Joy Reid slams Donald Trump’s performance at black journalists’ convention, calling it ‘trash,’ but some viewers say it backfired

MSNBC’s Joy Reid slammed former President Donald Trump’s remarks at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) conference, calling his speech “trash.”

Trump was invited to satisfy with Rachel Scott of ABC News, Harris Faulkner of Fox News and Kadia Goba, a political reporter for Semafor, for a question-and-answer session throughout the convention in Chicago on Wednesday.

But it was not a constructive conversation.

Trump largely avoided answering moderators’ questions directly, preferring as an alternative to insult panelists, making inflammatory and demeaning statements concerning the racial identity of his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, falsely claiming that Harris “failed the bar exam” to change into a lawyer, and boasting that he was the “best president” for black Americans since Abraham Lincoln — all points that Reid sharply criticized.

“A dumpster fire. That might be the only appropriate way to describe what happened today when NABJ hosted Donald Trump,” Reid said on Wednesday’s episode of “The ReidOut.”

ABC’s Scott opened the discussion by asking why Trump thinks black Americans should trust him when he has made vitriolic remarks about black congresswomen, journalists and district attorneys up to now.

“Well, first of all, I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me a question in such a horrible way, first question,” Trump replied. “You don’t even say, ‘Hi, how are you?’ Are you from ABC?” he asked Scott. “Because I think it’s a fake news network, a horrible network.”

The attacks on Vice President Harris got here shortly after when he was asked why many conservatives and Republicans still confer with Harris as a “DEI staffer” and query her qualifications for the leadership position.

“She’s always been of Indian descent. She’s just promoted Indian descent. I didn’t know she was black until a few years ago when she became black,” he said. “And now she wants to be known as black. Is she Indian or black?”

Reid slammed those comments on Wednesday’s show.

“First of all, no, Donald. You’re not the best president for black people since Abraham Lincoln,” Reid began. “Not even close. For example, you like to claim that you have the lowest unemployment rates for black people when in fact, you have the lowest unemployment rates for black people under President Biden. Second, Vice President Kamala Harris is black. She’s always identified as black. Her father is black.”

“Kamala Harris absolutely passed the bar exam,” Reid added. “That’s how she became the district attorney of San Francisco and the attorney general of the state of California. And a successful prosecutor. Donald, that’s how she’s going to beat you in the next debate, if you’re not too chicken to show up.”

Reid also corrected Trump’s false statement throughout the panel that the Democratic Party allows “abortion in the ninth month” of pregnancy and “the death of a child after birth.”

“And finally, while we’ve debunked this myth many times on this show, we have to say, once again, no, Democrats do not support killing babies after they’re born,” Reid emphasized. “It’s called infanticide. It’s very, very illegal. A word you know a lot about, Donald, given your 34-count felony conviction, also illegal, for having an abortion on demand in the ninth month of pregnancy. Which — as an idea — is actually crazy.”

Trump’s invitation to the convention was viewed as controversial by many journalists who feared the previous president would use the panel discussion to deliver disturbing and over-the-top speeches on necessary issues.

Reid summed up her thoughts on his speech in a direct message to the NABJ board: “You fell for it.”

“Donald Trump came to the convention for exactly three reasons,” Reid said. “To try to dispel the idea that he’s afraid to debate a black woman…to steal the spotlight that Vice President Kamala Harris has taken away from him because she’s just more interesting and her support is more joyful and more embedded in popular American culture…to create clips to play for his very white, very right-wing MAGA fan base where he stands up for black people.”

“Trump has let himself be fooled. We’ve all seen his true colors come through,” one viewer wrote on MSNBC’s YouTube channel. “The NABJ interview showed Trump being himself. He’s done more good than you might think. The nation is watching this uncensored, and we’re all repulsed.”

But some of the popular reactions made Reid realize one necessary thing.

“Comparing Trump to a trash can is an insult to trash cans.”