America News Agency

At a contentious and chaotic panel discussion organized by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) on Wednesday, Donald Trump repeated misinformation about immigration and abortion, questioned Kamala Harris' race, and accused panel moderator Rachel Scott, ABC News' senior congressional correspondent, of being “rude” in her question to him and presenting an “ugly question,” The Guardian reported: “Why should black voters trust you?”

The session, which earlier this week drew a backlash from Black journalists citing the former president's anti-Black, anti-journalist and anti-democracy record, drew jeers, laughter and heckling from attendees as Trump dodged many of the moderators' questions.

Trump arrived more than an hour late to the panel moderated by Scott, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner and Semafor political reporter Kadia Goba. According to HuffPost, Trump demanded that NABJ organizers not do live fact-checking during the debate and got into a “standoff” with organizers before the event took place.  A live fact-check of Trump's comments went ahead as planned.

The conversation began with Scott asking why Black voters should trust Trump given his repeated inflammatory comments about Black people.

“First of all, I don't think I've ever been asked a question in such a horrible way,” Trump said before asking if Scott was from the “fake news network” ABC News. When he then attacked Scott, a viewer shouted back in his defence.

Trump added the following: "I think it's a shame that I came here in good faith, I love the black population of this country, I've done so much for the black population of this country. I think this is a very rude introduction.”

He continued: “I have been the best president for the Black population since Abraham Lincoln,” which drew boos and applause.

Throughout the panel discussion, Trump invoked much of his previous rhetoric against Black voters.
He repeated his unsubstantiated claim that undocumented immigrants were planning to take “Black jobs,” a claim that has been denounced by many as racist.

Scott then asked Trump about Republicans' claims that Harris is a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) expert to replace Joe Biden.
In response, Trump claimed that Harris had suddenly “become a Black woman” and previously identified only with her Native American heritage. “Native American or Black?” Trump said to audible gasps from the audience. “I respect both, but obviously she doesn't respect either because she was Native American all along and then all of a sudden she's a Black woman.”

Scott said Trump's claim was not true, that Harris had always identified herself as Black and that she attended Howard University, a historically Black university in Washington DC.

Speaking at a sorority house in Houston, Texas, on Wednesday evening, Harris dismissed Trump's comments as “the same old show.”

“We all remember what those four years were like here, and today they reminded us once again of divisiveness and disrespect,” she said. “The American people deserve better: a leader who tells the truth. A leader who does not respond with hostility and anger when confronted with the facts. A leader who understands that our differences do not divide us.”