Donald Trump’s ill-conceived appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Wednesday was almost universally viewed as a complete disaster by everyone who doesn’t lay awake at night wishing they were wearing Trump’s hind parts as a noseguard. (I’m looking at you, Tim Scott.)
Source: CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP via Getty Images / Getty
There are a lot of reasons the scheduled Q&A session didn’t go well for anyone involved. Obviously, it was foolhardy to even expect that a productive discussion would be the result of an interview with someone who, in virtually every interview he has ever done, has proven that all he does is repeat easily disprovable lies, insult everyone he doesn’t like and throw temper tantrums the second he gets hit with any question he doesn’t want to answer. But there is another glaring reason Trump’s NABJ appearance was doomed from the start:
Trump doesn’t actually know anything about Black people.
On Thursday, Trump doubled down on his false claims that presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris hid her Black identity and only ever identified as Indian in the past—and he had the Tang-flavored caucasity to do so under the guise of celebrating Harris for her love of her “Indian heritage.”
“Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated,” Trump posted to his Truth Social platform along with an old photo of Harris with her family.
It’s unclear if Trump is trying to clean up his NABJ performance—which he would certainly be embarrassed by if he were capable of shame—or if he is just out here proving he’s a 78-year-old manchild by continuing to gaslight Harris, who responded to Trump’s original comments regarding her racial identity by calling it Trump’s “same old show” of “divisiveness.”
But it’s about more than just “divisiveness,” it’s an indication of why the division between Trump and “the Blacks” was already there.
Again, Trump doesn’t know us.
Here’s what I wrote about this previously:
He really thought he’d run the same talking points in front of NABJ’s audience that he does in front of his MAGA cult audiences.
He thought it would go over well with Black people when he whitesplained that Kamala Harris isn’t really Black, saying, “I didn’t know she was Black,” and that “she happened to turn Black” before he asked, “Is she Indian or is she Black?” If Trump actually knew Black people, he would have known how far out of his Caucasian lane he was by even questioning Harris’ Blackness at all.
Trump also thought calling Harris a “DEI” hire was going to go over as well with us as it does his caucasity-indoctrinated constituency of loud and proud racists as if Black people haven’t been clocking “DEI hire” as white people’s new version of the N-word.
He also didn’t know anything about the case of Sonya Massey, which Black media has covered extensively.
He thought it would go over well with Black people when he insisted that Jan. 6 convicts were victims of “two systems of justice.”
He thought he could run that stale and ahistorical line about how he was “the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” proving he knows nothing about Lincoln outside of the fact that the slaves were freed on his watch–and because of their own determination, not the 16th President’s.
After NABJ panelist Rachel Scott offended Trump by—*checks notes*—asking him about the words that had come out of his own mouth, Trump responded by whining about how “nasty” the question was and then he pivoted to what was essentially a Miss Millie “I’ve always been good to you people” rant. Trump defaulted to that narrative because he doesn’t know enough about Black people to understand that white savior complexes aren’t really a thing most of us find attractive.
Source: Robert Gauthier / Getty
Trump was deeply offended by Scott asking him about his history of racial antagonism, but he wasn’t so offended that he didn’t take to social media the very next day so he could continue being racially antagonistic.
Meanwhile, Trump’s focus on Harris’ racial identity is, apparently, really becoming a problem for the GOP.
From ABC News:
Trump allies in the Senate tried to focus less on the former president’s comments at NABJ — when he called Harris’ race into question — and instead pivoted to what they believe are his policy accomplishments in his first term.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close ally of the former president’s, said Trump would be better served focusing on policy.
Asked if it was appropriate for Trump to question Harris’ race, Graham replied: “No, I don’t think so.”
“I’ve known the vice president for a while, she has always embraced her heritage proudly as she should,” Graham said. “My problem with Vice President Harris is the policy choices she’s made. I think she’s live a consequential life, but on policy the country is on fire — the world is on fire and the country is in decline. And I think we need new leadership so so that will be my approach.”
Mind you, two years ago Graham was out here making it his Caucasian mission to promote Herschel Walker as MAGA America’s great Black hope who would Pied Piper Black children into becoming Republican voters, so it’s not like he’s above playing identity politics when it suits him, but whatever.
It’s not just Trump. Racist and sexist attacks on Harris have gotten so out of control in the MAGA world that Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson felt compelled to convene a closed-door meeting last week to warn his fellow GOP legislators to stop being racist and sexist.
November is coming, y’all. Get out and vote!