It's wasn't levity that spurred attendees of the National Association of Black Journalists convention to laugh at former President Donald Trump, one attendee says.
Huffington Post senior editor Philip Lewis Thursday detailed to MSNBC viewers the strange "vibe" he felt at the Chicago convention as Trump fielded questions in what Lewis called a campaign "train wreck."
"Trump came in and, from the get, positioned himself as a victim," Lewis said. "The laughter was really laughter of disbelief."
Lewis described audible gasp and laughter from the audience as Trump sputtered in indignation at a hard-hitting question from ABC correspondent Rachel Scott, claimed he was the best president for Black Americans since Abraham Lincoln, and questioned Vice President Kamala Harris' race.
"He folded under these reporters, these journalists, their questions, which were appropriate," Lewis said. "[The questions] got right to the heart of the matter of what Black voters want to know."
Trump's invitation to the event caused an uproar among NABJ members who argued the group should not have provided the former president a platform to attack Black journalists, as Scott noted in her opening question he had in the past, and as viewers saw him do again Wednesday, Lewis said.
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"A lot of people were like, 'What is the point of even having this person that is clearly an adversary to black journalists,'" said Lewis. "Rightfully so. We saw for ourselves how he responded and how he responded to the Black women who were on stage."
Trump called Scott's manner "horrible" and "rude" then claimed ABC was a "fake news network."
Lewis pushed back at Trump's claim that audio issues made it difficult to hear the questions.
"I could hear him well enough, everyone around me could hear him well enough," said Lewis. "I was told from a source there was a lot of pushback from Trump and his team about the live fact-checking.
"I don't think there were a lot of issues with the audio."
