Wednesday morning, I read this Page Six story about the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) embroiled in a big controversy. The NABJ’s annual convention is being held in Chicago this week, and the organization extended an invitation to Donald Trump to sit for a Q&A session before an audience. The fact that NABJ’s leadership invited Trump was the controversy – the man is a bigot, a racist and a misogynist who has a long history of harmful words and actions towards Black and brown people. Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah stepped down as co-chair of the NABJ convention. It’s a real controversy within the NABJ community, whether their organization should give Trump any kind of platform. My take? I’m going to stay out of Black folks’ business and I’ll wait to see how it all plays out. I strongly suspect that NABJ’s leadership will be in flux shortly.
In any case, Trump accepted the invitation, which was his first mistake. His second mistake was believing he didn’t need to be prepped for this discussion. His third mistake was the 35 minutes he spent on the stage, denigrating Black women, lying about Vice President Kamala Harris and being a complete freak. He was supposed to be up there for an hour but his team pulled him out of there faster than the Secret Service moved on him when he got “shot.” Trump was absolutely catastrophic on that stage. Aaron Rupar created a supercut of Trump “self immolating.”
Putting Donald Trump on a stage with three Black women was… a choice. As I said, I’m staying out of the NABJ’s business, and I assume that all three women knew what they were going to be put through as they tried to do a Q&A session with Trump. The three women: Rachel Scott, Harris Faulkner and Kadia Goba. Scott is the one moderating and sitting the closest to Trump. After he disparaged the NABJ, ABC News and the journalists personally, he then turned his racist ire to Vice President Kamala Harris. That’s the big headline. Trump said, on stage, “Is she Indian or is she Black? She was Indian all the way, and all of a sudden she made a turn and became a Black person.” Kamala Harris is both Indian and Black. Her father was Jamaican, her mother was Indian. Kamala Harris has always proudly identified as both Indian and Black. She graduated from Howard, an HBCU. She is a member of a Black sorority, AKA. Here was the response from the Harris campaign:
“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people.
“Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency – while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in. Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us.
“Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign. It’s also exactly what the American people will see from across the debate stage as Vice President Harris offers a vision of opportunity and freedom for all Americans. All Donald Trump needs to do is stop playing games and actually show up to the debate on September 10.”
I understand the Harris campaign using this moment to press this giant p-ssy on the debate, but I also just kind of wish the campaign had let Trump’s words hang in the air for a moment. He could have gone in so many other directions, but no, he decided to question Kamala Harris’s Blackness and status as a biracial woman. Like… is that the plan? Is that the scheme? Are the Republicans going to spend the next three months claiming that Kamala Harris is not, in fact, a Black and Indian-American woman?
We now know Kamala’s brave story. When did the rest of you “turn” black? How old were you? Where were you when the blackness finally took over your body? Share your stories. This is a safe space. #WhenITurnedBlack pic.twitter.com/URBx3fqcbh
— Roy Wood Jr- Ex Jedi (@roywoodjr) July 31, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Former US President Donald J Trump makes an early appearance on the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Fiserv Forum on Monday, July 15, 2024. This is Trumps first appearance since a rally in Pennsylvania, where he sustained injuries from an alleged bullet grazing his ear. Trump also named United States Senator JD Vance Republican of Ohio as his Vice Presidential running mate. Copyright: xAnnabellexGordonx/,Image: 890100277, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Annabelle Gordon / CNP /MediaPunch / Avalon
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- Former US President Donald J Trump makes an early appearance on the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Fiserv Forum on Monday, July 15, 2024. This is Trumps first appearance since a rally in Pennsylvania, where he sustained injuries from an alleged bullet grazing his ear. Trump also named United States Senator JD Vance Republican of Ohio as his Vice Presidential running mate. Copyright: xAnnabellexGordonx/,Image: 890100421, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Annabelle Gordon / CNP /MediaPunch / Avalon
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- Former US President Donald J Trump makes an early appearance on the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Fiserv Forum on Monday, July 15, 2024. This is Trumps first appearance since a rally in Pennsylvania, where he sustained injuries from an alleged bullet grazing his ear. Trump also named United States Senator JD Vance Republican of Ohio as his Vice Presidential running mate. Copyright: xAnnabellexGordonx/,Image: 890103425, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Annabelle Gordon / CNP /MediaPunch / Avalon
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- Former US President Donald J Trump speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Fiserv Forum on Thursday, July 18, 2024. Monday night was Trumps first appearance since a rally in Pennsylvania, where he sustained injuries from an alleged bullet grazing his ear. Trump recounted the story in his speech, and also talked about Biden, immigration, and other topics. Copyright: xAnnabellexGordonx/,Image: 890889831, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Annabelle Gordon / CNP /MediaPun / Avalon
Sorry, but his appearance at the NABJ was beyond gross, appalling, and disgusting. The only reason he went was to get media coverage (which he didn’t get for about a week—his narcissistic self esteem needed headlines) and to amplify dog whistles to his base.
That man is a fool.
Karma turned its face against Trump back in 2020 and indefinitely.
Trump, will never occupy the American Presidency, again.
This is exactly why he went there, he hate being ignored 😕I have no idea why the National Association of Black Journalist gave him that platform to spew his venom 😕
Trump thought she was Indian and now realizes he donated to a Black woman for CA AG.
