Rep. Alcee Hastings accuses Obama of ignoring minority candidates for Cabinet
theGRIO REPORT - Florida congressman Alcee Hastings lashed out at the Obama administration during a recent appearance at the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) convention...
Florida congressman Alcee Hastings lashed out at the Obama administration during a recent appearance at the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) convention.
The 76-year-old lawmaker has joined a growing chorus of pundits, activists and politicians who have been critical of the White House for its lack of minority second-term Cabinet appointments.
Obama’s picks for Treasury, Defense and Secretary of State have all been white males.
“The Black Caucus of Congress then sent 61 names to the White House,” Hastings said, according to the Sacramento Observer. “Time went by. Not one of that 61 was selected – not one.”
Hastings also claimed that the Obama campaign only begrudgingly invested in advertisements in black publications during the 2012 election cycle.
“If I was president of the United States, there is no way in hell that I would raise a billion dollars and don’t spend but a million dollars with people who probably had as much to do with my becoming president as anybody,” he said.
Hastings made history in 1993 when he became the first African-American elected to Congress from Florida.
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