Trump talk to Black journalists conference prompts co-chair to quit

The co-chair of the annual National Association of Black Journalists convention stepped down Tuesday in apparent reaction to that group’s decision to have former President Donald Trump speak at its convention and career fair in Chicago on Wednesday, among other factors.

“To the journalists interviewing Trump, I wish them the best of luck,” NABJ24 convention co-chair Karen Attiah wrote in a social media post announcing her decision to resign her position. “For everyone else, I’m looking forward to meeting and reconnecting with all of you in the Windy City.”

“While my decision was influenced by a variety of factors, I was not involved or consulted with in any way with the decision to platform Trump in such a format,” wrote Attiah, a columnist for The Washington Post who writes about international affairs, culture and human rights issues.

Founded in 1975, NABJ is the largest association of journalists of color in the United States. Over the years it has hosted speakers who included then-presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

CNBC has requested comment from Attiah and from NABJ, as well as from a spokesman for Trump’s presidential campaign about Attiah’s announcement.

Tia Mitchell, the Washington correspondent for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in her own post on X responded to controversy over Trump’s appearance, saying she helped arrange the event as a chair member of NABJ’s political task force.

“I helped make this call. And it’s in line with invitations NABJ has sent to every presidential candidate for decades,” wrote Mitchell in that X post. “But continue to go off on your feed. I’ll continue to work to create opportunities for journalists to interview the potential next President.”

Mitchell’s post was only visible to users who she had given access to.

NABJ on Monday announced that the Republican nominee Trump would “participate in a conversation with journalists” at the convention before attendees.

The group said the event with Trump will be moderated by Rachel Scott, the senior congressional correspondent for ABC News, Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, anchor of The Faulkner Focus and co-host of Outnumbered, and Semafor politics reporter Kadia Goba.

NABJ said it has also invited the Democratic Party’s de-facto presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, to speak at the convention. “Her confirmation is pending,” the group said.

Harris’s father is Black, and her mother was born in India. If elected president, she would be the first woman and the first South Asian person elected president.

During his presidency, Trump was criticized for making racist remarks when he referred to Haiti and African nations as “s—hole countries” during a meeting with senators at the White House in 2018.

Trump’s nephew Fred…