I swear to g-d, he is confusing Nikki Haley with VP Harris. That’s the only thing that makes sense, when he says, “When did she turn Black?”. He does this all the time. He posted a pic today of Kamala with her mom and her Indian aunties. Kamala was in a saree as well. Can’t wait until he and his party are electorally destroyed. This nightmare needs to be over.
Trump got combative because he was challenged by three intelligent black women. I’m kinda glad that the NABJ gave Trump a platform so close to election day. Hopefully it reminds voters how disgusting he is.
Fool is exactly what he is. Scott’s lead question was a good one & he said he didn’t understand why she’d be so rude blah blah blah. She wasn’t rude, she just wasn’t kissing his *ss as Fox News usually does.
So this can be a complex issue with some within the American black community, who have thoughts about the identification and acceptance and ” blackness” of what they consider the non- African descendants of slaves and biracial people ( I don’t feel that way no one racist is waiting for you to explain your ancestors we’re dropped off from their kidnapping in the Bahamas instead of South Carolina). Also there’s the “she thinks she’s cute” contingent of a certain age who feel a certain way about biracial and light skinned black women because of the real effects of colorism in our community( see School Daze). Not to mention the issues some do still have with interracial relationships and what that ” says” about your blackness. This is reflected in some of the black people that don’t like Meghan Markle, for having ” too many” white friends and marrying white men. These are legitimate discussions being had ( regardless of how I personally feel about them) and will and do impact her support. I think his slightly higher poll numbers (moving his support to in some polls pre -Biden drop out up to 15%)among the black community could be explained with inroads being made with black men in particular around these issues. Her lower favoribility among black men before was largely centered around this ADOS stuff. That being said you know whose insight we don’t want? Donald Trump’s. There is no reality in which people want his hot take on what makes you black enough. He’s unqualified as a 78 year old white man to define it, but especially as one with his horrendous provable bigoted and racist background going all the way back to when him and his scumbag dad were slumlords in Queens. She is just as black as she is Indian and she has every right to embrace and celebrate both cultures and identify with both because they both are a part of her.
You said it better than I could! 👏🏽👏🏽
@Dee, do you think the invitation to “participate” in a panel like this was specifically so trump could show his ass so blatantly? i know that this is something people already know, or should already know, because he does it all the time. but i’ve also read that more POC have been turning to him as a candidate in recent months. do you think this kind of performance will have any impact specifically on POC who were thinking about voting for him? i feel for some people, it’s one thing to ‘know’ he’s like this (hearing news reports, stories or even his own social media), but to hear all the vitriol directly from him is different.
anyway, thank you for your insightful comment!
I don’t think that was the intention, I think he just can’t help himself from doing that. I think that the NABJ did is what a lot of institutions do, not necessarily trying to normalize his behavior, but acting as if he is a normal candidate. They have always invited both candidates to speak to them, but you have to also acknowledge that this is not Mitt Romney or W or John McCain he’s not coming with good intentions or even with rational policy that you may disagree with. So they may have thought we’re going to hold his feet to the fire in the way that traditional media to be honest really doesn’t ( looking at you NYT) but since he’s not a normal candidate it never turns out the way that it is intended. I think for the people that are already in their ” she’s not REALLY black” space it will solidify it for them, and for the people who may not have known a bunch about her but may have feelings about biracial people it could fall on either side. They could be absolutely disgusted that a white man is the one targeting this hate or they could think he has a fair point. Either way though this is not a significant portion of the black population ( not sure about POCs at large) so it feels like it damaged the NABJ some and was a wash for him.
My first thought was, “Mission accomplished.” If a person didn’t already think/believe that Trump is the person he keeps showing us he is, one would have to be completely Maga brainwashed not to believe it now. And if this performance of Trump’s isn’t enough, think about his statement: if I’m re-elected, you won’t ever have to vote again.
@Dee-thank you for your response. i appreciate the time you took to answer!
I recently found out about the ADOS people from my Caribbean American friends and was appalled. As a black American and a descendant of enslaved Africans, some of which came from Haiti and Barbados who were brought to South Carolina and New Orleans after slavery was outlawed in those colonies, to say that Caribbean people cannot be a part of the conversations Black Americans have around race and reparations in this country is insane. The first black woman to run for President was of Caribbean descent. Hip Hop was started by Caribbean immigrants in Brooklyn and a good number of the Black actors from old Hollywood were of Caribbean descent – Cicely Tyson and Sidney Portier to name just two. We are ALL a part of the diaspora. Black men also believed the lie that was peddled that Kamala locked them up at a higher rate when she was AG and many black men are the white women of our community and will sell black women out for what they perceive as power in this country so I don’t truly expect them to support Kamala at the rate that Black Women will. I personally am wholeheartedly behind her as she is the better candidate but wish the Dem Party would have handled this situation better. With that being said, thanks for adding more context to what is happening. None of the Black people I am around rather Caribbean, African or Black American are having these conversations so I didn’t know they were actually happening as everyone I know are in support of Kamala. There’s definitely a lot to unpack tho.
@ Tanisha idk, I have the impression that “ADOS” is mostly Black Republicans and foreign bots trying to stir trouble amongst Black people. If there’s one thing Black Americans have always understood, it’s that some of our people are mixed.
Also, when people come from Africa or the Caribbean, they may not feel Black (American), but their kids sure do—because of who wants to be friends with us, and because, as Dee said above, racists treat us all the same way, regardless of where our parents are from.
Hip-hop was not started by Caribbean descendants in Brooklyn, but Caribbean descendants participated in its creation. I say this as an African-American of Caribbean descent from Brooklyn who participated in this new art form at the time. This is a lie that Caribbean folks or their descendants have repeated in the academy.
