LARRY KUDLOW: Trump came out a winner at the National Association of Black Journalists' convention

Donald Trump went into the lion's den in front of the Black Journalists’ Convention and came out a big winner. That's the subject of the riff. 

Donald Trump went into the lion's den today with a sit-down in front of the National Association of Black Journalists in Chicago. Kamala Harris was also invited, but she was a no-show. No doubt about it, Mr. Trump has gotten his swag back. 

One of the questioners was ABC reporter Rachel Scott, who opened the Q&A by attacking Trump -- and he just fought back, telling her how rude she was. After all, he showed up on time. They started 35 minutes late because their audio equipment failed, and, after all, he thought Kamala would be there -- she wasn't -- and he called the event false advertisement. Take a listen: 

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DONALD TRUMP: "I love the Black population of this country. I've done so much for the Black population of this country, including, employment, including opportunity zones./ I was invited here, and I was told my opponent, whether it was Biden or Kamala, I was told my opponent was going to be here. It turned out my opponent isn't here. You invited me under false pretense. // For you to start off a question and answer period, especially when you're 35 minutes late because you couldn't get your equipment to work in such a hostile manner? I think it's a disgrace." 

Thank heavens Fox’s Harris Faulkner was there to put some sanity into the questions, but the key point is Mr. Trump's superb messaging. Time and again, no matter what the question, he came back to two points: the Biden-Harris open border and the Biden-Harris inflation. 

In particular, he referenced that Black workers -- and also Hispanic and union workers -- were the most hurt by the flood of illegal immigrants overseen by border czar Kamala Harris and, time and time again, he referenced the damages of inflation -- which I call "Kamala-flation" because she was the deciding vote in the two big spending bills in March 2021 and August 2022 that triggered the 9% inflation rate. 

Trump talked about the ravages of inflation and illegal immigration taking away minority and union jobs and reducing real wages. He was asked what his first policy actions would be if elected, and he replied that he would close the border and restore "drill, baby, drill" -- take a listen: 

DONALD TRUMP/FAULKNER: "What do you do on day one? If you win, what's your first thing?" // TRUMP: "I do two things, because I can do a lot of things simultaneously. I close the border. // I do that and I drill, baby, drill. I bring energy way down. I bring interest rates down, I bring inflation way down so people can buy bacon again, so people can buy a ham sandwich again." 

In the face of attack-dog questions by two of the three panelists (not Harris Faulkner), Mr. Trump kept his cool, frequently answered with humor, and stayed on message. The border and inflation. Over and over. Very effective presentation and I'm going to bet this commanding performance is going to stop any of the so-called Kamala momentum, because it's the most public Mr. Trump has been in so far as rebutting Kamala and her friends in the liberal media. 

Oddly, at an Atlanta, Georgia rally, Kamala decided to take on Trump regarding the open border. She's saying he stopped a bipartisan border bill, but that bill would have permitted at least 1.5 million illegals per year, on top of the roughly 10 million already let in by border czar Harris.

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Meanwhile, in Mr. Trump's last three years as president, illegal immigration was running well under a million per year. Advantage Trump. Also, Kamala is flip-flopping on her fracking ban, but it really doesn't matter because the Biden-Harris war against fossil fuels and all the over-regulation to stop leasing and drilling and even LNG exports is tantamount to a fracking ban -- including the baloney goal of a carbon-free electric grid and the hugely unpopular mandates jammed down people's throats to buy electric vehicles. 

So, speaking in front of the NABJ convention was a big win for Mr. Trump. Kamala wasn't there, but I'll bet she was watching -- and if she were, she'd sure get a taste of what the upcoming debate is going to look like. Advantage Trump. That's the riff. 

This article is adapted from Larry Kudlow’s opening commentary on the July 31, 2024, edition of "Kudlow."