Former President Donald Trump is complaining that Black reporters were “rude and nasty” to him, after a tense exchange at the National Association of Black Journalists Conference in Chicago on Wednesday.
Trump, who called ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott “very rude” for asking “nasty” questions, held the line in his long tradition of attacking reporters, especially women and journalists of color, throughout the 37-minute Q&A.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question so . . . in such a horrible manner,” Trump said after Scott asked him why Black voters should back him given his past use of racially charged language.
Trump is still mad at Rachel Scott, who he refers to as "this woman" and "very rude" and "nasty." pic.twitter.com/9ycnjYjeRQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 31, 2024
In a post to Truth Social, Trump doubled down and slammed reporters at the gathering of Black journalists for questions that dug into his repeated attacks on Black Americans, Vice President Harris’s racial identity, and his associations with white supremacists.
“The questions were Rude and Nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!” the former President wrote in the post to Truth Social.
Scott faced a barrage of attacks aimed at her, ABC News, and the event organizers themselves, who Trump claimed “invited [him] under false pretense” and delayed his appearance.
Trump, who faced scrutiny from reporters over his support of blanket police immunity, denied an opportunity to walk back such a proposal, even as reporters asked whether the Illinois police deputy who killed Sonya Massey — charged with murder — should receive such immunity.
“I don’t know the exact case, but I saw something and it didn’t look good to me, with the water,” Trump said, offering that it would “depend” whether the sheriff who shot and killed Massey should receive legal protections.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Trump blasted “certain hostile members of the media” present at the NABJ conference, adding that asking critical questions of the president “will be their undoing in 2024.”
