WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will lose a huge percentage of the African-American vote in his bid for re-election because he said he now supports full marriage equality, says GOP Congressman Allen West, (R-Fla.) a member of the House Tea Party Caucus.
West told ABC News on Thursday that Obama’s announcement is “going to cause an incredible discussion in the black community, because, as you know, on Sundays in the black community the most conservative people in America are in those black churches.”
ABC NewsAllen West
“I think it may have been a huge miscalculation, especially when you have 41 states that recognize marriage between one man and one woman, and you just came off an incredible loss to them. Sixty-nine percent voted for [the recent same-sex marriage ban] in North Carolina, which is a key swing state he barely won last time,” West said.
The congressman noted that even as a considerable number of African Americans voters overwhelmingly supported the president in his first run for the office in 2008, that same year a ballot initiative banning same-sex marriage was passed in his home state of Florida and Proposition 8 passed in California — both measures receiving wide-spread support from black churches and the black communities.
According to an ABC News-Washington Post poll taken in March, African Americans oppose same-sex marriage 55 percent to 41 percent, while all poll respondents support it 52 percent to 43 percent. While 94 percent of black voters in California supported Obama in 2008, 70 percent also supported the Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage, according to exit polls.
Nationwide, 95 percent of African American voters supported Obama, according to exit polls, comprising 13 percent of the national electorate.
West is one of the Obama’s harshest critics, and he took the President to task for his same-sex marriage reversal, tweeting Wednesday, “Pres failures are masked by irrelevant pandering as a collectivist who does not respect individual sovereignty.”
ABC News also reported that the West said same-sex marriage will not be the prime driver of African American discontent with Obama in November.
“The most important statistic in the African American community is 13 percent unemployment,” West said.
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…I hope this isn’t true.
I never knew all black people were against gay marriage.
Oh wait…there aren’t black people who are gay?
Another GOP know-it-all.
I don’t believe that whatsoever!!
What an ignorant thing to say. I know very many black people who DO go to church on Sunday, and the still support marriage equality.
It’s laughable seeings there are just as many gay blacks, as whites, as asians, as latinos.. It’s amazing the straws they grasp for.
Too bad West is batshit crazy
NO!! u really think black people will nor.vote for Obama. It’s either him or that bully….WE will see who they vote for
what’s that on allen’s head!
*face palm*
Nonsense!
Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. If all the DL black guys came out and voted for Obama we would win in a landslide.
Damn we all are people… Should it matter if your gay or not ? I really do hate america with a passion and its ignorance.
What are you, King of the black people?
Im black and Gay………ummmmmm ***looks for the logic in this………
Disagree
Awh, that’s a cute assumption.
Will he?? really? mm I don’t think so!
West wasn’t voting for Obama anyway, so why should we listen to him?
As a black lesbian with 2 gay cousins and straight family who supports us…well that.s about 30+ blackvotes. He assumes ALL blacks are bigoted Christians and that is not a fact.
boo hoo. get the fuck over it.
“President Barack Obama will lose a huge percentage of the African-American vote in his bid for re-election becuase he said he now supports full marriage equality, says GOP Congressman Allen West, (R-Fla.) a member of the House Tea Party Caucus.”
I find it ironic a republican speaking for democrats about what votes they will loose. Now if he said democrats will loose republican votes, then that would make more sense.
It’s a shame, but true. There is no way he will win a second term. The numbers are not there to pull it off.
Because obviously a GOP member would be completely unbiased in their analysis…oh, wait…
So….exactly WHEN was this guy appointed spokesperson for the entire black community? I must’ve missed that announcement.
I’d say he lost the bigot vote, but I think that was a foregone conclusion.
He is not the voice for the African American community. Just because he might have friends who are against homosexuality that are coincidentally African doesn’t necessarily mean that EVERY African is against gay marriage…Civil rights activists have fought and are fighting for marriage equality as well.
Who they gonna vote for? ROMNEY? LOL-GTFOH.
Allen West is a candidate for the loony-bin.
Idjit.
Orean. I totally disagree. He already holds 271 electorate votes to Romney’s 165.
Obama will only lose the “black men who still have flat-tops” vote. (Small demographic.)
That’s absurd & sad if he does!! :/
Blacks are especially paranoid and threatened by all things gay. He will lose some but he has taken a stand and in the long run history will be favorable toward him.
I think you will be pleasantly surprised to find out that the opposite will be true.
Allen West.. you are an idiot!
Ironic, that would be. However, underestimating the intelligence of Af.Amer voters to appreciate the issue at stack here (freedom), is a disservice to the community.
only in Africa and in ultra conservative black churches who do not remember when we stood shoulder to shoulder with them through all of the 1960′s helping them gain their rights back. Dr. King would admonish them to remember and to embrace freedom.
i dont think he’ll loose black voter’s i think he’ll gain a big percentage of the gay population.!!!!!!!!!!!
