Tavis Smiley: Obama Ignoring Blacks

Liberal political commentator and talk show host Tavis Smiley told NBC’s Lester Holt that President Obama is ignoring blacks, the “most loyal” part of his constituency who “ought to be looked out for,” reports Real Clear Politics. 

“It’s just not that black folks are hurting the most now. It’s that there’s no sign that it’s going to get any better. There really are two questions in black America, I think, Lester, have to wrestle with. At least two questions. Number one: what is the pain threshold in black America? What is our pain threshold, number one. And number two, what is the presidency really worth? Is it worth not saying anything? Is it worth being silent when you’re catching the most hell, when you’re suffering the most pain? Especially, when you’re the most loyal part of the President’s base,” Smiley told Lester Holt.
 

“That’s not hating on the President, it’s defending your own flanks. And whatever happened to that notion that to the victor goes the spoils? If anybody ought to be looked out for, it ought to be the persons who represent the most significant and the most loyal part of the base. That would be African-Americans.”
 

Smiley said that he believes President Obama risks looking “tribal” if he were to look out for his race, but “what makes presidents great, makes them transformational, is taking risks.”