Former President Barack Obama got a dressing down Thursday night from a former Democratic Ohio state lawmaker, who took issue with Obama's "lecture" to Black men who aren't supporting Vice President Kamala Harris.
Stumping for Harris in Pittsburgh on Thursday — and as some Democrats sweat the polls in battleground states — Obama urged voters to support Harris in November. In particular, he called out one voting bloc: Black men.
“You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses,” Obama said. “I’ve got a problem with that.
“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,” Obama said. He added that the “women in our lives have been getting our backs this entire time.
“When we get in trouble and the system isn’t working for us, they’re the ones out there marching and protesting," said Obama.
Nina Turner, who served in the Ohio Senate from 2008-14, dressed down Obama on CNN's "NewsNight."
"Why are Black men being lectured to?" a pointed Turner asked fellow panelists. "Why are Black men being belittled in ways that no other voting group — now, I have a lot of love for former President Obama, but for him to single out Black men is just wrong."
Turner said some Black men have said they have valid reasons for why they plan to vote a "different way" than the Harris-Walz ticket.
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"And even if some of us may not like that, we have to respect it," she said. "So unless Barack Obama is going to go out there and lecture every other group of men from other identity groups, my message for Democrats is don't bring it here too Black men who, by and large, don't vote much differently from Black women."
Politicians ought to be encouraging everyone to vote, she said, adding that she hopes there are a "few good men out there who care about the stripping away of some of women's bodily autonomy."
Even so, she called it "wrong" for Obama and the Harris-Walz campaign to "lay at the feet of Black men when they have their reasons."
When host Abby Phillip asked if Obama had a point that among the reasons some Black men aren't supporting Harris is that she's a woman, Turner said it's possible — but that's true of any other demographic, too.
"Black men are socialized in the same society as any other man, so yes, is misogyny maybe a part of it? But again, is President Obama and the Harris-Walz campaign going to lecture any other male groups in the same way that they're lecturing Black people? I don't think so."
Watch the clip below or at this link.