What? You mean there are no gay black people? ROTFL!!! What an asshat!!!
Yes, all the black people will run to Romney because he’ll make sure they’ll be taken care of and have jobs, money for education, etc. Dream on!
This guy is a total moron, like he know jack shyt about anything.. another brother from another planet like the rest of those wingnut jobs.. STFU
Now, I ask this, Mr. West…”Why would that be? Makes no sense to me! Many African-Americans have experienced discrimination, prejudice, and inequality…just as many others have. ALL humans are born equal and meant to live equal to their fellow-human beings. It’s time…beyond time…to evolve spiritually.”
Like Allen West has any credibility after all the other ignorant things he’s said??
No HE WONT..He’s the 1st Black President and it’s in Your interest for him tog et re-elected..4 more years !!!! OBAMA
This guy is an Uncle Tom so how does he get the black vote
Forgive the generalizations inherent to this observation, and to be fair, I will start with my own, “The Jews,” but surviving oppression is no guarantee that any group of people will not become oppressors given the chance. We can look to the state of Israel, wealthy gays gentrifying neighborhoods and driving poor renters out, Hispanic American citizens with antipathy towards “illegals” and know that is much easier to see what others are doing to you, than what you are doing to others. Conversely, within each group given the chance to function in the role of the oppressor, not all will jump on it.
What a moron
I dnt think so
Allen West is a homophobic woman hater! I wish someone would shut him up!
Dr. King’s views on LGBT rights are obscure & controversilal. Also, they are the subject of senstive, controversial debate. As an ordained minister, No doubt he would have faced conflict of interest & discredit. Nothing exsists that documents his beliefs. Homosexuality was still a crime in most states @ that time, btw. His wife said thinngs that SOUNDED like she supported gay marriage shortly b4 her death in early 2006.
Allen West does NOT speak for all or even a significant percent of black voting Americans! Certainly not for US!
Nothing more than a scare tactic to try and get his way. Just because he is ignorant, doesn’t mean the rest of the black population is. He is the kind of person that makes the rest of his race look bad, always has to be one in the bunch. I have met and am friends with plenty of people who support equality and they are of mixed races and backgrounds. So let him think what he wants, he will see the truth when it all comes down.
Allen West…is an asshole.
Even if he does, he will be forever remembered for doing the right thing and putting the Constitution and the rights of the people before religious thought. Religion is meant to be a guideline; not to allow any majority to suppress a minority. No church should have to allow gay marriage within its walls if it chooses not to recognize equality. But, no church has the right to deny equality under the law to anyone.
if that is true, then the black voters forgot what it is like to fight for “EQUALITY”!
@darin hunt, agreed! he may loose a large precentage of bigot/homophobic votes but he gained as much in the minority he just made happy
I remember in the earl 80s, a “civil rights leader” (only someone familiar with DC trivia of that era will remember the remark, or who said it) comparing gay rights and reproductive rights to “penguin rights” (“What’s next, penguin rights?”) I suggested a new group, “bisexual drug addicts for penguin rights” but it never got off the ground.
Why doesn’t Mr. West stick to his conspiracy theories about the communists among the Democratic members of Congress?
And comparing gay rights to the Civil Right’s movement or calling it, “The New Civil Rights Movement”, has many prominent African-American leaders then & now very upset & disturbed.
This is the same nut that said “there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party who are members of the Communist Party,” and compared the Dems to Natzi. Who cares what he thinks!
Oh, because the black population hates gays? Fucking moron.
No he won’t.
And on religion & the Constitution: The Supreme Court has said immorality, unorthodoxness, or things John Q. Public does not find palatable are not Constituionaly protected by religous freedom. Reason the Mormons were not cleared of bigamy, & laws against it stood.
Sounds just as racist against black people as he is homophobic. Too bad that words like his are going to be hurting the black community now for being stereotyped as bigots….
Wow..
Like hell he will! Everyone I know has gay family. I expect people will still vote with their hearts.
he would be surprised to know how many black people are of the lgbt community and are supporters as well, its is an error to think that all African American people are against the lgbt community, i am black and transgendered and i know other black people who are of the community as well, to think all black people are all conservatives and against civil unions is just a falsehood.
This Neo-Nazi Republican Negro assumes all people of color are stupid fucking idiots like him. I don’t think so. Somebody muzzle him!
Not if all the gays that R. in the closet of every Black Church comes out & votes. ie. “The Choir Director, half of the church choir, half if not all of the Deacon Board & sometimes the Preacher himself.” (Bishop Long, James cleavland. etc…. etc…. etc….
