The co-chair of this year’s National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention stepped down on Tuesday, just a day after the convention announced that Donald Trump would be appearing for a moderated conversation.
Karen Attiah, a Washington Post columnist, cited “a variety of factors” for her decision, although she didn’t directly link it to the group’s choice to host the former president. She did mention that she wasn’t consulted about Trump’s participation.
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Attiah hasn’t responded to requests for further comment. Her sudden departure comes right before the convention is set to begin, amid significant backlash over the plan to host Trump. He’s scheduled to participate in a moderated Q&A with ABC News reporter Rachel Scott, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner, and Semafor reporter Kadia Goba.
NABJ President Ken Lemon and convention co-chair Tia Mitchell have defended the decision on social media, emphasizing that it follows a tradition of inviting presidential candidates during an election year and offers Trump an opportunity to face questions from top Black journalists. Lemon also mentioned that Vice President Kamala Harris had been invited as well, though the Harris campaign hasn’t responded to requests for comment.
Mitchell, who is a Washington correspondent for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, addressed the criticism on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “Some of y’all need to take a step back and ask why you’re questioning why a group of JOURNALISTS wants to ask former and possibly future President Trump questions. Do you hear yourselves?”
However, many Black journalists have expressed their concerns on X, pointing to Trump’s history of racist comments and attacks on Black journalists. April Ryan, a White House reporter for The Grio and a 2017 NABJ “Journalist of the Year,” criticized the decision by highlighting the attacks she faced from Trump.
“The reports of attacks on Black women White House correspondents by the then-president of the United States are not myth or conjecture, but fact,” Ryan wrote on X. “To have a presumed orchestrated session with the former president is an affront to what this organization stands for and a slap in the face to the Black women journalists who had to protect themselves from his wrath.”
Femi Redwood, the chair of NABJ’s LGBTQ+ task force, expressed concern about the safety of queer and trans members, fearing that Trump’s invitation might attract his most aggressive supporters.
Jemele Hill, a contributing writer at The Atlantic, said she didn’t oppose the decision to host Trump in principle but questioned whether the conditions this year were appropriate. “A sham of an interview will destroy the organization’s credibility,” she wrote on X. “If the majority of NABJ’s membership is against Trump being there, the organization should listen. You have to answer to your membership and you run the risk of permanently disengaging folks. Trump isn’t worth that.”
