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Posted
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 11:31 PM
| By
Christopher Beam
As long as we’re dissecting telling Bill Clinton moments, here’s one
more. Heading out the door of a Charleston
bar and grill Wednesday, the former president heatedly responded
to reporters asking about race on the campaign trail:
"This is almost like once you accuse someone of racism
and bigotry the facts become irrelevant. Not one single solitary citizen asked
about any of this and they never do.” [More context here. Video here.]
Fast forward to Clinton’s
Kingstree event that evening, where an audience member asked a long question about Hillary and Obama and
race. “We know you sound polite when you talk about Obama,” he said. “But black
America
is voting for Obama because he’s black.” The man went on to claim that America isn’t
ready for a black president and that Obama would lose to a Republican in the
general election. “I’d love to see a black president,” he said, adding that he
thought Obama would do a good job. “But America, it still has racist
problems.”
The questioner said he's a minister from a nearby town but refused to give his name. When reporters pushed, a policeman who was escorting him--and inexplicably wearing a Department of Corrections uniform--waved them away.
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