Black journalists challenge Trump on race

Former President Donald Trump took part in a tense panel Q&A Wednesday afternoon at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago. ABC’s Rachel Scott skipped greetings and directly questioned the former president about past comments he made questioning the national origins of his political rivals and telling several members of Congress to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came.”

Trump said his administration gave the black population the best treatment since President Abraham Lincoln. He cited the aid his administration awarded to historically black colleges and universities and his program with Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., to boost black entrepreneurship. He said he would continue supporting black families and lower the cost of living by lowering the price of energy through drilling. He accused Harris of hiding her Jamaican-American heritage in the past and then trying to leverage it for political clout with black voters. Harris’ father is Jamaican and her mother is Indian. The White House and the Harris campaign condemned Trump’s remarks, calling them insulting.

Did Harris attend the conference? The presumptive Democratic nominee did not appear at the Illinois event but planned to appear via Zoom for a similar Q&A. On Tuesday night, she appeared at a rally in Atlanta alongside rapper Megan Thee Stallion, who performed a sexually explicit rap and dance while praising Harris for her pro-abortion stance. Earlier this year, Harris became the first U.S. vice president to make a public visit to an abortion facility.

Dig deeper: Read my report about Harris’ appearance on the reality TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race.