Politics
Trump Barely Mentions Chicago in Combative Appearance at Convention of Black Journalists
The last time former President Donald Trump traveled to Chicago, he called the city’s crime rate “embarrassing” and insulted its top cop as incompetent.
But on Wednesday, the Republican nominee for president mentioned Chicago only once during a panel discussion at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention at the Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue.
Instead, Trump falsely questioned the race of Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, and blasted ABC News’ Rachel Scott, who moderated the discussion, as “horrible,” “rude” and “nasty.”
Asked about the fatal police shooting of Sonya Massey in Springfield by former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson, Trump decried the violence that took place in Chicago on July 4. Grayson has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder.
More than 100 people were shot, including 19 who were killed, during shooting attacks in Chicago over the extended Fourth of July weekend, according to Chicago Police Department data.
“By the way, Chicago as an example, a few weeks ago, July 4th weekend, had 117 shootings and 17 deaths,” Trump said, misstating the number of shootings and killings. “Nobody wants that. Nobody wants that.”
Trump appeared to link demands that police officers who commit misconduct be held accountable with Massey’s slaying, which he said “didn’t look good.”
“We need to have our police officers have their respect and dignity back,” Trump said.
Pressed about his call to give police officers immunity from prosecution, Trump said he was not familiar with the specifics of Massey’s death, which sparked widespread, nationwide media attention. Both Harris and President Joe Biden condemned her death in lengthy statements.
“There’s a big difference between being a bad person and making an innocent mistake,” Trump said. “Sometimes you have less than a second to make a life-and-death decision, and sometimes very bad decisions are made. They’re not made from an evil standpoint, but they’re made from the standpoint of ‘they’ve made a mistake.’”
Scott began the panel after a delay of nearly an hour by asking Trump about his long history of making racist statements and evidence that he has repeatedly treated Black people differently than those of other races.
Scott followed up with a question about whether Trump considered Harris “a DEI hire,” referring to diversity, equity and inclusion, and asked whether he thought she was set to become the Democratic nominee for president only because of her race and gender.
Trump falsely said Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, had in the past only promoted her Indian heritage.
Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother who immigrated to the United States. Harris is a graduate of Howard University, one of the nation’s most prestigious historically Black colleges and universities and is a member of the historically Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. While a senator representing California, Harris belonged to the Congressional Black Caucus.
“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, drawing gasps from the packed ballroom.
Trump launched his political career after spending years falsely saying that former President Barack Obama, a Chicagoan and the nation’s first Black president, was not born in the United States.
Just 8% of Black voters supported Trump over Biden in 2020, but a series of polls showed Biden losing ground to Trump among Black voters before the president dropped his bid for a second term. Those polls have fueled Trump’s efforts to win a larger share of votes from Black voters, making the NABJ convention an attractive opportunity for the former president to showcase his policies designed to help Black Americans.
“I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” Trump said.
Trump also sought to capitalize on tensions surrounding immigration by saying undocumented immigrants are “taking Black jobs.”
When Scott pressed Trump on what constituted a “Black job,” Trump responded by saying “any job,” another moment that caused the crowd to gasp.
More than 45,600 people, many fleeing violence and economic collapse in Venezuela, have made their way to Chicago since August 2022. That has strained the city’s social safety net, ballooned the city’s budget shortfall and exacerbated tension between Chicago’s Black and Latino communities.
Most migrants have arrived in Chicago on buses paid for by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, to boost Trump’s reelection campaign and divide Democratic voters.
“My message is to stop people from invading our country,” Trump said. “The Black population is affected most by that, and Kamala is allowing it to happen.”
Although the panel was scheduled to last an hour, Scott announced that Trump’s team demanded the session end after approximately 35 minutes. No explanation was given.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
