Former U.S. president Barack Obama in Athens, Greece, June 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Republican Tim Scott, a Black senator from South Carolina, has been on the 2024 presidential campaign trail, and former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, has some advice for the GOP candidate.
During a June 15 podcast interview with his former White House senior adviser David Axelrod, Obama offered up advice for Scott, and some, like political commentator Demetra Kaye, pushed back at Obama’s recommendations.
According to her website, Kaye is a public relations consultant with more than 15 years of experience working with many individuals and organizations. She also contributes to the YouTube channel African Diaspora News Channel.
It was on a segment for the African Diaspora News Channel, entitled “Obama Has The Audacity To Tell GOP Candidate Tim Scott He Has To Have A Plan To Help Black People,” that Kaye called out Obama’s suggestions for Scott on how to address structural racism in the U.S.
Speaking on how Scott should handle his campaign, Obama said, “And so if a Republican, who may even be sincere in saying, ‘I want us all to live together,’ doesn’t have a plan for how do we address crippling generational poverty that is a consequence of hundreds of years of racism in this society, and we need to do something about that. If that candidate is not willing to acknowledge that, again and again, we’ve seen discrimination in everything from … getting a job to buying a house to how the criminal justice system operates.”
He then went on to say what he thinks Scott should do.
“We need to do something..both acknowledging and proposing elements that say now we can’t just ignore all that and pretend as if everything’s equal and fair. We actually have to walk the walk.”
Kaye took offense at Obama’s comments.
“I’m like but did you do that when you was president?” she asked.
Kaye continued,” Tim Scott is Black. Obama’s Black. But here he is giving advice to Tim Scott telling him you need to do something about you know poverty…Well, dear sir Mr. President, you didn’t do that. So why are you telling him to do it?”
Kaye noted sarcastically that maybe Obama had some regrets about his lack of progress on racism.
“Well, maybe he’s like well in hindsight, I didn’t do it so maybe you should do it. But it’s like I don’t think you are the right person for the job to be telling somebody how they should do it.
Kaye went on to remind listeners that Obama once admitted he didn’t try to tackle reparations because “white people would be mad.”
Kaye said of Obama, “He should have did something specifically for Black people allegedly, AKA his people but he didn’t.”
Former U.S. president Barack Obama applauds the audience before a discussion at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), in Athens, Greece, June 22, 2023. Obama is visiting Athens to speak at the SNF Nostos Conference focused on how to strengthen democratic culture and the importance of investing in the next generation of leaders. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
