Harris faces questions from black journalists in Philadelphia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Black journalists will get a chance to press U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris about her plans in an interview on Tuesday.

Harris is attending a Philadelphia forum organized by the National Association of Black Journalists, planned after the vice president of the United States did not attend the group’s convention in Chicago this summer.

Her Republican rival Donald Trump’s appearance at that event in July led to controversy over her comments questioning Harris’ racial identity and her treatment of one moderator for what she considered unfair questioning.

Harris had said he was willing to attend a separate forum organized by the group after his team described a scheduling conflict with the convention, which was held just over a week after U.S. President Joe Biden lost the presidential race.

The interview is conducted by three members of the organization, like Trump, in this case reporters from TheGrio and Politico and an anchor from public radio station WHYY-FM.

Both Harris and Trump have sought to win over black voters, whose support could be decisive in the closely contested November 2024 election. Some prognosticators see Pennsylvania as a must-win state in the Electoral College that decides the presidency.

As a candidate, Harris has declined to provide specifics on some policy areas, including some issues related to education, the economy and criminal justice that many black voters say worry them.

According to the Pew Research Center, black voters are traditionally a loyal Democratic voting bloc and supported Biden 92 percent to 8 percent over Trump in 2020.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Sonali Paul)