Rev. Al Sharpton on Monday criticized potential presidential hopefuls like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) for keeping silent on the turmoil in Ferguson, Mo.
“This is now a national, central issue and anyone running for President needs to come up with a formula or — in my opinion — they forfeit their right to be taken seriously,” Sharpton said on MSNBC.
The civil rights leader and MSNBC called out Clinton, Christie and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) by name. Sharpton caught himself after listing Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) among the bunch, presumably because the senator jumped into the discussion on Thursday with an op-ed in TIME magazine.
Earlier on, Sharpton compared President Obama’s response with the potential 2016 candidates.
“I’ve heard over and over again, rightfully so, what is President Obama going to do? Well, he’s the President, and he has spoken on it twice throughout vacation,” he said.
“But all of these candidates? I land in New York this morning and I see Chris Christie dancing with Jamie Foxx,” Sharpton said, referring to an event in the Hamptons that Christie and others attended over the weekend.
h/t Politico
I’m sorry but, what the hell do Chris Christie and Hillary Clinton have to do with the Ferguson tragedy? Does every politician in the Country have to chime in on this? We have enough people screaming about what happened already.
Actually yes, prominent white people should be speaking out about this en masse if possible. There are a lot of people screaming for sure but most people are being ignored. It won’t be until there is enough white outrage that things will change.
This tragedy is not fodder for presidential candidates, so Rev Al, with all due respect, should STFU. The president spoke about it, he’s the leader of his party and the country, and that’s enough. Pretty soon every two-bit tinhorn from Iowa and Texas and elsewhere will feel entitled to weight in because Rev Al is calling on two particular people, and why not them…
Unfortunately white people who only think they’re prominent, I’m thinking of the Kings and Bachmanns and other bigots, will be speaking out too, and it won’t be in support of civil rights and fair treatment of African Americans by police. They’ll use their microphones for insults with a complete lack of compassion for the Brown family. Rev Al has no standing to encourage everyone within the sound of his voice to speak out.
I disagree, Racist white people like those you mentioned are already having their say all over Fox News. Al Sharpton isn’t saying anything out of line