Barack Obama says part of the problem with continued poverty in America is misplaced middle-class resentment of the poor, fueled by false media narratives. The president made his remarks at a summit on poverty Tuesday afternoon at Georgetown University in Washington.
“There’s always been a strain in American politics where you’ve got the middle class and the question’s been, ‘Who are you mad at?’ if you’re struggling,” said Obama. “And over the last 40 years, sadly, I think there’s been an effort to either make folks mad at folks at the top or be mad at folks at the bottom. And I think the effort to suggest the poor are sponges, leeches, don’t want to work, are lazy, are undeserving, got traction.”
Obama added that this belief about an undeserving poor is “still being propagated” by media outlets like the Fox News Channel. “They will find folks who make me mad,” the president admitted. “I don’t know where they find them. ‘I don’t want to work, I just want a free Obamaphone,’ or whatever.”
Watch Obama’s comments below:
Obama also blamed “class segregation” for what he considers a lack of commitment to fighting poverty.
“Part of what’s happened is that elites in a very mobile, globalized world are able to live together, away from folks who are not as wealthy,” he said. “And so they feel less of a commitment to making those investments.”
