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    Trump to Address NABJ Conference Following Controversial Invitation

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    Former President Donald J. Trump will take questions on Wednesday in Chicago from members of the National Association of Black Journalists, appearing before a skeptical conference of reporters in the city that will host the Democratic National Convention in less than three weeks.The appearance of the Republican presidential nominee at 1 p.m. Eastern time has already divided the association, prompting a co-chairwoman of the convention, Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah, to step down from her post and eliciting a warning from a prominent member, April Ryan, that Mr. Trump’s White House was threatening to Black women.“The reports of attacks on Black women White House correspondents by the then president of the United States are not myth or conjecture, but fact,” Ms. Ryan, the White House correspondent for The Grio, a media company geared toward Black Americans, wrote on the social platform X.But leaders of the association said journalists should not shy from interviewing major party candidates for the presidency. The association also invited Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, but the group’s president, Ken Lemon, said Wednesday morning that she was not available.“We are in talks about virtual options in the future and are still working to reach an agreement,” he wrote.For Mr. Trump, there appears to be no downside: A hostile greeting would feed his efforts to play supporters off the media. A warmer welcome would help his outreach to Black voters.The conference’s description says the session will “concentrate on the most pressing issues facing the Black community.” Harris Faulkner, a Fox News anchor; Kadia Goba, a politics reporter at Semafor; and Rachel Scott, an ABC News correspondent, will moderate the session. The event is expected to be livestreamed on the organization’s YouTube and Facebook pages. More

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      Karine Jean-Pierre and John Kirby Share an Uncomfortable White House Spotlight

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      The White House heralded Karine Jean-Pierre as a trailblazing press secretary. But it has increasingly relied on John Kirby, a longtime Washington hand, to spread its message.On the day she was named the first Black and first openly gay White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre said she hoped her appointment might inspire other people who, like her, never imagined occupying the pre-eminent role in political communications.“I think this is important for them to see this,” she said in May 2022.Americans are seeing less of her lately.Since the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, Ms. Jean-Pierre has yielded the spotlight to a lower-ranking official, John F. Kirby. For months, Mr. Kirby has regularly co-hosted her daily briefings, often fielding more questions from journalists than she does, and appeared more frequently on major political news programs as the administration’s spokesperson.Mr. Kirby, 60, a retired Navy admiral who previously worked at the Pentagon and the State Department, is better versed in foreign affairs at a time of war in Ukraine and the Middle East. He evinces a clarity and comfort at the lectern that can sometimes elude Ms. Jean-Pierre, 49, a more rote public speaker with less experience tussling with an adversarial press.The White House attributes Mr. Kirby’s larger role to the flurry of international news and says he will brief less often once the Middle East crisis ebbs. But the perception in Washington that President Biden has allowed Mr. Kirby, who is white, to upstage a Black woman as the face of his White House has turned their double act into a third-rail subject.“Can’t think of many topics I’d like to opine on less,” said one Biden supporter and Democratic strategist, who deemed the subject too politically and culturally sensitive to discuss with their name attached.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More