Fox News’ Harris Faulkner said much of the audience enjoyed former President Trump’s interview at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) annual convention on Wednesday, despite what she described as “a little discord in the platform.”
Faulkner — who co-moderated the event with ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Semafor’s Kadia Goba — joined Fox News’ Martha MacCallum after the interview to describe the dynamics inside the room, where Trump’s combative tone sometimes evoked a negative and excited response from the public.
Asked for her “behind the scenes” look at some of the heated moments, Faulkner first noted some of the pre-interview reactions from NABJ members who disagreed that the association should conduct an interview with Trump. see that participants were satisfied with Trump’s acceptance.
“What the nation has seen is an incredible increase in journalists here supposedly upset that Donald Trump was coming – some of them. And we really hadn’t heard from some of them,” Faulkner said, referring to the journalists present at the convention. “So what I loved about what you didn’t get to see today was how much the audience was enjoying the moment of hearing from a candidate they didn’t always agree with.”
“So despite all this resistance, the young journalists I’m talking to after the event are saying, ‘Well, we’re glad he’s here,’” Faulkner added.
Faulkner later acknowledged that “things got a little hectic” when the former president avoided questions and attributed some of the discord to technical problems that Faulkner said made it difficult for those on stage to hear.
“As for the former president answering questions, Martha, you and I interviewed him. It’s an interesting journey you take, but you’ve got to keep pushing,” Faulkner told MacCallum.
“And there was a little bit of controversy on the podium about whether or not he could listen, and when he could listen, he would answer the question,” she continued, referring to Trump.
Faulkner noted the audience’s lively responses, appearing to choose his words carefully as he slowed down his speech as he described what he saw.
“In terms of the audience shouting back and having some reaction to it, it was, at times, agitated,” Faulkner said. “But for the most part, they were laughing and they were getting something they hadn’t had before this, and that was an outlet for a man they see a lot on TV but don’t know much about his politics.”
Trump’s performance during his NABJ interview was widely criticized by Democrats, as Trump grappled with difficult questions about his record, berated a black moderator on the panel for using a “hostile” and “nasty” tone, and questioned his presumptive nominee’s heritage. democrat. opponent, Vice President Harris.
“She has always been of indigenous heritage. And she was just promoting indigenous heritage. I didn’t know she was black until a few years ago when she became black. And now she wants to be known as black,” Trump said of Harris. “So, I don’t know, is she Indian or black?”
“She has always identified as a black woman,” Scott interrupted.
“But you know what, I respect any of them,” Trump said. “But she obviously doesn’t want to. Because she was Indian all along and suddenly she took a turn. And she became a black person. And I think someone should look into this.”
Harris is Indian-American and African-American. His mother emigrated from India and his father emigrated from Jamaica. She also attended Howard University, a historically black university in Washington, D.C., where she was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
