VP Harris’ interview with the National Association of Black Journalists was subdued — a sharp contrast to the crazy of Trump’s session

Vice President Kamala Harris’ much-anticipated sit down with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) was muted, subdued, and absolutely uneventful — and, frankly, I was relieved.

Harris’ meeting with Black journalists at the Center City offices of WHYY was a sharp contrast to the craziness that happened when Donald Trump met with the group in Chicago six weeks earlier.

During Harris’ interview, no one’s racial identity was questioned. There was no huge headline-making moment, and I didn’t see anyone in attendance nudge the person next to them as if to say, “Did you hear that?” It was just another interview. And I found that totally refreshing. I’m ready for a return to normalcy.

I’m tired of Trump and his antics, including his ridiculous claim last week that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are kidnapping and eating their neighbors’ cats and dogs. It’s always something with him. It never seems to stop.

I’m tired of hearing his name. I’m sick of people carrying on about the latest lunacy he has uttered. I’m weary of him and all his baggage.

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That’s why it was such a welcome change of pace for me to just sit at WHYY’s studio Tuesday afternoon and listen as Harris calmly made her case for why she’s the best person for the job. There were no theatrics. There was zero drama.

In her tan suit and sensible pumps, she came off as knowledgeable, presidential, and also very conventional, disciplined, and competent — which is how I like my presidents.

Her demeanor reminds me of how American presidents of either political stripe used to behave before Trump came along and upended national politics, imbuing debates, news conferences, and social media posts with the kind of coarse one-liners and rowdy antics that are more fit for a reality show participant than a head of state.

There’s a quiet dignity about Harris that’s reassuring, not to mention comforting. I can picture her answering a 3 a.m. call to the White House about trouble brewing somewhere in the world and calmly knowing the right thing to do. Harris is a decent human being. She’s steady, not erratic.

During her interview Tuesday in Philadelphia, she didn’t mock anyone the way Trump did when he met with NABJ and accused Harris, who is both Black and of Indian heritage, of changing her racial identity.

I’m ready for a return to normalcy.

She didn’t sit in a room full of African Americans, the way that Trump did, and chest-thump about being the best thing for Black people since Abraham Lincoln.

Nor did she insult working journalists, the way Trump did when he accused ABC’s Rachel Scott, one of the moderators at the event in July, of working for a “fake news network.” In contrast, Harris treated the journalists who interviewed her with respect, and referred to them as “esteemed journalists.”

Our esteemed African American elders would say that she acts as if she had had “good home training.” In other words, she’s been schooled in how to treat people with respect — even during tense moments, such as when the event moderators attempted to push her on her answers or cut her off when she went on too long.

Her finest moment came when Harris was asked about Trump’s baseless claim about immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, supposedly eating pets. She pointed out that Trump was “spewing lies grounded in tropes.”

“I know that people are deeply troubled about what’s happening to that community in Springfield,” she said, pointing out that Trump’s rhetoric was hateful and designed to “divide us as a country.”

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Harris also referenced Trump’s troubled racial history, which includes refusing to rent properties to Black people, taking out a full-page ad in the New York Times about the Central Park Five who were eventually exonerated, and his birther lies against former President Barack Obama, claiming he wasn’t born in America and was therefore ineligible to be the nation’s first Black president.

“When you have that kind of microphone in front of you, you really ought to understand at a deep level that your words have meaning,” she told the room.

Harris also addressed the issue of Black male voters. Polls have indicated some softening of their support of the Democratic Party.

“I think it’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket,” Harris said. “Black men are like any other voting group. You gotta earn their vote, so I’m working to earn the vote, not assuming I’m gonna have it because I’m Black.”

When it was over, we got up to leave. People came up to me afterward and asked me how it went. Over and over, I said the same thing: It was uneventful — exactly how it should have been.