'Not Acceptable': Obama Scolds Black 'Brothers' For Not Backing Harris - Blames Sexism

Former President Barack Obama hit the campaign trail for Kamala Harris on Thursday -- and hit some flat notes, as he condescendingly scolded black men for their lackluster support of the vice president, even going so far as to accuse them of sexism.  

While Harris seems certain to win the overall black vote, she's on course to do so by a significantly slimmer margin than recent party standard-bearers. In 2008, 95% of blacks voted for Obama. This year, only 63% of blacks say they'll vote for Harris, according to a recent NAACP survey. What's particularly alarming to Democrats is that, among black men under 50, only 49% support Harris, with 26% saying they'll vote for Trump.   

"We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all corners of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running," said Obama at an unannounced, pre-rally stop at a campaign field office in Pittsburgh. “I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.”

Appealing to race, Obama then told the mostly-black group at the campaign office that the choice in 2024 was clear, given that, "on the one hand, you have somebody who grew up like you, knows you, went to college with you, understands the struggles and pain and joy that comes from those experiences…"

Having exhorted black men to embrace racism in the voting booth, Obama then suggested the same group's sexism was at the heart of Harris' problem with them: 

“You’re coming up with all kinds of reasons and excuses, I’ve got a problem with that. Because 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.”

“...And now, 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."

Obama's remarks seem to reflect a growing sense of desperation -- and they seem likely to backfire. It's bad enough for him to publicly spotlight Harris' weakness compared to his own performance, but it's even worse that he felt the best way to remedy the situation was to publicly shame black men -- to the point of saying, "you're lucky Michelle's not here" -- and to accuse black men of sexism. 

Reggie Jones, a black "brother" selling Harris products at the Pittsburgh rally, attributed weak black support for Harris to her record in California. “[It’s] because she locked a whole lot of us up as a prosecutor,” Jones told the New York Post before adding, "I’m just selling her stuff for the money." 

Meanwhile, the black vote is just one of several crumbling cornerstones of the Democratic electoral coalition. Democratic campaign operatives are sweating bullets as they also see Harris underperforming with Hispanics, Muslims, young people and labor union members.

All aboard the shame train!

[ ADOS = American Descendants of Slavery ]