Trump at the NBJA. Another quick exit from Chicago.
Trump’s staff ended his appearance before the National Black Journalist Association after about 30 minutes.
It was scheduled to go for an hour.
It was not the first time Trump fled my long-time Chicago hometown earlier than he had planned.
Back in 2016 Trump was to speak to a crowd of about 15,000 at the University of Illinois Chicago Pavilion. Tens of thousands of protesters blocked the streets around the arena and hundreds more got tickets to get inside and caused a beautiful disruption.
Trump fled town, never getting to say anything.
Did yesterday’s appearance before the NBJA go badly for Trump?
Some political pundits say no.
I’m not so sure.
It is hard for me to believe that when Trump agreed to sit for questioning with three African American women journalists that he didn’t expect those sharp questions.
And Kudos to ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott for bringing it.
MR. PRESIDENT, WE SO APPRECIATE YOU GIVING US AN HOUR OF YOUR TIME. I WANT TO START BY ADDRESSING THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM. A LOT OF PEOPLE DID NOT THINK IT WAS APPROPRIATE FOR YOU TO BE HERE TODAY. YOU HAVE FALSE CLAIMS ABOUT SOME OF YOUR RIVALS, FROM NIKKI HALEY TO FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, SAYING THEY WERE NOT BORN IN THE UNITED STATES, WHICH IS NOT TRUE. YOU HAVE TOLD CONGRESSWOMEN OF COLOR WHO WERE AMERICAN CITIZENS TO GO BACK TO WHERE THEY CAME FROM. YOU HAVE USED WORDS LIKE ANIMAL AND RABBIT TO DESCRIBE BLACK DISTRICT ATTORNEYS. YOU HAVE ATTACKED BLACK JOURNALISTS, CALLING THEM LOSERS, SAYING THEIR QUESTIONS ARE STUPID AND RACIST. YOU HAVE HAD DINNER WITH A WHITE SUPREMACIST AT YOUR RESORT. MY QUESTION, NOW THAT YOU ARE ASKING BLACK SUPPORTERS TO VOTE FOR YOU -- WHY SHOULD BLACK VOTERS TRUST YOU AFTER YOU HAVE USED LANGUAGE LIKE THAT?
Trump responded by playing the victim.
FIRST OF ALL, I DON'T THINK I HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED A QUESTION IN SUCH A HORRIBLE MANNER, FIRST QUESTION. YOU DON'T EVEN SAY "HELLO, HOW ARE YOU." I THINK IT IS DISGRACEFUL THAT I CAME HERE IN GOOD SPIRIT. I LOVE THE BLACK POPULATION OF THIS COUNTRY. I HAVE DONE SO MUCH FOR THE BLACK POPULATION OF THIS COUNTRY.
Was this a case of getting under Trump’s skin and then the felon going off script, as some in the media have suggested?
Again, I’m not so sure.
The victim ploy has worked for Trump in the past. The tactic has always been underestimated by the media pundits.
At another point in his brief appearance Trump challenged Kamala Harris’ racial identity.
SHE WAS INDIAN ALL THE WAY, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, SHE MADE A TURN AND BECAME A BLACK PERSON. I THINK SOMEBODY SHOULD LOOK INTO THAT...
Defenders of Vice President Harris and the candidate herself condemned this as being divisive.
And indeed it was.
But for Trump that is a feature, not a bug.
To me this wasn’t a case of Trump being a loose canon.
He is carrying the MAGA plan to be divisive.
And then there was the part of the exchange that focused on DEI.
DEI are programs that encourage diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.
They are what we use to call affirmative action.
A recent attack line from the MAGAs has been that Harris is a “DEI hire.”
This “DEI hire” stuff suggests that those hired as a result of equity programs lack the abilities of white men.
White men who have benefited from preferential hiring practices for generations.
It might seem that the idea that Kamala Harris is less qualified than Trump to be president is laughable.
But the line of attack has proven to be effective.
It has even caused some progressive to run away from DEI and affirmative programs when instead they should proudly take ownership of them.