Strong reactions after former President Trump questions VP Harris' racial identity at contentious NABJ panel

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Former President Trump is making national news for a contentious appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago.

At times Mr. Trump was combative with a panel of journalists during the 35-minute question-and-answer session, and he repeated several lies throughout.

ABC News senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott began the panel by saying, "I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room, sir. A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today."

She then listed several instances of racist language and troublesome comments.

The former President responded, "First of all, I don't think I've ever been asked a question in such a horrible manner, first question."

The NABJ often invites presidential candidates to appear at its conventions.

But many were surprised the NABJ gave Mr. Trump a platform, given his past comments on race and journalists.

But others felt it's important to hear from presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle, and to hold them accountable.

Many of the former President's comments elicited strong reactions throughout the panel discussion, from boos to gasps to laughs.

At one point he said, "Coming from the border are millions and millions of people that happen to be taking Black jobs." Scott asked, "What exactly is a Black job, sir?" Trump replied, "A Black job is anybody that has a job."

Mr. Trump spoke at length about race, falsely claiming Vice President Kamala Harris only recently "turned Black."

He said, "She was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black."

He also claimed Democrats are allowing abortions in the ninth month and beyond, saying, "They're allowing the death of a baby after the baby is born." That's not true.

But also getting a lot of attention was the NABJ's decision to host the former President in the first place.

One of the NABJ convention co-chairs stepped down from her position the day before in protest of inviting the former President to appear.

NPR journalist Eric Deggans was in the room.

He told CNN, "It sort of unfolded the way I think a lot of critics of his appearance feared that it would unfold." He added, "He said a lot of things that were not true. He said a lot of things that were insulting."

So was the president of the Milwaukee chapter of the NABJ, Tannette Elie. She told us from Chicago, "It certainly was an interesting way and unique way to start the convention this year."

Because of Mr. Trump's past comments about race and a history of attacking journalists, many NABJ members were surprised the organization invited him to appear.

But Elie said it was a chance for journalists to do their jobs, "To hear his perspective and hold him accountable."

She said the three panelists -all women of color- were professional and held their own. "And were polite despite some of the comments that came their way."

The Harris campaign released a statement in response to the appearance. It read in part, "Today’s tirade is simply a taste of the chaos and division that has been a hallmark of Trump’s MAGA rallies this entire campaign."

We asked Elie if the event was valuable to voters. She said, "It's still gave us a chance to hear and to hold Mr. Trump accountable as we would any candidate."

The NABJ partnered with PolitiFact to provide live fact-checking throughout the session, but those checks were only online and did not appear in the auditorium.

The NABJ said it is in talks with the Harris campaign to schedule a similar Q-and-A session with her sometime in September.