As a descendant of the Caribbean and a student of Black Atlantic history–with an MA in Ph.D Black Atlantic poetics– it saddens me that Black Americans have historically had a capacious view of blackness, which has led to an erasure of Black American accomplishment by Afro-diasporic immigrants. This idea that Black Americans did not create Hip Hop is incredibly uninformed, betraying a lack of understanding of oral Black American folk culture and its transmission to the North during and after the Great Migration.
As for the ADOS stuff, it makes sense for Caribbean immigrants to seek reparations from the European slavers and colonizers. This is not difficult to understand. Harry and Meghan’s Netflix doc explains this masterfully. Finally, if your people came from the Caribbean to the American South in the 1830s, you are ADOS, too. Mine came in the 1910s, so we were not enslaved here and therefore have no right to ask for reparations from the US government, even though my family–after many generations–is firmly Black American.
Just going by the fact the derangers still deny Meghan’s blackness after 8 years the answer to your question Kaiser is yes the republicans are going to the same for the next 4 years if Kamala wins. As for NABJ inviting Trump, they also invited Kamala but she couldn’t make it. She asked to do it virtually but they turned her down. It’s not clear if Trump was always going to be invited. Apparently he also only agreed to do it if Harris Faulkner was one of the moderators.
It was interesting to me that they turned down the virtual interview, considering Kamala is, ya know, doing her job as the sitting Vice President AND campaigning. I am starting to wonder if leadership there nowadays isn’t skewing conservative. There are loads of black and POC conservatives and MAGAts nowadays.
I think one of the moderators was a Fox News personality.
this.;;. I have been seen the numbers increased – particularly with Black American men
Another gross conclusion: When JD Vance was chosen, Kamala Harris was a vice presidential candidate. Given what Trump said about VP Harris here, I am now convinced that part of Vance’s appeal was a POC wife who shares Indian heritage with KH. Of course, Vance’s wife is not biracial. I really hope that her kids are going to be okay in the future because their father is absolutely not protecting them at all!
https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/8/14/21366307/kamala-harris-black-south-asian-indian-identity
An excellent article.
Good article, thanks for posting.
I always thought Vance’s wife was meant to serve as a counterpoint to Kamala. Except she is full-bloodied Indian and not mixed, which to them is a better selling point.
The main reason JD Vance was picked is that Peter Thiel likes him. Standard criticism of tRump is that he’s swayed in the direction of whoever was last to speak to him. That works 2-3x in the case of rich people who speak to him and give him money, maybe 4x.
MAGA “thought leaders,” as they call themselves, were all over Twitter yesterday claiming Trump was brave to be there, behaved wonderfully, that the women were rude and disrespectful, that Harris wasn’t there because she’s a coward and won’t answer questions and that she’s only Black now because it suits her political agenda. They’re also pushing that her father is Jamaican, not Black, as if they’re mutually exclusive, and that he is descended from a slave owner, somehow avoiding the fact that means he’s descended from a raped slave.
Trump stole Scott’s water bottle during the interview
They’re all despicable and desperate
I’ve never understood that, you have a white slave owner ancestors argument. It’s like you realize that there is a lot of light skin black people for generations for a very horrendous reason, you really don’t want to go there. A lot of Thomas Jefferson’s descendants look like me, and it says absolutely nothing good about him.
It’s appalling how these folks try to play games about slavery and how so many black folks got those light skin complexions. The majority of African Americans have European ancestry and we all know how that came to be—through the rape of enslaved women.
And don’t get me started on the nonsense about who “they” consider to be black. The majority of enslaved Africans were dropped off in the Caribbean and South America not the United States.
I regret to say I feel this event was a major win for Trump. He’s back exactly where he likes to be: the center of attention with Liberals sputtering “how could he say that.” Here we go again, thinking the next question, the next interview will “reveal” how racist Trump is and everyone will “get it.” WRONG. The dems were kinda on a role minimizing Trump and the NABJ just ended that.
This is not a positive for him in any way. And yes this will dominate the news cycle for a day or two and then we’ll be on to something else. That’s how it is in when we’re this close to the election in a race that at this point, could go either way.
I’ve lived through too many moments that were supposed to end Trump to believe it’s bad for him. Beginning with grab them by the pussy. I hope we can get away from talking about how outrageous and racist Trump is asap and focus squarely on getting back to positivity. Yesterday definitely took a poop on the vibes and now dems need to shift that. Another way it was a win for Trump.
It’s not “bad” for him in the sense that it will derail his candidacy (which is what someone said to me yesterday), but it ain’t good for him either beyond his very MAGA base. He’s probably betting that there are enough racists in this country to carry him to victory. Never forget he flushed more first time, racist voters out from under their rocks in 2020 than he did in 2016. Millions more. This is literally a contest between decency and indecency.
Certainly I hope you are right. But I also hope it’s a reminder to everyone that playing gotcha with Trump just legitimizes him and that we need to play the game on our terms, not his. I don’t want to see this man anywhere other than ranting in a cornfield again.
I tend to agree this is a win for Trump. His racist base isn’t happy about Vance’s wife so he needed to reassure them he is a disgusting as ever, and it pulled the focus off Vance, which he is clearly desperate to do,
In this twisted reality, any press appears to be good press. Trump feeds off this. It clearly doesn’t matter if his rhetoric is racist, misogynistic, offensive. People elected him after “grab her by the p***sy”. People propped him back up after his criminal activity. He’s an entertainer and this is his gross schtick.
