Obama says some Black men are persuaded by Trump’s 'macho' bravado bragging about women and money

In part two of the SnapChat interview with President Barack Obama, Peter Hamby asked how President Donald Trump was able to persuade so many Black men to support him over President-elect Joe Biden.

When Obama was elected he got about 95 percent of the Black vote, where Biden got about 80 percent.

"Well, look, I think men, generally, are more susceptible to public figures who act tough, sort of the stereotypical macho style," Obama said, while videos of Trump showing off his flabby muscles appeared. "I don't think Black men are immune to that any more than White or Hispanic men are. A lot of the values of pop culture are extolling wealth, power, frankly, greed, not thinking about other people because you're so ruthless you're just looking out for yourself."

He went on to cite members of the rap community that rhyme about money, "bling" and "depicting women in a certain way." Obama explained that Trump has basically spent the past five years delivering his own version of it. Hamby showed videos of Trump with piles of cash, gold chains around his neck and video of the "Access Hollywood" tape where he claimed that he could sexually assault any women he wants because "when you're a celebrity they let you do it."

"They might say, yeah, that's what I want. That's what I want to be," said Obama. "All of which to say that the Black community, like every community, is complicated. Those of us who are progressive, who think, for example, that women should be treated with respect and dignity or wealth isn't the measure of worth and we should have a more equitable society."

He explained that Democrats and progressives "can't take for granted any group" of people, assuming "we've got Black folks in our pockets" or "we've got Hispanics locked up." Obama said that at the same time Democrats shouldn't campaign for White men.

"One thing the presidency taught me is that the country is complicated," Obama said. "When you actually get on the ground and talk to people, you know, you go into some rural town and you find out there's some huge Vietnamese population or you go into the Black community in a barbershop and find out church-going folks are pretty conservative. That's why my biggest advice to progressives is to get out and talk to people. Because folks are always simpler in 140-character version. And when you actually take the time to hear their stories, where they're coming from, why they feel the way they do, they'll surprise you."

He said that those conversations allow people to build bridges and understand each other. One could argue that's exactly what Georgia's former Speaker Stacey Abrams has done in her state to register voters, communicate the issues and get voters to the polls. It worked out in Democrats' favor there.

Watch the full video at SnapChat.