HUFFINGTON POST, January 21, 2012 -- Al Sharpton challenged Newt Gingrich to meet him to discuss his controversial comments about blacks and food stamps, and poor children working as janitors.
The Hill reported that a man in South Carolina questioned Gingrich on his comments, and challenged him to meet with Al Sharpton. Gingrich said he would be "glad to do it."
On Saturday, Sharpton said that he hadn't heard from the GOP candidate yet, but that he was looking forward to the opportunity and that he would even travel to meet him wherever he was. He said, "We'll meet him anywhere, any time."
Sharpton was speaking to fellow MSNBC hosts analyzing the South Carolina primary. "I want him to answer this whole question about blacks and food stamps when clearly that is not the case that we in the black community are synonymous with food stamps, how the president is the 'food stamp president,'" he said.
The MSNBC host also alleged that Gingrich only used racially-charged rhetoric to win with white audiences. Gingrich had said that he would urge the black community to demand paychecks, not food stamps. But Sharpton recalled joining Gingrich and President Obama on a tour about education, and said "none of this rhetoric was used" with black audiences. He made similar charges of "racial demagoguery" against Gingrich on Tuesday.
On Saturday, Sharpton asked, "Are we dealing with someone who's just racially insensitive or someone who's cynical, who would use race to play and blacks as backboards to score a shot?"
Posted By: Richard Kigel
Saturday, January 21st 2012 at 9:37PM
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