Allen West, I know black people and you sir are no black person.
Mr. West? Uh, I hate to break it to you, but there are people of your own heritage who ARE gay, also. Sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich isn’t going to make them disappear. I’m just sayin’… (sorry if anyone already brought it up… not wading through this many posts to see whether or not someone DID say something about this already)
Allen West himself was never elected on the strength of the black vote. Even if there are black Americans who disagree with Obama’s stance – and there are many – folks got it all wrong to think it will change their votes. They will most likely say Obama’s stance is between him and God and then pull the lever for him.
Bill Clinton was known as the “Black President” perhaps this is the beginning for GoBama to become the “Gay President”.
What an idiot. My family would never vote for anyone but Obama. I.e my “Black” side.
if there’s one thing i hate worse that prophecy, it’s self-fulfilling prophecy. – Bill Mayer
What would he know about, “the Black vote”?
ironic being that people who profited from civil rights no longer support it, or so says this dude. I would like to believe we all recognize that only the bigoted would seek such meager biological differences to divide us.
May I remind him that if people like Obama didn’t exist, he wouldn’t have any civil rights either. It’s astounding that someone who has experienced oppression would actually condone it and condemn those trying to fight against it. I know the “black vote” has more sense than this idiot
That’s so not true..I have a lot of African American friends and past co-workers, etc. He needs to step out of his office and get in touch with “real african americans”!
Sorry – but I just don’t picture black voters running “in bulk” to go vote for Romney. It’s just NOT going to happen. Most black folks I know (my family included) think Romney’s a backwards Nut-case and an undercover racist. And that being Mormon thing & winning him any fans in the black community either. If anything, what Obama said might actually start to CHANGE the rampant homophobia in the black community by setting example, especially since he’s perceived as “cool” by most young people.
And if he does so what he’ll gain more LGBT VOTES im black he’z not losing mine and my vote would have nothing to do with gay or blacc but how he would run America
I don’t think so. I am a African-American lesbian and I support the President!
Doesn’t the African-American community see the parallels between their struggles for equality & those of the LGBT community?
Who’s Allen West?
The real question..Has Allen figured out he’s black yet??
U gotta wonder where this guy gets his info…probably from the same place he has his head stuck!
What an idiot.
Sorry, Rep. West, (R-FL) African Americans still think Romney is an idiot…and so are you!!!
Just want to say he seemed extremely black to me so he should obviously know how black people think…sarcasm is my best quality don’t you think?
I’ve met sheep that were significantly more intelligent than Allen West. Was his mother a crack ho?
No he won’t, he may lose some but guess what, there are gay black people and black allies as well.
Plus they would be fools to pick Romney who stands for numerous things we’re against than Obama who is only one thing that some may be against. He is the lesser of two evils for those that are against.
He might lose some, but not the ones that count. :)
Silly thing 2 base an entire presidency on don.t you think?
GOP’s Allen West: All black people vote the same, they are a monolithic hive mind with no individual intelligence.
Ignorance is so funny !!
Wrong. Like Mel above said, ignorance is so funny!
No he won’t.
no they wouldn’t its not like they’d vote for romnet
*Romney
Please call so called homobigot christians what they really are: saducees, pharisees, hypocrites, a den of vipers. but please dont insult my lord christ by calling them christian
ha what a joke. blacks love him regardless ;)
How ignorant to assume that ALL african americans are straight and homophobes. Besides even if they dont want to vote for him they are not stupid enough to vote for romney. Thats like shooting yourself in the foot. He does not care about minorities only the rich one percent.
This makes me sad. I guess equality is only about race to some people.
Instead of worrying about gay marriage, he should help ban divorce and adultery.
If that is the case for the President to loose Black votes we might as well remain in bondage forever because it was never only about gays but human rights and equality which is to open the locked doors for African Americans also…….What do you people want….?????? The man and his team are moving forward in a society that has so much injustices. Where did he go wrong by abiding to our Constitution and Bill of Rights. People will never be satisfied, it is ashamed. Why hold the LGBT community as the black sheep and the underdog.
well he won’t lose my vote so that makes his argument null and void and since does he speak for all black people anyways *rolls eyes*
This man is wrong on so many levels, and Obama is RIGHT for moving forward WITH our country instead of moving backwards and against it. More and more people are changing their minds about the LGBT community and same-sex marriage. Just watch the video where Obama was interviewed and said his feelings on the matter have changed! He used to be supportive of equal rights, just not marriage… Change DOES happen, and this Mr. West dude has it alllll wrong.
How can Obama lose the black vote? First of all, he is the first black president, I’m sure everyone still hasn’t forgotten it. Secondly, I’m pretty sure black people are gay too. And can we all get politically correct here? It’s the African American Vote, not the Black Vote.