I don’t think they’re sputtering this time though. Most people are past being shocked and just see this as further proof of what we have known for a long time about him. Certainly the Harris campaign isn’t clutching it’s pearls about it, just pointing out how vile he is. She knows that strong black women really get under his skin, and IMO she will be able to use that to her advantage.
Trump needs white suburban women. He will not get their vote by being rude or disruptive. The Republicans have always been racist but they’ve always nominated socially acceptable front men to cover their racism and misogyny. Bushes, Reagan, Romney.
What’s funny is if they just continued to do that they would win most of the time. Why they’ve decided to state their objectives loudly and rudely through 2025 and Trump seems like a losing tactic. The meaner they look the more likely they are to lose suburban women and the election.
@snaggletooth exactly. No matter what he says, his supporters will double down. Trump is the embodiment of a dark force, a manipulator that taps into the deepest fears and ideologies of his base and exploits their lack of education. His interview was a win for his base and Dems need to stop entertaining foolishness and focus on strategy. That interview was a bad choice.
@Snaggletooth- He has already been legitimised by having been in office. That horse done ran to Beijing while the farmer’s diddling with the barn door hinge and wondering what happened. The passivity of the Center Left and Left in that time is what has us here. The monster grew 20 more heads while we fiddled.
I saw clips on Twitter and then watched it in its entirety. I cannot believe he agreed to attend and he was just beyond anything I could imagine. He attacked the journalists and he made awful disgusting comments. He didn’t answer the questions and when they tried to keep him on track, he lashed out at them. His incompetence showed brightly. It was funny and it was sad at the same time. Sad that this man is on the ticket for POTUS. He even lashed out at Younkin on the abortion topic – Youngkin has stood behind him throughout the Biden administration so it’s interesting to see Trump trample his own.
He was offended because they kept him to task: he was there to answer questions not give his talking points. This was not a Trump rally, he was there to answer questions as a nominee for POTUS.
Trump has no loyalty. At all. In his mind, he is all that matters in this world. Everyone else is a means to his favoured end. It’s comical that the GOP doesn’t seem to realise or care about that. I suppose they see the means to their end in him and dignity’s out the window.
I agree that he was absolutely disgusting. He said Kamala had “ made a turn and became a Black person.” I would say that he made a turn and became an asshole, but that would be incorrect because he always has been one.
You know, after I saw some clips I wanted to know the entirety of what was said, but I just couldn’t bring myself to watch him for 35 minutes. Thank you for your service! I googled a lot yesterday, and maybe there’s something today, but if anyone knows of a transcription of the whole thing I would much appreciate it.
Sometimes I see clips and I think, no way. And this was one of them and I decided to watch and see if anything was fishy. But no, every clip was on the up and up – he really was that vile and nasty. The audience was LAUGHING at him several times during the short time he was on stage. They were asking real questions and holding accountable. It was refreshing.
He said what he said. And he said it deliberately. You have to think like a MAGA (I know, very gross), but this was his attempt to “other” her and put her on the defensive over her own identity. In MAGA world, being biracial is criminal which is why he wanted the moderator to tell him that she is both Indian American and Black. He was literally race baiting in the most obscene way possible. But he knows how his racist followers think better than anyone does. He knows there are a lot of people out there who would find an Indian American and Black president just way too exotic to be tolerated. In other words, Trump was telling America that Kamala Harris is not American. Birtherism for 2024.
This rings true.
Trump knew what he was saying he was denigrating black strong women to his base. What he fails to see is that he was never better to the black population than Lincoln. All his nastiness on stage to the journalists will not get him votes from the black community. It will not get him votes from women of any color. He made a huge mistake doing what he did and his handlers knew it and rushed the orange racist bastard off the stage. The main media are covering it but they make excuses for it just being trump instead of doing their jobs like the black journalists did and tried to call him out for what racist he is!!
The first question specifically pointed to his remarks about candidates, his remarks about the Black women prosecutors and him having dinner with a white supremist. All are facts – he said it or did it AND he said he was offended by the comment. Which is insane – then he is offended by his own behavior.
He even pronounced Kamala’s name correctly so he of course mispronounces on purpose – a sign of disrespect and an effort to make him seem above her.
I am still trying to comprehend who or what made his team think this would be a good exercise for him.
He addressed the name thing in the past week & said he didn’t care how it was supposed to be pronounced. And he mispronounced it here, he emphasized the second syllable instead of the first.
Is Kamala Indian or black? Answer, she is the best candidate and the weirdo is desperate. Sincerely, Irish, English, Scott, German American.
🎯🎯🎯
I agree, sincerely, Scot, Irish, Viking, German, Cherokee Indian American.
Trump is not talking about colorism. He is saying Kamala only just started to embrace her black heritage to get votes from black people. That is a lie. She has been a member of a Black sorority. She was described as “the first Black woman and the first Asian American” when she served as AG of California and VP. There is a solid theory that Trump is confusing her with Nikki Haley. Apparently, he also attached a policy Nikki is supporting (about changing the retirement age) to Kamala in one of his rallies.
And that was the wrong venue to make those statements. Just insane. And as @Hypocrisy said below, that the GOP stands behind him is terrifying indeed. Hogan (Larry not Hulk) called him out on it yesterday.
