Political commentator Angela Rye said that it would be a “mistake” to “let White folks escape the accountability that they must face for not showing up to save democracy themselves” by voting for Vice President Kamala Harris.
CNN anchor Victor Blackwell spoke with Rye Saturday, asking her about former President Barrack Obama’s recent comments singling out Black men for insufficient support of Harris’s campaign. Blackwell asked Rye if it was a mistake for Obama to make these critical remarks.
Rye replied, “I think that it’s wonderful that President Obama is out hitting the trail for democracy, frankly. And what I think is a mistake is to let White folks escape the accountability that they must face for not showing up to save democracy themselves.”
Rye argued that White people “want to get mad” when candidates “don’t wear a flag lapel pin,” but are not doing “their part” to “save democracy.”
“We are doing our part,” she said. “It’s time for White folks to turn their ire and their attention to each other to ensure they also do their part.”
BLACKWELL: Speaking of of laying this at the feet of Black men and honest conversations, former President Obama was back out last night. This is the first time since he was in Pittsburgh and invoked the potential of sexism in his appeal to Black men to support the vice president.
Angela, is – should there be a course correction because there was so much backlash to that framework? Was it a mistake for the former president to say what he did or to say it publicly? What was your assessment of what we heard from former President Obama?
RYE: You know, I think that it’s wonderful that President Obama is out hitting the trail for democracy, frankly. And what I think is a mistake is to let White folks escape the accountability that they must face for not showing up to save democracy themselves.
Like, they want to get mad at presidential candidates, right, when they don’t wear a flag lapel pin or they don’t see you pledging allegiance to the flag. That’s what they want to get upset about. Now, the face of patriotism to them looks like trying to tear down the Capitol in a terrorist attack on January 6th, 2021.
So the responsibility of saving democracy should be on the largest demographic in this country. That is White men and White women. I don’t want to see a women’s march with pussy hats come January if something doesn’t go right. What I want to see is for them to march their selves to the polls, including today.
We are in Detroit, Michigan, for an early vote rally in Michigan. Early voting starts next Saturday, which is my birthday, Victor, But today in Detroit starts today. There’s a big event at Pistons Land. We will be adjacent to that event talking to folks, Detroit voters, about what they want to hear about the agendas that matter to them, about the economy, about health care, about ensuring that democracy is preserved, even if it’s not perfect.
We are doing our part. It’s time for White folks to turn their ire and their attention to each other to ensure they also do their part.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
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