Obama Rejects Idea That Politics Made Him Avoid Race in First Term

President Obama this past weekend rejected the notion that he avoided race issues in his first term because of political considerations.

Obama sat down for an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep, who asked, “Is this also an issue where the first black president couldn’t attack it very hard in the first term because other things had to be dealt with first… for political reasons, if nothing else?”

The president rejected that idea and argued, “If, in my first term, Ferguson had flared up, as president of the United States, I would have been commenting on what was happening in Ferguson.”

He touted the “great urgency” he feels to act on these issues, and admitted that while he’s been “juggling a lot of different issues,” his passion for tackling racial injustice has not dwindled.

Watch the clip below, via NPR:

[image via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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