July 31 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump told a three-member panel of Black journalists that he'll close the border and "drill, baby, drill" on day one to drive down inflation if elected.
He also questioned Vice President Kamala Harris' racial identity and said his presidency did much to benefit Black Americans.
Trump appeared at the National Association of Black Journalists 2024 convention at the Hilton in Chicago on Wednesday for a question-and-answer session before a live audience.
The three journalists on the panel were Rachel Scott of ABC News, Kadia Goba of Semafor and Harris Faulkner of Fox News.
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Scott opened the session by asking Trump why Black voters should trust him and accused him of referring to Blacks as "thugs" and defending "white supremacists," to which he took exception at what he called a lack of civility on Scott's part.
"I've never been asked a question in such a horrible manner," Trump told Scott. "Are you with ABC?"
Trump then answered her question.
"I love the Black population of this country and have done much for the Black community," Trump said.
He said historically black colleges and universities were in financial trouble during his presidency, but he ensured they received the federal funding needed to stay open and continue serving mostly Black student populations.
Trump also told Scott he was expecting presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris would be at the session.
"I was told my opponent would be here," Trump told Scott. "You invited me via false pretense."
Goban asked Trump if he considers Harris to be a "DEI hire," to which Trump asked her to define DEI.
She said "diversity, equity and inclusion," which Trump said is not a definition.
"I've known [Harris] a long time and she was promoting her Indian heritage," Trump said. "Now she is identifying as Black. Is she Indian or Black?"
Faulkner managed to restore a level of civility and generally led the questioning after Trump's tense exchanges with Scott and, to a lesser extent, Goban.
"What is your message today?" Faulkner asked.
"Stop people from invading our country," Trump said of illegal border crossings while Biden has been president.
"Millions and millions of people ... are taking employment away from Black people," Trump told the reporters. "They are taking Black jobs, Hispanic jobs and union jobs."
"She's the border czar," he said of Harris. "She's done a horrible job."
The questioning segued into a discussion regarding consumer debt and a recent 52% rise in people seeking counseling for credit debt.
"Inflation is absolutely destroying our middle class, our working class [and] every other class," Trump said. "Inflation is a country-buster. It's been devastating."
He said interest rates went from 2.4% to 10% under the Biden administration and "people can't buy houses."
"Inflation is a disaster and it's destroying our country and it's destroying the Black community," Trump said. "We need to bring down the cost of energy and inflation."
Trump said Biden and Harris "have bad policies -- open borders [and] horrible energy policies. They want to get rid of cars, oil, heating energy -- but the inflation is the thing that's hurting the Black worker, the Black population and every other population in our country."
Trump also likened Harris replacing Biden as the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee to "replacing a prize fighter who is losing a fight" after the fight began.
Goban pivoted the discussion to law enforcement and asked why an officer should have immunity for shooting someone.
"It depends on what happens," Trump said. "I'm talking about people in much different situations."
Trump said police sometimes have less than a second to make a life-and-death decision.
"They aren't made from an evil standpoint but are made from a mistake," he said regarding some police shootings.
Trump turned his answer into a discussion on his recent trials.
"I've been prosecuted because I am a political opponent of the people who run our justice system," he said.
"Biden had 50 years' worth of documents but never was president" when he obtained them, Trump said. "They released him on the basis he is incompetent."
He said he won his classified documents case, which he called "an attack on a political opponent."
Scott asked Trump if a recent comment by running mate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, regarding childless "cat ladies" attacked the choices people are making to not have children.
"He is very family-oriented," Trump responded. "He thinks the family experience is a very important thing."
"That doesn't mean that you don't have a family, there's something wrong with it," he added.
"I chose him because he's a very strong believer in work ... and the working man and woman who have been treated very unfairly," Trump said.
"He's a very smart guy who doesn't have a family that's been [politically] connected," he said, adding that vice presidential candidates have virtually no impact on presidential elections.
"You're voting for the president," he said.
Goba asked if the GOP is "getting too judgy about people's lives."
"The Democrat Party is the one that has the problem," Trump answered. "They are radical on abortion. They are allowing abortion in the eighth or ninth month [of pregnancy.]"
