Newt Gingrich said President Obama has “failed to pay attention” to the problem of black unemployment.
The
comments came Tuesday on CBS, as the former House Speaker defended a
previous statement, in which he said that the black community
should “demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps.”
“The original statement was in the context of saying I
would love to be invited by the NAACP to come to their convention,
because the president has particularly failed to pay attention to the
tremendous unemployment — we’ve had 43 percent black teenage
unemployment,” Gingrich said.
On the campaign trail, Gingrich has repeatedly referred
to President Obama as “the food-stamp president,” despite criticism that
he is singling out the black community as relying on government
welfare.
Gingrich said on Tuesday that the black community was only one example of an issue that touches all Americans.
“It
is true for all Americans. It’s true for Native Americans, it’s true
for Asian Americans, it’s true for Latino Americans, it’s true for white
Americans and true for black Americans,” he said. “That is a disaster
because it sets up a social pattern that’s very hard for young people to
go out and get jobs and get in the job market.”
On Saturday, Gingrich faced a sharp line of questioning
in front of a black church in South Carolina for his comments on race
and class.
The former House Speaker has also been
under fire for saying he believes “poor children,” who lack work ethic
“unless it’s illegal,” should be put to work as janitors.
Gingrich staunchly defended that position at Monday
night’s debate, saying that he will “continue to find ways to help poor
people learn how to get a job, learn how to get a better job and learn
someday to own the job.”