In his little, deranged mind, he probably thought, I am gonna tell black people that Kamala isn’t one of them and the black people will stop supporting her. That is why he made this statement there. Black women were the first voting block who organized swiftly for Kamala. So, he is trying to create division among them.
He obviously not only did not know his audience but he couldn’t read the room. They were laughing at him at times. I wonder what psychological effect that had on him – to be laughed at. And he was addressed as FORMER POTUS Trump, not POTUS Trump.
Larry Hogan is a Republican candidate for an open U.S. Senate seat against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks. His comments about Trump are correct, but they were also politically motivated. Hogan has marketed himself as a moderate (he’s not), which served him well when he was a popular Republican governor in a blue state. Hogan’s calling out Trump was meant to appeal to moderate Democrats and Independents in Maryland to win their votes in November. I don’t believe Marylanders will be fooled by his moderate act, knowing what’s on the line if the MD seat flips from blue to red.
She’s a Howard grad and a member of the largest Black sorority. I mean, do we really need to defend this? I personally have no problem with a bi-racial person celebrating both heritage. It’s the issues that matter. That they would extend an invitation to this violently racist man, who is running on a platform that includes his regret that he did not decimate the George Floyd protestors, is the problem.
@Sevenblue, that’s probably the best response the Harris team could make:
“DT seems to repeatedly confuse Haley with Harris, further demonstrating his cognitive decline.”
I truly don’t think there is anything this man can do or say that would make the GOP get rid of him, to me that is what is terrifying.
I cannot wait to vote for Kamala Harris in November! My family is full of immigrants and Americans and some people in my family are not white and their children are mixed-race.
We know what Trump is, and he never really cares to hide the creepiest parts of himself.
I am completely pissed off at Republicans who are screaming for Trump to stop with the racism and sexism and xenophobia and misogyny so he can “run on the issues.” He keeps focusing on his issues and they are the racism, sexism, xenophobia and misogyny! Stop telling him to hide that, because it’s not going away.
What was the most remarkable was Scott, Faulkner and Goba getting him to answer questions about his behavior and policies in real time, not letting him steer the discussion, and letting his reactions blow by them like a gentle breeze.
It was a master class in how to engage with a bully.
That was me, on my phone. For some reason it posted anonymously. (No idea what or why!)
What if the NABJ purposely gave him enough rope to hang himself (apologies for the crude analogy)? They knew he is bailing out of the debate with VP Harris, they know who he is, and they know that he would not pass on the opportunity to get on that stage and show everyone exactly who he is. They also know it would generate headlines. Their audience isn’t his audience, theirs is the millions of poc voters who may yet be undecided for some reason.
I’m not comfortable with the idea of having him on stage with women full stop, let alone woc because why should they always have to do the heavy lifting to highlight what a pathetic and dangerous douche this is, but I assume the women on stage consented to being there and interview him because they see it as doing their job.
And what a job they did.
As a European I cannot for the life of me get my head around American politics and how this man is even in the picture still after what he did and said before. He should have NEVER been voted in to be president in the first place the minute he talked about p*ssy-grabbing and imitating a disabled person. I don’t care what anyone’s politics are, but those two actions alone should make anyone realise that man is not, has never been nor ever will be fit for office.
JD, As an American, I’m deeply ashamed of Trump and I abhor him. And, as someone living in Europe, I abhor some European politicians like: Boris Johnson. Nigel Farage. Jimmie Akesson. Georgia Meloni. Viktor Orban. Jaroslav Kaczynski. Geert Wilders. Thierry Baudet. Tino Chrupalla. Alice Weidel. Tom van Grieken. Jordan Bardella. Marine Le Pen….
None of these people deserve votes and none of them are fit for office.
JD, the majority of us here in the state are equally appalled if not more so. Trump only became president because of the electoral college. He lost to Hilary Clinton by a margin of nearly 2 million votes. The media loves Trump – who correctly referred to himself as their “golden goose”- because he generates clicks which generate advertising dollars. His real experience is reality television and WWE. He appears more popular than he actually is because of all the exposure he gets and how loud and obnoxious his devotees are.
Saw some clips online and from what I saw he deflected and evaded answering almost every question. It’s a skill bc he barely answered anything but he said a whole lot. The moderator repeated his own nasty words back to him and then he said she was treating him horribly. GMAFB.
Yep. That’s what I saw.
Anybody ever read the book Code Switch? It’s really not unusual for biracial people to embrace certain aspects of their heritage based on the space they’re operating in. On a more simplistic, surface level we all do this to some degree: the part of me that I show my coworkers in a professional setting is very different than the part of me that I show my friends, for instance. There is virtually nothing wrong with Kamala leaning into her Indian heritage when she’s speaking to, say, Stop AAPI Hate and leaning into her blackness when she’s speaking to the National Congress of Black Women–she doesn’t have to choose.
But I’m glad some idiot on Trump’s team thought this would be a good idea for him because it’s always good to be reminded about what a bigoted, misogynistic, racist narcissist this guy is.
Code switching is not really unusual for any Black person (in general) to code switch when being with the majority culture and what Black people do around each other. It’s kind of necessary if you have to navigate White spaces.
Absolutely–and thank you for saying that.
I tried to tread lightly (but maybe failed) with the comparison between work and casual spaces because I know there’s a huge difference between what black folks feel obligated to do versus what many white people have the safety of doing. I was just trying to contextualize it in a way that some folks might understand more easily.
I feel like a conspiracy theorist.
