The former president and ex-Apprentice TV host sat for an interview with Scott, Fox News' Harris Faulkner, and political reporter Kadia Goba in front of the NABJ membership — and wasted no time using offensive language to describe Scott.
At the top of the interview, Scott welcomed Trump to the stage and shook his hand. She then introduced herself by name, and said, "Nice meeting you," before Trump took a seat next to her and her peers. Scott then told Trump that "we so appreciate you giving us an hour of your time," before transitioning to her question.
"I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room, sir. A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today," she began. "You've pushed false claims about some of your rivals, to Nikki Haley, to former president Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You've told four congresswomen of color — who are American citizens — to go back to where they came form. You've used words like 'animal' and 'rabid' to describe Black district attorneys. You've attacked Black journalists, calling them a 'loser,' saying the questions they asked are stupid and racist.
You've had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So, my question, sir, now that you're asking Black supporters to vote for you, why should Black voters trust you, after you've used language like that?"
Trump answered by turning the focus to Scott.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner, first question. You don’t even say, ‘Hello, how are you?’ Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network, a terrible network. I think it’s disgraceful that I came here in good spirit," Trump replied, maintaining that he loves America's Black population, and that his policies — including work with Senator Tim Scott — reflect as much.
Trump then called Scott's question "a very rude introduction," and expressed shock over how he was presented to the crowd.
"I don’t know why you would do something like that. Let me go a step further: I was invited here, and I was told my opponent — whether it was [Joe] Biden or Kamala — I was told my opponent was going to be here. It turned out my opponent isn't here. You invited me under false pretense," he continued. "And then you here half-an-hour late. Just so we understand, I have too much respect for you to be late. They couldn't get their equipment working or something was wrong. I think it's a very nasty question."
After lightly debating with Scott about whether or not he was a better president for Black people than Lyndon B. Johnson, who signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, he again backtracked to cover Scott's initial question to him: "For you to start off a question-and-answer period, especially when you're 35 minutes late because you couldn't get your equipment to work, in such a hostile manner, I think it's a disgrace, I really do."
Trump repeatedly fell back on accusations that Scott was late to the event, at one point even alleging, "You're the one that held me up at 35 minutes" before the speaking engagement, and doubled down on the "very hostile, nasty tone" he said Scott used during the panel.
A source on the ground confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Trump demanded the NABJ not fact-check his answers live, which delayed the start time of the event.
Trump went onto cast doubts over Kamala Harris’s racial identity, falsely claiming his rival for the US presidency had been “Indian all the way” but later “became a Black person”.
The Republican candidate’s remarks and his claim to have been the best president for Black voters since Abraham Lincoln were met with consternation at the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual meeting in Chicago.
The former president was repeatedly heckled and booed by participants at the convention, underscoring his uphill battle to woo Black voters, who have traditionally supported Democratic candidates.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black. So I don’t know, is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump said of Harris, whose mother is Indian and father is Jamaican American.
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