WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Askume) – Black journalists will have a chance to press U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris about her plans in interviews on Tuesday.
Harris will attend a Philadelphia forum hosted by the National Association of Black Journalists, arranged after the vice president did not attend the organization’s conference in Chicago this summer.
Her Republican rival Donald Trump’s appearance on the program in July sparked controversy over comments he made questioning Harris’s racial identity and her behavior with a moderator during a series of questions he described as inappropriate.
Harris has said she would be willing to attend a separate forum hosted by the group after the convention, which comes more than a week after US President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race due to what his team described as a scheduling conflict.
The interview will be conducted by three members of the group (like Trump), which will include reporters from The Grio and Politico and an anchor from public radio station WHYY-FM.
Both Harris and Trump have struggled to win over black voters, whose support could prove decisive in a tight election in November 2024. Some forecasters consider Pennsylvania a must-win state in the Electoral College, which determines the presidency.
As a candidate, Harris declined to offer specific details on some policy areas, including some related to education, the economy and criminal justice, topics many Black voters said they care about.
Data from the Pew Research Center shows that black voters, traditionally a loyal Democratic voting bloc, supported Biden over Trump in 2020 by 92% to 8%.