On one hand, it looks Trump and his team got too cocky and someone on his team set this up to appeal to certain voters. NABJ told him it wouldn’t be easy and he made a mockery of himself. While it plays well to his base, the rest of us are appalled.
On the other… why would he do this? What purpose would it serve? Someone mentioned that the appearance wasn’t about NABJ or black voters, but really about setting up the contrast to prime his base and use to instigate more violence. It feels like a set up for a nefarious purpose.
I don’t like this timeline.
This was about riling up the base. This was not about outreach to black folks. This was about pulling attention from all the Kamala news and brining it back to him. He is truly a toddler.
🎯🎯🎯
Trump knew he would be in the headlines—that’s why he did this. Not to win Black votes, but to motivate his base.
Yeah, but I think (hope!) the point he is missing with this strategy is his base is already energized and enthused for him.
They are not enough, though.
So if all he does for the next few months is rile up his base, without making in roads with others, it’s not a win for him – from a campaign perspective, and hopefully from a final election results perspective as well!
This wasn’t set up by trump’s team, the NABJ have this conference every year & routinely have presidential candidates on both sides of the ticket. trump could make it, Kamala Harris couldn’t.
Sadly, this will not hurt him politically. At least not with his die hard voters. I know a lot of people said ‘he’s cooked’ after this interview, but how many times has that been said about situations with this disgusting man?
What was the moment you thought “well, this is the end, he’s finished” and then it wasn’t and you couldn’t believe it? For me, it was at a rally in November, 2015 when he mocked reporter Serge Kovaleski who has arthrogryposis, a condition that affects the movement of joints and is noticeable in his right arm and hand.
Of course, now we know what he really thinks about people with disabilities. He thinks that ‘those kinds of people should just die.’
I didn’t vote for him and never would, but I have family and friends who did and will again. It’s very difficult to comprehend why. Many have said it’s because their 401k’s and retirement plans were the best they’ve ever been when he was in office and Biden killed that. I have no idea if that’s true. My guess is – if it’s true – the recovery from Covid and the inevitable recession that followed – which fell to Biden – played a large role in this. And even if this is true, it’s simply not a good enough reason to vote for someone with absolutely no ethics, no conscience, is a convicted felon, is heartless, is disgusting, was essentially convicted of raping E. Jean Carroll. The list is a long one.
Anyone who thinks this will hurt him with his loyal base is absolutely delusional. That being said, we have to remember that there’s a broad spectrum of voters who exist outside of the Rethug/Dem binary and it could further alienate some independents, Double Haters, Non-Voters etc. With a race this close, every single vote counts–every single one.
After four years of Biden, some folks have forgotten how absolutely terrible Trump was and is. It’s almost always a net positive to have him out there reminding everyone.
I’m obviously very cynical about what happened yesterday and think it should not have happened.
That said, the demographic numbers are pretty interesting. Tens of millions of gen z voters have come online and some were 10 at the start of the Trump presidency, so they may indeed need a reintroduction to what a monster he is. At the same time a bunch of boomers have died, and Covid did kill off more trumpers than dems.
“Tens of millions of gen z voters have come online and some were 10 at the start of the Trump presidency”–very good point and also, you just reminded me that I’m old 🙁
A lot of people who are Extremely Online forget that many Americans aren’t knee-deep in politics like they are. They’re very busy people who maybe didn’t love inflation under Biden and are not super-motivated to vote. They’re not following every little development in this race but a lot of those people DO read the headlines or watch the news. It’s not bad for them to see the supercut version of his comments where it’s just an amalgamation of all the horrible things he said yesterday. So again, I don’t think it will have a dramatic effect on the polling numbers, but if it changes some minds or even motivates some folks to vote that’s still a good thing given how close this race is.
The stock market is doing very well under Biden. My brother manages my elderly mother’s finances. She was afraid she was going to have to move to a cheaper place next year, but he said she has more money now than she did at this time in 2023.
My father was a Yellow Dog Democrat. He used to say the people who believe that the Republicans will give us a stronger stock market are like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football. I don’t know why they keep buying that BS. Yes, Uber-rich people get tax cuts but the economy and market overall do NOT improve.
As someone who’s job profitability depends on the stock market doing well, I can unequivocally say that the market is doing great right now.
I thought he was a buffoon in 2015, but after the “grab them by the p*ssy” interview leaked, I thought “surely he’s done.” Nope, nope, nope. That was really the beginning of the end of my association with being a Republican or conservative “values” the way I was raised. I was uninformed prior to that, but no longer. That was the galvanizing moment. I also thought on January 6th that SURELY he’d be run out of town. But of course, that didn’t affect his supporters either.
After all of this, there’s nothing that will dissuade his base from supporting him. It will take the democratic party / Kamala picking off undecided or “hold your nose and vote for trump” people… plus getting EVERYONE out to vote against him once and for all… to knock off his stronghold on the Republican Party and base.
I’ve said this many many times on ALL the discussion groups: let’s not reward bad behavior. This is the new birtherism. The coordinated a rally around this. This was for the white rural folks so that the can boast that he “stood up” the Blacks.
On a personal note, as a Black woman, this is exactly why I worried about putting Kamala front and center. While she can handle it, it was a bit much for me. No one has the right to define her blackness but her. I saw on Twitter some calling code switching as racist. I am beyond worried for her. I hated it.
1) These women journalists ran mental circles around Trump. It was glaringly obvious how much smarter they are than him and how much of a moron he is. I know I’m preaching to the choir here. The cognitive dissonance about Trump being smart among the MAGA crowd continued to be mind boggling.
