PITTSBURGH – Former President Barack Obama suggested Thursday that black men are opposed to Vice President Kamala Harris simply because she is a woman while dissing the Democratic nominee for not producing “the same kinds of energy” as his campaign.
“We have yet to see the same kinds of energy and turnout in all corners of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” Obama, 63, said at a “Black Voters for Harris” event in Pittsburgh, ahead of a rally for Harris.
“I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers,” he added, referring to black men.
“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,” Obama claimed.
Obama argued that it is “not acceptable” for black men to support Trump.
Polling indicates a higher percentage of black Americans are planning to vote for former President Donald Trump, 78, in 2024 than did in 2020 – with 1 in 4 black men under 50 backing the 45th president, according to an NAACP survey from last month.
“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,” he said.
At the rally — the first of a series of swing-state events that will feature the first and only black president in American history stumping for Harris, 59, in the run-up to Election Day — Obama became most animated as he railed against men who believe Trump is the stronger candidate.
“I’m sorry, gentlemen, I noticed this, especially with some men who seem to think Trump’s behavior pulling and putting people down is a sign of strength,” he said. “And I am here to tell you that is not what real strength is.”
“[T[he good news is that you have candidates to vote for in this election that demonstrate that kind of care, who know what real strength looks like, who will set a good example and do the right thing and leave this country better than they found it,” Obama argued.
Earlier in his remarks, Obama acknowledged that rising prices under the Harris-Biden administration — which he attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic — have “ put a strain on family budgets.”
“I get why people are looking to shake things up,” he said. “I mean, I am the hopey-changey guy.
“So, I understand people feeling frustrated and feeling we can do better,” Obama continued. “What I cannot understand is why anybody would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you, Pennsylvania.”
He later compared Trump to the brutal, late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
“You’ve got the tweets in all caps, the ranting and raving about crazy conspiracy theory, the two-hour speeches — word salad — it’s like Fidel Castro, just on and on,” Obama told the crowd.
Reggie Jones, a black man from South Carolina who was selling Harris merchandise at the rally, told The Post he felt there was different reason the vice president was having trouble with black men.
“[It’s] because she locked a whole lot of us up as a prosecutor,” Jones said.
“I’m just selling her stuff for the money,” he candidly admitted.
Salmata Alghali, a vendor from Detroit and Harris supporter, said Trump’s backing from men stems from the thought that “he’ll be different.”
“Some men are just tired of the same politics,” she said. “[Harris] represents the same old thing.
“Trump is saying things that might sound ridiculous, [but] they are excited,” she added.
Alghali noted that she hears some of her black male friends accuse Harris of supporting transgender surgery for minors, or that she’s incarcerated a lot of black men.
“Instead of doing their own research, they just believe it,” she said.
“They think this assassination thing has him all gangster now,” Alghali said of black male Trump supporters. “It’s all bulls–t.”
Na’een Akbar, 72, is an undecided voter from New York who was also selling wares at the rally even though he “can’t support” Harris.
“She supports Israel, bombing women and children indiscriminately,” Akbar told The Post. “They support Israel no matter what it is, right or wrong. I can’t support her if she supports that.”
He also understood why Harris isn’t getting the same support from black men that President Biden did in 2020 — and it had nothing to do with her gender.
“For one she has a past reputation as a prosecutor of minorities, particularly blacks,” he said.
Akbar said he doesn’t plan on voting for Trump, either.
“His Project 2025 policy alone,” Akbar said, when asked why – referring to the Heritage Foundation policy agenda that Trump has repeatedly disavowed.
The event brought out several Harris supporters who were far too young to remember much of Obama’s presidency, but still delighted to see the 44th commander in chief speak.
“When I was 6 years old, my dad took me with him to vote for Obama,” Ellie Laing, who’s black, told The Post. “That was a core memory.”
Pat Manion, a teacher from Pittsburgh’s suburbs in Mount Lebanon, brought his biracial pre-teen son to see Obama.
“We used to read a book to him when he was young: ‘I Am Barack Obama,’” he said, noting that he wants his son to know that “people like him can do amazing things.”
However, Manion admitted that Obama is more relevant on a personal level nowadays than he is politically.
“Hopefully he’s going to get them out for Kamala,” the Harris supporter wished.
Aside from Obama, the Harris campaign’s attempt at youth outreach in Pittsburgh included bringing in a man wearing a paper mache head of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
A campaign staffer admitted to The Post that it had mostly been older people that were stopping to pose for photos with the Walz paper mache.
“But we’re getting the younger people excited through peer pressure,” the staffer joked.
