Al Sharpton: Clintons Know Some Black Voters Still Have 'Antipathy' Toward Them

Al Sharpton, MSNBC host and president of the National Action Network, said Hillary Clinton is making an extra effort to reach out to blacks before a potential 2016 presidential run because the Clintons know there are some black voters who have “lingering questions” and are still hostile toward them after the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.

Sharpton told the New York Times that the Clintons are making an effort to “repair whatever damage they felt may have been done in ’08” and that the couple knows that “that there are some who have lingering questions, if not antipathy, towards them.”

The Times wrote that since Clinton left her position as Secretary of State in February, “she and her husband have sought to soothe and strengthen their relationship with African-Americans, the constituency that was most scarred during her first bid for the presidency.

“Five years after remarks by Mr. Clinton about Barack Obama deeply strained the Clintons’ bond with African-Americans, the former first family is setting out to ensure that there is no replay of such trouble in 2016.”

Black voters turned on the Clintons after Bill Clinton referred to then-candidate Barack Obama’s stance on the Iraq War as a “fairy tale,” which some blacks interpreted as a shot at Obama’s candidacy. Clinton made his remarks before the South Carolina primary in 2008.

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