WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Black journalists will have their chance to press U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on her plans during an interview on Tuesday.
Harris will participate in a Philadelphia forum organized by the National Association of Black Journalists, scheduled after the U.S. vice president did not attend the group’s convention held in Chicago this summer.
Her Republican rival Donald Trump’s appearance at that event in July led to controversy over his comments questioning Harris’ racial identity and his treatment of one of the moderators over a line of questioning he regarded as unfair.
Harris had said she was willing to attend a separate forum held by the group after what her team described as a scheduling conflict with the convention held just over a week after U.S. President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race.
The interview will be conducted by three of the organization’s members, as was Trump’s, in this case reporters from TheGrio and Politico as well as an anchor for WHYY-FM, a public radio station.
Both Harris and Trump have made efforts to win over Black voters, whose support may be decisive in the closely fought November 2024 election. Some forecasters regard Pennsylvania as a must-win state in the Electoral College that decides the presidency.
As a candidate, Harris has declined to offer specifics on some policy areas, including some topics related to education, the economy and criminal justice that many Black voters say are of concern to them.
Black voters are traditionally a loyal Democratic voting bloc and supported Biden 92% to 8% over Trump in 2020, according to Pew Research Center.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Sonali Paul)
