Steele: Obama wasn't vetted because he's black
(CNN) - Days after announcing an "aggressive new approach" in confronting President Obama, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Friday that the president hadn't been properly vetted because he is black.
"The problem that we have with this president is we don't know him. He was not vetted, folks. He came out of nowhere," Steele told listeners to Bill Bennett's radio show Friday morning. "....We don't know his political background, we don't know his political philosophy, the ideology that shapes his thinking on policy.
"He was not vetted, because the press fell in love with the black man running for the office. 'Oh gee, wouldn't it be neat to do that? Gee, wouldn't it make all of our liberal guilt just go away? We could continue to ride around in our limousines and feel so lucky be alive and in an America with a black president,'" said Steele. "Okay, that's wonderful - great scenario, nice backdrop. But what does he stand for? What does he believe?
"And that's why I keep going back to the point, the missed opportunity was dissecting and understanding Rev. [Jeremiah] Wright," he added. "It wasn't about Rev. Wright, it was about the philosophy that emerged and the directions that he was given, the lessons he learned at his knee. We never got a chance to understand that. People got lost on what Wright said about America instead of focusing on what Obama understood from what Wright was saying, so that you could understand and track that political philosophy. So we don't know. We just don't know."
Steele - who said last weekend that "like a bad diet, liberalism will kill you" - told GOP leaders this week that the era of Republican "apologizing" was over.
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Omg. I can't believe he said that!! This guy is a MORON!!! Hey Michael, were you properly vetted by the RNC? Obviously not.
Dear Republican friends of mine – you deserve so much better than this. Steel, Cheney, Gingrich, Palin and Limbaugh. Seriously, you need to stand up and demand that the intelligent, reasonable, serious conservatives be allowed to take center stage.
This is embarrassing.
bj in texas....most of the uneducated voted for the Republican ticket, just like you....
Steele proves that yes, even a black man can be a racist about a black man!
Steele just continues to hurt his own party every time he opens his mouth.
@ Susan
That's an awfully racist comment to suggest that Steele was not chosen because of his ability to do his job. Are you saying that a white man could do a better job, or, are you saying that Republicans only picked him because he was black – either way it's pretty much stereotyping.
This is just more GOP crap. President Obama did not come out of nowhere. He served at both the state and federal level. He spent years being vetted.
Why don't you stop with the nonsense and lies? Lead the GOP in a new better direction, as if their survival depends on it (since it does).
crab in a barrell. its a wonder SNL doesn't parody this idiot more.
Michael Steele is right on the money with this but we all know that dumbocrats are just mindless lemmings and will do whatever they are told by the liberal media.
I feel compelled to leave a second comment.
All Michael Steele needs is a clown suit. He already knows how to act the part!
SLM: He wasn't vetted, but I'm not sure that is the reason. The media fell in love with him without asking any questions.
Where were you for the last 2 years??????? in a cave on mars with your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears?
Steele's plan is to fund the GOP campaigns by striking oil. There's no other way to explain how he finds rock bottom and keeps digging.
What a stupid, stupid fool.
The problem with 99% of republican posters is that before this cycle they never paid attention to politics. Every trite and dated response proves my point.
Can someone please explain to Michael Steele that this is 2009, not 2008. This is a simple rehash of failed election rhetoric. It didn't work then, and it's certainly not going to work now.
@Skip, a black man
Your right. Democrats are a bunch of 8th graders!
Was Steele properly vetted???? Obama was and this claim is a few months too late. Shut up Steele, your stupid attacks aren't working
Rushb must have approved his comments before he said them as they sound just like Rushbo.
Steele is a pathetic man!!
I can't think of a more appropriate term to give Michael Steele than DORK!. Is this guy a DORK or what?
Steele is a great comedian. He's always good for a laugh…but I am unsure how he'll help the Republican image….from criminals to bafoons!
R.I.P gop............. the party of noooooooooooooooo.moron....i love barack obama..my president is black
Grasping at straws and looking for something, anything, to become relevant again....
Mr Steele – What in the world has the RNC offered you that you would do this for them? Are they threatening your family?
Maybe the press needs to dig deep into steeles background, I mean a black representing the rep. party? Who did he blackmail or bribe to get that position?
Whaaat???????? Oh boy!!!!! Another nail in the coffin of the GOP. Where has this guy been for the last few years!!!!