Obama: Fox News Portrays Poor People As ‘Leeches’

05.12.2015 | News | Alicia Powe |

President Obama accused Fox News on Tuesday of intentionally dividing the country by only portraying poor people as “leeches” who represent negative stereotypes.

Too often, there is an image of the poor people as “sponges” and “leeches” who “don’t want to work,” Obama said at a poverty forum at Georgetown University. “If you watch Fox News on a regular basis,” “it is a constant menu––they will find folks who make me mad, I don’t know where they find them.”

The president chided the network for showing people who “just want a free Obamaphone” and express no interest in work.

“They’re like, ‘I don’t want to work, I just want a free Obamaphone—or whatever—and that becomes an entire narrative, right? That gets worked up,” he said. “Very rarely do you hear an interview of a waitress—which is much more typical—who’s raising a couple of kids and is doing everything right but still can’t pay the bills.”

The president called on the public to change how it views poor people, including finding out what it’s like to not be able to pay the bills.

“Our job is to guard against cynicism, especially in this town,” Obama said. “[We should] not buy the idea the poor will always be with us and there is nothing we can do. There is a lot we can do, the question is, do we have the political will, the communal will to do it?”

Obama argued if we are going to end poverty, “We’re going to have to change how the media reports on these issues.”

“If we’re going to change how John Boehner and Mitch McConnell think, we’re going to have to change how our body politic thinks, which means we’re going to have to change how the media reports on these issues and how people’s impressions of what it’s like to struggle in this economy looks like, and how budgets connect to that.”

The president touted his efforts to address inequality in minority neighborhoods, including the My Brother’s Keeper program that funds educational and career-training programs for young men and boys of color.

“I’ll have talks with young black men about taking responsibility that I won’t have with the women of Barnard. And I make no apologies for that,” Obama said. “The reason is because I am a black man who grew up without a father and I know the costs I paid. And I know I had the capacity to break that cycle. And as a consequence I think my daughters are better off.”

Alicia Powe

Staff Writer

Alicia Powe is a staff writer for Daily Surge. She worked in the War Room of the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee and served as a White House Intern during the George W. Bush administration. Alicia has written for numerous outlets, including Human Events, Media Research Center and Townhall.com.

← Previous Story Chris Rock: White Kids Never Get Shot By Cops

Next Story → Documents Reveal TSA Officers Allegedly Groped Passengers’ Breasts, Genitals