Barack Obama has drawn fury form black men after he launched an astonishing attack claiming that ‘brothers’ who don’t vote for Kamala Harris are sexist.
The former president, 63, addressed supporters during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh last week, where he claimed that there was a lack of enthusiasm for the vice president ‘that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.’
Obama said: ‘You’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody who has a history of denigrating you, because you think that´s a sign of strength, because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down? That´s not acceptable.’
But his desperate claim was trashed by black men on social media who accused the ex-president of assuming that they were somehow stupid or inferior because they did not support Harris.
Former State Representative of Georgia, Vernon Jones, said that Obama had been sent out by the Democratic Party to ‘whip black men back on the plantation to vote Democrat’.
Barack Obama is being slammed by black men after he attacked those not voting for Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday
Rob Smith said on Friday: ‘Barack Obama basically trotting him out to try to lecture black men because we are apparently not excited enough to vote for Kamala Harris is crazy because where has this man been at for the past four years?’
Former State Representative of Georgia, Vernon Jones , also spoke about Obama’s message on Friday: ‘As a black man, he did everything but address us. What he did, he berated black men, he rebuked black men He even scolded black men’
Rob Smith , a Republican social media personality, said in a video posted on Friday: ‘Barack Obama basically trotting him out to try to lecture black men because we are apparently not excited enough to vote for Kamala Harris is crazy because where has this man been at for the past four years?’
The influencer then said neither Harris nor Obama were raised like the majority of black men and women were in this country – alluding to their affluent background.
He said the Harris campaign ‘trotting out’ Obama was a sign that the vice president is ‘toast’.
Former Georgia State Rep. Jones also took to social media on Friday. He said in a video posted on X: ‘As a black man, he did everything but address us. What he did, he berated black men, he rebuked black men He even scolded black men.
‘Primarily because we will not fall in line and vote for madam lock-up-a-brother Kamala Harris because that’s her record. As if black men are too stupid that we can’t vote in our best interest.’
The former representative pointed out inflation, high interest rates and ‘open borders’ that he says is symbolic of the Biden-Harris presidential term.
Obama’s comments have enraged black men across America – with many taking to social media saying that it is not his place to be telling them how to vote in the election
Jones said the the Democratic Party is using Obama to ‘whip black men back on the plantation to vote Democrat’
Media personalities saw this as a bad move for the Harris campaign due to it not lining up with her strategy that avoids discussing gender and race
Another outraged black man said on social media: ‘I don’t know about y’all but I think that my ancestors fought far too hard for my right to vote in this country for me to support someone just because they look like me.
‘Especially when that person who looks like me doesn’t give a damn about me. She doesn’t create a single job she is actually probably uniquely terrible at her job.’
And in another clip, showing four young black men reacting to Obama’s words, one said defiantly: ‘We ain’t your brother, brother!’
The second man then questions the other three: ‘Did he [Obama] say anything that could get them to change their mind?’
Speaking to the camera in another social media clip, a black man who identified himself as a pastor said of the Obama ordeal: ‘He has the nerve to look in the eyes of black men who are out here working their a*** off.
‘Grinding, taking care of their families, mature responsible men, spiritually mature men, handling their business.
‘This man that is worth some estimates say of $75 million, has then the audacity to tell these same black men that it is unacceptable for you to vote any other way than what I tell you.’
Media personalities saw this as a bad move for the Harris campaign due to it not lining up with her strategy that avoids discussing gender and race.
‘If I, and I am, interested in getting Kamala Harris elected then I am upset because he hurt the thing, the strategy, she was employing to win,’ said columnist Michael Harriot during a discussion on NewsNight with Abby Phillip.
Speaking about the ordeal, Megyn Kelly said: ‘There are a lot of people in the country who are drawn to Trump right now, notwithstanding his problematic traits, because they think their lives will improve under him, they think the economy will be better under him and they have four years of experiencing it to inform that opinion.
‘I do wonder how they’re going to react to being called sexists by Barack Obama.’
The former president was at a campaign field office in Pittsburgh on Thursday night to thank volunteers, but instead gave them a lecture, saying he wanted to ‘speak some truths.’
Obama said he was responding to reports on the ground that there was lower enthusiasm for Harris than there was for his own candidacy and that some black men were thinking of sitting out the election.
The former president was at a campaign field office in Pittsburgh on Thursday night to thank volunteers , but instead gave them a lecture, saying he wanted to ‘speak some truths’
‘We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running. Now, I also want to say that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers,’ Obama said.
He continued: ‘Part of it makes me think – and I´m speaking to men directly – part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren´t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you´re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.’
‘You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses. I’ve got a problem with that.’
Media reports have suggested that black male voters are a weak spot for Harris, after Joe Biden won 80 percent in 2020, down from 82 percent for Hillary Clinton in 2015.
It’s been reported that a quarter of young black men support Trump, which would drop Harris further.
Obama said he was responding to reports on the ground that there was lower enthusiasm for Harris than there was for his own candidacy and that some black men were thinking of sitting out the election
