by April Ryan, BlackPressU.S.A., Washington Bureau Chief; White House correspondent
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) says it is “not” extending an invitation to President Donald Trump for its annual convention in Cleveland, just weeks away in August.
The association’s president, Ken Lemon, said: “The focus of this year’s convention is the organization’s 50th anniversary” as a Black journalists’ advocacy group.
Lemon spoke by phone to Black Press U.S.A., saying: “At this point, there is not a reason to invite President Trump this year.” Last year was a hard-fought presidential campaign year, where “journalists had the opportunity to vet the candidate. I don’t see the need to do that this time around,” said Lemon.
The irony for NABJ convention goers and other Black journalists is that they have witnessed a significant percentage of the organization’s membership lose hard-won jobs in the media industry as a direct result of the Trump administration’s anti-DEI stance. In addition to job losses, hiring freezes, decreased opportunities for workplace promotion, and increased restraints on editorial content and subject matter have become the new normal for many Black journalists, and journalists at large.
NABJ has a long history of inviting the sitting president to speak to its membership. Past invitees include then-President Bill Clinton, who accepted their invitation and attended a convention.
The NAACP has already announced it will not invite Trump to its Charlotte, North Carolina, convention this week.
The National Urban League is also not interested in having Trump appear at its convention in Cleveland next week. Marc Morial, president of the civil rights organization, says one reason for the ‘non-invite’ is that they have invited Trump to their convention five times during his previous administration, and he did not respond. Morial says the other reason is what happened with Trump and the Black journalists at last year’s NABJ convention.
That NABJ convention is where Trump infamously failed to fully comprehend the complexities of race in America and how they apply to then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump controversially stated that Harris had “all of a sudden turned Black.”
Errin Haines, who is one of several candidates challenging Lemon for the top seat at the NABJ, was asked if President Trump did any damage as a result of last year’s NABJ appearance. “He did damage to Black journalists and to Black America,” she said. “The way that interview was executed was not the opportunity for our membership that it was for him as a candidate.”
When asked about the decision not to invite the president, Dion Rebouin, also seeking the NABJ’s top post, said: “It makes sense, the way this administration has operated and the way it has dealt with Black journalists and Black people overall.”
“And also,” said Haines, “I lament that Vice President Harris, as the Democratic nominee, was not allowed to address our membership in the same week during our convention, even though she would have had to participate virtually, I think it still would have been a member benefit and something that should have been allowed in such a hugely consequential election.”
When asked for comment from the White House, Harrison Fields, principal deputy press secretary said: “The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is doing a disservice to its audience by engaging in petty and unprofessional antics, intent on making itself more relevant rather than prioritizing informed, balanced, and objective reporting. Black Americans rejected this level of bias and the Democrat talking points promoted by the NABJ, as demonstrated by the significant support for President Trump among Black voters.”