"We're bringing it back to the states where everybody wanted it," he said, adding that he believes in three exceptions regarding any potential limits on abortion. Those exceptions are rape, incest and endangering the life of the mother.
Gogan asked if Trump is up to the task of being president when he turns 82 in four years.
"Some of the greatest leaders in the world are in their 80s," he said, adding he is "absolutely willing to step down ... if I thought I was failing in some way."
"I want anybody running for president to take an aptitude test to take a cognitive test," he said. "I would like to have something passed so we can do it."
Scott raised the matter of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, during which she said 140 police officers were assaulted and Trump saying he would pardon those convicted of participating in the event.
"Were those patriots who deserved pardons?" she asked.
"We just had an attack on the Capitol -- they viciously attacked our government," Trump said of the pro-Palestinian protesters who converged on Washington, D.C., during and after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit last week.
"They fought with police," he said. "What's going to happen to those people? What's going to happen to the people in Portland?" he asked in reference to ongoing political riots and violence in 2020.
"How come nothing happened to those in Minneapolis, Seattle?" he asked.
"They shot a young lady in the face" at the Capitol, Trump said. The Department of Justice "went after the J-6 people with a vengeance."
"What about the police ushering people into the Capitol?" he asked. "People five days ago were desecrating our monuments in D.C."
Faulkner asked Trump what he would do on day one of his new presidency if he is elected.
He said he would close the border and "drill, baby, drill" to provide more energy resources for the nation and "bring energy rates way down, bring inflation way down."
"Your grocery bills are up 50, 60%," Trump said. "We have more liquid gold, gasoline and oil -- than any other nation."
He said he wants to use the nation's natural resources to lower energy prices and inflation while stemming the tide of illegal border crossings.
"They're mandating that you buy an all-electric car," Trump said of the Biden administration. "I'm against everybody having an electric car."
The question-and-answer session ended abruptly as time expired.
Trump's appearance at the NABJ caused a backlash within the NABJ's ranks.
NABJ24 convention co-chair Karen Attiah on Tuesday resigned her position after learning Trump would address the convention.
Attiah announced her resignation from the convention in a post on X and said she wasn't consulted or involved in the "decision to platform Trump in such a manner."
Organizers for the Black Voters Matter Fund called Trump's invite to the convention a "slap in the face to every Black journalist and the communities we serve."
The group said, "Trump has spent years demonizing Black people, from calling us thugs to defending white supremacists" and claimed he "tried to erase our votes and our voices."
NABJ President Ken Lemon on social media said the association invites the presidential nominees from both major political parties to attend the NABJ every election year.
The NABJ invited Vice President Kamala Harris to attend a September event either virtually or in person but wasn't available for Wednesday's event due to logistical issues related to attending the funeral for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas.
The Texas congresswoman died on July 19 and has her funeral scheduled Thursday in Houston.
Although Harris did not attend the NABJ event Wednesday, her campaign's communications director, Michael Tyler, called Trump's appearance a "tirade" in a prepared statement afterward.
"Trump lobbed personal attacks and insults at Black journalists the same way he did throughout his presidency -- while he failed Black families and left the entire country digging out of the ditch he left us in," Tyler said. "Donald Trump has already proven he cannot unite America, so he attempts to divide us."
"Today's tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump's MAGA rallies this entire campaign," Tyler said.
Tyler said the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 is Trump's "agenda on the American people."
Trump repeatedly has denied any connection with Project 2025 despite efforts by Biden and Harris to claim it is his agenda.
Trump has called some its ideas " absolutely ridiculous and abysmal."
Project 2025 and Heritage Foundation director Paul Dans on Tuesday announced his resignation after receiving backlash from Trump and others regarding the 922-page document.
Meanwhile, running mate Vance is scheduled to hold a campaign rally in Glendale, Ariz., Wednesday.
"The Democrats' pro-criminal and open border policies are wreaking havoc on the streets of Arizona," the Trump campaign said in a news release announcing Vance's visit.
Vance afterward will tour the southern border with Mexico in Cochise County with Sheriff Mark Dannels likely leading the border tour.
