He trash-talked a journalist to her face in front of a roomful of her peers. He rattled off childish insults. He trafficked in racial tropes. While former President Donald J. Trump’s interview with a group of Black journalists on Wednesday left the room — and the internet — gasping, it was exactly the sort of thing his supporters will love.
And he seemed to know it.
From the jump, Mr. Trump fumed that one of his interviewers, Rachel Scott of ABC News, had not paid him the respect that he felt he deserved — “You don’t even say hello, how are you?” — and his adversarial posture was set. He complained that the interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference started late. He disparaged Ms. Scott and one of her colleagues (“George Slopadapoulos”). He refused to cede an inch, on any topic, whether it was his desire to pardon those convicted of crimes for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021, or his call to grant immunity to police officers.
Mr. Trump claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival for the White House, had adopted a Black identity for political reasons. Ms. Harris’s mother was an immigrant from India, and her father is from Jamaica. Although Ms. Harris has long identified as Black, Mr. Trump said, pointing to no evidence, that she had made a “turn” and “became a Black person.”
This idea has been circulating for weeks in right-wing circles and among the people who attend his rallies. But Mr. Trump’s willingness to just go ahead and spit it out — and to do so in this setting — is exactly the sort of thing that keeps his supporters in thrall. It was ugly conjecture, delivered unashamedly.
His refusal to modulate or soften is what makes him so beloved among his fans, but it is also what repels others. Fewer than 100 days from Election Day, at a time when another candidate would surely be looking to expand his appeal, Mr. Trump still largely lives in the closed loop of his movement, feeding off the affirmation from his fans.
Shortly after the interview, he posted his version of the afternoon’s events on Truth Social: “The questions were Rude and Nasty, often in the form of a statement, but we CRUSHED IT!” he wrote.
A chorus of fans agreed. Later, he posted a screenshot of a post from Amber Rose, an influencer and newly prominent Trump campaign surrogate to Black voters.
“President Trump is absolutely crushing this interview with @NABJ,” she wrote, including several flame emojis.
“Thank you, Amber!” Mr. Trump replied.
As he set off for a campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa., scheduled for later in the day, he continued to post plaudits he had received from other supporters for his performance on Wednesday afternoon. It all made for tremendous content.
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