Politics

‘Weak as pre-sweetened Kool-Aid’: Tavis Smiley unimpressed with Obama’s race remarks

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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On Friday, liberal political commentator and PBS host Tavis Smiley criticized President Barack Obama immediately following his speech on race as it pertained to the outcome of the George Zimmerman verdict.

Smiley had taken to Twitter on Friday to call Obama’s remarks “as weak as pre-sweetened Kool-Aid.”

On Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on NBC, he elaborated on that statement, accusing the president of having to be “pushed” to the podium.

“I appreciate and applaud the fact that the president did finally show up,” Smiley said. “But this town has been spinning a story that’s not altogether true.  He did not walk to the podium for an impromptu address to the nation. He was pushed to that podium.  A week of protest outside the White House, pressure building on him inside the White House pushed him to that podium.  So I’m glad he finally arrived. But when he left the podium, he still had not answered the most important question — that King-ian question, where do we go from here?  That question this morning remains unanswered, at least from the perspective of the president. And the bottom line is this is not Libya, this is America.  On this issue, you cannot lead from behind.”

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Smiley said the time was now for Obama to step up while he was in office and not to look back when he is out of office with regret.

“What’s lacking in this moment is moral leadership,” Smiley continued. “The country is begging for it. They are craving it. And I disagree with the president respectfully that politicians, elected officials, can’t occupy this space on race.  Lincoln did, Truman did, Johnson did. President Obama did.  He’s the right person in the right place, at the right time. But he has to step into his moment. I don’t want him to be like Bill Clinton, when he’s out of office, regretting that he didn’t move on Rwanda. I don’t want the president to look back, David, and realize that he didn’t do as much as he could have in this critical moment.”

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