August 1, 2024
On Trump's performance at the NABJ convention...
Yesterday, former president Trump sat down for an interview at a convention for the National Association of Black Journalists. By all accounts, it did not go well. Somehow, I heard more of the questions than I did of Trump’s answers and so, assuming Trump just never answered the questions, my plan for today had been to write what I thought he should have said. I intended to mention legislation he signed to create opportunity zones and increase funding for HBCUs, as well as the fact that minority unemployment hit an all-time low on his watch. These are laudable accomplishments worth touting and remembering so they can continue to benefit minority communities.
Watching the interview, though, I saw Trump did list these achievements. He just happened to rattle them off between complaints on a question’s framing (which was fair and foreseeable), comments on the venue’s audio (which seemed fine), a pronouncement he did more for black Americans than any president since Lincoln (which is debatable), and a claim that Vice President Harris ignored her black heritage before she embraced it (which is disprovable). Safe to say, he’s not his best messenger.
He is his worst enemy, though. Because, in addition to the disaster of yesterday and despite his objective accomplishments, he also has on his ledger promoting conspiracies about President Obama’s birthplace, having dinner with a known white supremacist, and intentionally mispronouncing Kamala Harris’ name. (I left out the “very fine people” comment since, as is underreported, he added moments later in the same press scrabble, “…I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists — because they should be condemned totally...”) The list of provocations goes on. It’s all fair game. And for what?
Trump’s behavior (whether it’s rooted in aggression, racism, a desire to troll, or a need for attention, I honestly don’t know) and his inability to apologize have blunted a potentially compelling message. Now, it’s possible he never made the inroads with black voters that the polls were suggesting. After yesterday, though, I’m not sure we’ll ever know.
The full interview is today’s link. It’s worth watching.