2) Here’s his only logical defense to the first question (which detailed several horrible comments he’s made toward black people): “I’m not a racist or a sexist. I’m just an a**hole”. I will also allow “I’m just a grumpy old ****”. In all seriousness, he can’t defend his awful comments, so he starts lashing out with more sexist & racist diatribes.
The full embracing of biracial identity in the US is a recent phenomenon. Like Obama, VP Harris grew up in an era where the “one drop rule” was still in full effect. In the US, if you had one drop of “Black” blood in your DNA, you were considered Black. This was specifically created to exclude the biracial offspring of slave owners (and other powerful white men who had r*ped female slaves) from racist inheritance laws and basic rights, with those offspring being born into slavery. So unless the biracial person could pass as a “white person”, people like Obama and Harris would identify as Black. Racists apply the one drop rule to anyone of mixed heritage. Kamala’s mother said that she raised her daughters as Black women bc that’s how society would perceive them and she didn’t think her people would accept them. Kamala went to Howard University, an HBCU (a Historically Black College and University) and is a member of our oldest Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. (AKA).
I was disappointed that NABJ chose to give their platform to 45 bc i dont believe in giving racists platforms to spew lies and hate but was relieved that the ladies didn’t make it easy for him. Several Black male journalists said they weren’t invited to be on the panel, which I think is bc Trump thought he would be able to just steamroll over those Black women and with the exception of Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, the other women asked hard questions that demanded answers. He couldn’t even pretend to be civil and was combative with his lies. But he played to his racist base, which was the main goal. The other goal was to use that platform to grab headlines, which he did. The NABJ committee which allowed him to hack their committee while refusing to allow VP Harris to attend via Zoom has some serious explaining to do bc the majority of their members have been raising h*ll over Trump’s appearance for several days.
@Chantal1, All of that! I watched this on Rolland Martin’s stream, and I was pissed. I was more angry that the NABJ gave him a platform. Everything he spewed is the same old thing, and they know better. Also, he made it sound like they were late because the equipment was disturbing.
They were late because they told him they would fact-check him, and he didn’t want that; it was a big issue for him because all he does when speaking is lie.
Yet, he goes on to stereotype them.
Is his base still standing by him.? Right thinking Republicans should reconsider. Surely it should be country first and party second
I think the base is all in. Swing voters on the other hand …
His hard core fans are still vocal-they’re the weirdos. But I think many independents and those who were on the fence(but had voted for him previously) are literally tired of him.
It’s a bit like when you’re in highschool, you have a presentation and decide that you don’t need to prepare for it. You lie to yourself saying that it will be fine but it never is. It this case it’s even worse because that bigot turned racist straight away.
Sadly I’m pretty sure that this particular insult toward Harris will work just as well with his fanatics as the birtherism conspiracy theories against Obama.
Is he dumb or is he a racist? Somethings aren’t mutually exclusive Donald.
Oh Don-old, back in the saddle again eh? The world turned without much input from him for a glorious day or two but like the hand in a horror movie that suddenly comes up from the grave – he’s back and just as incoherent, hateful and miserable as always.
This is all a distraction. “Look! Over there!” So weird and gross.
Yeah, it’s taken a while for government to get around the idea of “biracial” folks. I also remember an Indian (not NA) friend of mine from school rolling her eyes that the US government thought she was white. I am only a little older than Kamala Harris.
The fools have been out in force between this and the OUTRAGE!! that Harris can code switch and hang linguistically with the southern Aunties. “OAKLAND ISN’T THE SOUTH!” “HER FATHER IS FROM JAMAICA!” Well she went to Howard and spent formative years in the Black community in Berkeley, which is full of southerners who started coming to work shipyards in WWII.
Trump is dumb as f*ck. And I think this hurt him. In the swing states some of the margins were razor thin and I think this will further alienate people who are undecided. His “base” is shrinking not growing. This combined with Cat Lady Vance is going to doom Trump at the polls. The real danger is what happens afterwards. Rachel Marrow did a really good analysis of what Trump and the Republicans plan to do after the election. Check her out on YouTube.
Sorry I typed Rachel Maddow but my kindle overruled me!
Agree wholeheartedly with your first two sentences (and the rest!).
I am pleased to see the main political news today is all about the Biden-Harris team getting Americans being held by Russia released. Not only did it knee cap Grandpa Racist’s repulsive media moment from yesterday, but it’s also humiliating to him after he’s been running his mouth for months about how ONLY I CAN GET THEM RELEASED (after not doing so during his time polluting the Oval). An interesting FU from Putin. Maybe Vlad was watching yesterday too.
Oh that’s really good news! Thanks for sharing that here! And yeah totally HAH to Trump – he’s trying his little orange best to be top of the news but between this excellent piece of news, the Olympics, Kamala and Vance he’s not getting the attention he so desperately craves. Sad.
he is vulgar and a liar.
Great top picture!
Suburban white woman here, also childless cat lady, hoping Kamala wins by a landslide and has an even bigger inauguration!
Trump and Vance may come across as a racist, misogynist Dumb and Dumber duo but they both have friends in high, rich places. Vance’s relationship with Peter Thiel is his ace in the hole, and Trump is reeling in many Republican billionaires who have a huge financial stake in having him back in the White House. There’s a great article in ProPublica about this very thing, I tried posting a link but it got disappeared, but it’s well worth a read.
