Sharpton: Obama Has ‘Discouraged Us’ from Saying Critics Hate Him Because He’s Black

President Obama said in a new interview with The New Yorker this weekend that there are simply “some folks who just really dislike” him because of his race (and that, on the flip side, people may give him the benefit of the doubt for the same reason), but during a discussion on Morning Joe Monday, Al Sharpton revealed that Obama has always “discouraged” him and others from using race to attack the president’s critics.

Joe Scarborough brought up Obama losing support among white liberals to make a point about how the “race connection” isn’t really that strong with a group of people that is mostly up in arms about Obama over issues like the NSA.

Sharpton explained that he’s been to plenty of meetings with Obama and other civil rights leaders, and said Obama has consistently said they shouldn’t play the race card in talking about his political opponents so often.

“He has discouraged us, who firmly believe a lot of people are against him because he’s black, and we still do––and he has said, ‘No, I don’t agree with you pushing that.'”

Watch the video below, via MSNBC:

[h/t NRO]

[photo via screengrab]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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