation to speak is not an endorsement of a candidate, saying, “While we acknowledge the concerns expressed by our members, we believe it is important for us to provide our members with the opportunity to hear directly from candidates and hold them accountable.”

Trump is already using the controversy as an attack on Harris, posting on Truth Social that “Crazy Kamala disrespectfully refused to attend the National Association of Black Journalists Conference.” 

“I am on my way to meet with them now in Chicago,” he continued. “Because of which, she’ll probably end up doing, she has no choice, but remember — it is only for that reason!”

Though Trump did not attend the NABJ Conventions in 2020 nor 2016, several other presidential hopefuls have over the years — including former Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. 

Trump will participate in a conversation on Wednesday, the first day of the convention, which will be moderated by Rachel Scott, senior congressional correspondent for ABC News; Harris Faulkner, anchor of “The Faulkner Focus” and cohost of “Outnumbered” on Fox News; and Kadia Goba, politics reporter at Semafor. The event will not be open to the public, but will be live-streamed via NABJ’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

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