Trump invite sparks fierce infighting within Black journalist group

• President Biden addressed a virtual conference between the NABJ and NAHJ in 2020.
• Hillary Clinton spoke at a joint conference between the NABJ and the National Association for Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) in 2016.
• Former President Obama spoke at a Unity conference amongst four journalism diversity groups, including NABJ, in 2008.

Catch up quick: NABJ announced Trump's participation at the conference Monday evening, drawing swift pushback from NABJ members and journalists broadly.

• Trump will be interviewed on Wednesday at noon CST by a panel of Black journalists, including ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott, Fox News host Harris Faulkner and Semafor reporter Kadia Goba.
• The focus of the discussion is on the most "pressing issues facing the black community," per NABJ. The Trump campaign confirmed his participation in a statement.

State of play: "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," Attiah said.

• The conference co-chair Tia Michell reportedly defended the decision to invite Trump, posting on X, "I helped make this call. And it's in line with invitations NABJ has sent to every presidential candidate for decades." (Her post is limited in visibility to only select followers on X.)

Zoom in: An Instagram post from NABJ on Monday has racked up over 800 comments from members and onlookers of NABJ who are expressing frustration either with Trump's participation or with the pushback against it.

• Some factions within the group argue NABJ shouldn't veer from the tradition of offering the speaking slot to candidates, just because it's Trump.
• Others argue Trump poses a unique threat to journalists of color, especially Black women, and shouldn't be allowed to speak.

The intrigue: NABJ President Ken Lemon told Axios the organization put out the call months ago to "both candidates and one candidate responded."

• "There was a point when we were certain Biden and Trump were both going to say yes," he said, noting that Biden dropped out. The organization has been in contact with the Harris camp over the past nine days, but they did not have a commitment as of Tuesday.

The Biden campaign agreed to join before the president dropped out of the race, a source told Axios.

• Harris was offered an in-person interview (no virtual options) when she became the presumptive nominee, but the campaign and NABJ came to an impasse over scheduling.
• Lemon said an in-person interview is available Wednesday-Sunday.
• Zoom out: NABJ's membership has been split on the decision to invite Trump. Lemon pointed out that they have, traditionally, asked both candidates to attend the convention.
• He said he "can appreciate people feeling disappointed."
• "In fairness to everyone, we're a 501(c)(3). No one is paying us to come. We are going to ask the hard questions. It is important for us to get the answers."

Lemon said the outcome dramatically differs from former President Trump's initial request — a rally and then some questions. NABJ held firm because they wanted to have a panel.

• "He gave us names. We came with names. We said no multiple times to get to this place."

The big picture: The hyper-polarizing political environment has challenged decades-old traditions from journalism organizations that have not shied from controversial newsmakers in the past.

• The late Lou Dobbs' participation at the 2006 NAHJ convention also drew controversy.

The bottom line: NABJ leaders argue Trump's participation allows members of the Black journalism community to ask the former president tough questions and hold him accountable for his record on race.

Editor's note: Axios' Senior Justice and Race reporter Russell Contreras and Manager Editor for Local Delano Massey are NABJ members.