Washington Examiner Editor Defends ‘Obama Disses White Guys’ Cover

A YouTube message from President Obama specifically encouraging minorities and women to vote this November made some waves as Republicans accused the Democrats of discrimination. Perhaps the harshest critics of the video, the April 27 Washington Examiner headline declared “Obama Disses White Guys.” Dylan Ratigan brought on the paper’s editor Mark Tapscott to defend the headline yesterday.

Tapscott, who defended the headline against the Washington Post‘s Jonathan Capehart, argued that it was the president who made the debate racial, and as such opened the door for attacks like the one in his paper. Capehart didn’t buy it, calling the headline hyperbole and suggesting that rallying the base that got you elected isn’t “racial politics,” just plain politics. But rather than indicate that he thought the headline went too far, he claimed it hit at “exactly what should be the issue,” and was proud of his paper for pointing out the president’s “mistake”: “he described a political appeal here in racial terms.”

Watch the debate below:

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