Obama Decries Politics of Middle-Class Anxiety

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.”