Trump created an illusion that Black people revere him. Then reality hit | Opinion

Those of us within the National Association of Black Journalists have a duty to inform the public on issues, especially during election season.

But at this point, former President Donald Trump is as stale as the Flaming Hot Cheetos in my kitchen cupboard. By now, we all know who he is. We’re not going to get a new, updated version of a guy who has been race-baiting Black people for decades.

I was disappointed with NABJ leaders for inviting Trump to speak at the NABJ convention in Chicago last week and I wasn’t alone. Karen Attiah, a columnist with the Washington Post, cited the Trump spectacle as one of the reasons why she stepped down as co-chair of NABJ a day before the interview began.

Opinion

Before stepping on the Chicago stage on Thursday, Trump was riding high on the idea that Black Americans were highly in favor of him. From creating a sneaker to being a convicted felon, Trump seemed to believe his narrative was relatable to the Black community.

As anyone who hasn’t been in seclusion knows by now, that fantasy imploded while answering the first question by Rachel Scott of ABC News.

“A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today,” Scott began the question. “You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying that they were not born in the United States. You have told four congresswomen of color who are American citizens to go back where they came from. You have 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 White Supremacists at your Mar-a-Lago resort. Why should Black voters trust after using language like that?”

Don’t get it twisted, Black people keep their receipts and Trump has accumulated a lot in the eight years he’s been in the political spotlight.

Trump’s inability to answer the questions with anything approaching honest human emotions made this interview look like a complete debacle.

Trump doesn’t stand on business

Instead of persuading Black voters who sometimes skew conservative. Trump’s answer, as expected as it was, gave the crowd in Chicago a clear look into a man whose leadership is based on grifting. He scolded Scott for being rude, and said he was the best President for Blacks since Abraham Lincoln.

Had Trump been a leader who does more than appease his base, he would’ve fallen on his sword and apologized for his past transgressions. But that is not who he is.

The Black voter is smart, engaged and not easy to grift. Trump seemed to think that if he played his greatest hits of “Border, jobs and Woke Democrats” it would win over Black voters. He has gotten used to being on stage in front of thousands of Trump cronies who are captivated by his every word. In Chicago, he came face to face with Black journalists who were well-educated and didn’t fall for his tricks.

America is in for a weird election

Then, in front of this audience, he said his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, “happened to turn Black.” to appeal to Black voters. Harris is the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants. She is Black and she is Indian. But Trump used this as an attack because it appears he doesn’t have anything else of substance to say about her.

His appeal to Black voters was a joke, one that only he was in on. My fellow NABJ members in the ballroom (I watched from Sacramento) understand the Trump we saw in Chicago.

Trump is a racist and has been for years. What kind of person downplays a white supremacist protest in Charlottesville or refuses to apologize for calling the death penalty for five Black men in New York who were falsely accused of rape more than 30 years ago. A racist, that’s who.

He passed up an opportunity to reconcile with the Black community, or at least start on that path. If Trump beats Harris in November, it will be because enough voters - including some in the Black community - believed the lies Trump tells, including the one that sneakers, felonies and capitalist greed define Black culture..