Hillary Clinton agreed to participate in a so-called press conference Friday afternoon following her prepared remarks before the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in Washington, D.C.

The Democratic presidential candidate has been criticized recently over how long it has been since she last participated in an unscripted back-and-forth with reporters.

In fact, the Washington Post even launched an online widget to track how many days it has been (the answer is 245) since Clinton's last press conference.

On Friday, five pre-selected journalists were given the chance to ask the former secretary of state some questions following her speech before a gathering of African-American and Hispanic journalists.

Two of the reporters who asked Clinton questions, NBC News' Kristen Welker and Telemundo's Lori Montenegro, also doubled as moderators for the Q&A session.

Additional questions came from three journalists in the audience.

For the event's organizers and Clinton's support team, the orchestrated exercise constituted a "press conference."

NABJ President Sarah Glover said Friday that Clinton's appearance marked the "largest press conference with any presidential candidate before a room filled with journalists of color."

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon defended this characterization Friday, and criticized journalists who said otherwise.

"Pretty sure she is standing at a podium taking questions on a broad range of topics from national print and TV reporters," he said on social media. "The fact that journalists themselves disagree about what counts as a press [conference] suggests the inanity of this debate."


Here are the seven questions Clinton faced Friday during her so-called press conference:

1. From Montenegro:

How will you get immigration reform, something that President Obama was not able to do, so that Latinos can believe that something is going to happen, that their vote, again, is not being taken for granted considering that the House, at least the House, will remain under Republican control?

2. From Montenegro:

Madam Secretary, you spoke about the deportations. President Obama, some call the deporter-in-chief, you have alluded already to your priority will be criminals, but how do you walk balk the deportations?
They're people who are not criminals that are deported daily from this country. How do you walk back the deportations, comply with the law, and not inherit the title of deporter-in-chief, and at the same time, all these steps to help mobilize the Latino community to the polls, many who still believe that their vote is taken for granted in 2008 and 2012, and then we have the emails from WikiLeaks that say that are the loyalty brand of the party?

3. From Welker:

Madam Secretary, your poll numbers went way up this week, and yet, the email controversy was still in the headlines. So, I wanted to give you the opportunity to respond.
This week you told two separate news organizations that FBI Director James Comey said quote, "My answers were truthful, and that what I said is consistent with what I have told the American people."
That assertion, as you know, has been debunked by multiple news organizations which point out that Director Comey did say there's no indication that you lied to the FBI. But he didn't weigh-in on whether or not you were truthful to the American people. So my question for you is, are you mischaracterizing Director Comey testimony? And is this not undercutting your efforts to rebuild trust with the American people?

3a. Follow-up from Welker:

Is the one inconsistently though that you said you never sent or received classified material, and he did say there were three e-mails, that were marked classified at the time. Is that an inconsistency?

4. From Welker:

Donald Trump says this whole thing means that you can't be trusted with national security, today you are endorsed by former CIA Director Michael Morell who says it's Trump who can't be trusted, and he went so far as to indicate that that he's been [working with Russian President Vladimir Putin]. Do you agree with that assessment?

5. From the Times' Alcindor:

You've accused Donald Trump of using racist and sexist language. What does it say about the electorate that so many Americans are supporting him?

6. From the Post's O'Keefe:

A majority of voters consistently say frankly they don't like you and they don't trust you. And they say pretty much the same thing about Donald Trump.
Either you or Mr. Trump will be elected president. How would you lead a nation where a majority of Americans mistrust you? And what extra responsibility might you have to show that you're up to the task?

7. From ESPN's Merida:

What is the most meaningful conversation you've had with an African-American friend?

NAHJ president Mekahlo Medina told the Huffington Post Friday afternoon that Clinton's Q&A with pre-selected journalists was indeed a "press event."

"What happened today is Hillary Clinton took questions from members of the media. I don't know if people want to call that a press conference or not, but that's what happened," he said. "I've been a journalist for a long time ... anytime there's somebody who takes questions from the press at a large event, that constituted a press conference."

HuffPo reported that the Q&A moderators were selected before the event due to their familiarity with the Clinton campaign.

"The other journalists were part of a 10-person preliminary panel discussion at the joint conference," the report added.