Jaded, what I find really interesting is that the wealthy think they have as much power as they did in 2015. Kamala Harris showed who really has the power when she got the delegates that she needed almost before anyone could blink. And, she got an incredible amount of money within a day or two with 60-66% of these donations being from new donors. How much power do the wealthy have? Let’s just say in the political arena, not as much as they thought they did.
I agree, Dumb and Dumber may have donors with deep pockets but this time I don’t think they will be able to buy votes, Kamala for the win.
The wealthy have outsized influence when the majority are disengaged. There are only 800 billionaires in the US. Even their deep pockets can be outspent by the other 170 million voters, if they’re engaged.
When did cheeto turn orange? He was all in white then turned orange. Why is he hiding his birth certificate?
I love your comment, Lulu! We can add hiding his taxes to it.
Is he Scottish or German? C’mon DonOLD, it’s not that hard to envision two or more different cultures derived from one’s parents. He revels in demeaning others, but it shows he is trash and not going to gain support from normal undecided voters.
His printed words don’t do it justice. You have to see how he is saying all of those words and answers and also attacks the journalist, but especially the whole part about when Kamala is all of a sudden Black and how he kept repeating it with that gross mouth of his. It was unbelievable. I felt like I was watching an SNL sketch mocking Trump because, of course, not even Trump could be that much of a racist, idiotic oaf. Of course, he can.
He truly hates a woman who challenges him, and when ABC news reporter Rachel Scott started off with a list of his racist and sexist remarks, Trump lost it and went in trying to demean her with his usual juvenile, misogynistic attacks. She just sat there unruffled, and then like the true professional she is, she calmly interrupted him in the middle of his tirade repeating her request for him to answer the question.
And the whole Black jobs being taken by immigrants coming from the border was another WTF moment, with a glorious takedown with the simple question: “What exactly is a Black job, sir?” The speaker was not in the shot, so I am unsure which journalist it was. But I think it was Rachel Scott.
He is a lot of awful things rolled into one making him a despicable human being, but not enough is said about how DUMB he truly is.
The fact that his team pulled him off the stage as it kept devolving says it all. When he said that the VP was unimportant, his team must have been having a meltdown. The discussion was about the assassination attempt. The point is: Is Vance experienced enough to step in on day one? He was so lost on Vance and being confronted about Vance’s horrible remarks, that he wanted to make it clear his VP pick is meaningless. Well, Trump if you die in office, yes, it is important. What a piece of shit he is.
I strongly disagree that this was a win for him. I think that the MAGA who were always going to vote for him are still going to vote for him. Those that were never going to vote for him because of his racists, bigoted and misogynistic policies and beliefs, are still not going to vote for him. Regarding the undecideds, I think they are waiting to see something different from what he has shown them for the past 8 years, which from this interview, he clearly has not. They are undecided because they want to see better and he still fails to show that because he is incapable of that. Him not falling on his face during debates or interviews is who he has always been. I don’t think anyone is suddenly inspired by him because of this interview. I think if anything, it would be more the opposite for undecided voters because they wouldn’t need him saying the same thing to persuade them because their hesitation is based on them wanting to see something that they haven’t seen yet. A racists, bigot or misogynist is always those things and hearing another one reciting those same things for years won’t need to hear him say such hateful and disrespectful things that one time in order for them to look at them and finally say, “You see and understand me, so you have my vote”. The Democrats need to continue with the momentum and not allow anything he, his VP pick or any of this propaganda pushers have to say in the next few months to be a distraction or put them in a state of being too relaxed and comfortable. Too much is at stake here and those who are hyped and excited now, need to continue that momentum and continue campaigning and when November comes GO VOTE and encourage those you know and love to also GO VOTE.
Give him enough rope!
I don’t think it was a mistake to invite him. He’s a former president and has a slim chance of being elected again.
I think- the NABJ knew what they were getting, but they weren’t prepared to get it. He’s a known dangerous asshole and it’s not bad to just let him run his mouth, but, you’ve got to pushback in an organized way.
I am not Black, nor an I American, but as your neighbour to the North, we pay close attention to your politics.
I understand why his being there was controversial, the man has always been horrendous to anyone that is not upper class white, and to the Black community in particular, but I am going to say that this really really puts out there what he thinks and because it is showing up absolutely everywhere, we are ALL seeing it. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people who are not plugged in to politics, or even the news, who have no idea how racist this POS really is. If you try to tell them, they don’t believe you. This shows that face right out there. I truly hope that those voters who are undecided, on the fence, currently thinking about voting for this fool, or anyone who thought it wasn’t really true, see this and hand the orange menace his a$$ on a platter and show him the door.
-signed a Canadian member of the K-Hive.
On the contrary, I think inviting him was very smart. Make them put it on record. Make them say it out loud. They can’t walk it back when it’s not done in limited circles but to a broad audience. It’s why I think he’s too afraid to go on the debate stage. I know people who are putting money on him losing his temper and dropping the n word lol.
If the Republicans are smart they would dump Trump. But they are COWARDS, scared of Orange. Look what Trump has done to that party since 2016- they’ve become complete Losers and Weirdos. Ask themselves- Has Trump truly grown their party- that’s a big NOPE. He’s just been a Liability. Idiots.
Kamala is a mighty powerful woman.
There are many Kamala Black Girl Magic t-shirts.
There are also Rosie the Riverter t-shirts with a Kamala image with the text – YES WE KAN.