QUESTION: In Charleston there are political leaders and religious leaders calling, as you know, for the Confederate flag to be taken down from the state capitol. The president has said that the Confederate flag in his estimation belongs in a museum. Does the president believe that officials in South Carolina should take that flag down or does he believe it should be up to the people of South Carolina to decide? JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE: I guess I don't entirely understand your question. QUESTION: Would the president call on them, on state officials to take that flag down or would he believe that that is a debate that should occur and that the people of South Carolina should decide whether the flag comes down? EARNEST: Well, I'm not -- I'm not sure there's a distinction to be drawn there. The president is very clear about what his views are. The president -- talked about this as long ago as six or seven years ago where he shared his view that the Confederate flag should be taken down and placed in the museum where it belongs. QUESTION: No debate necessary? it should just -- EARNEST: In the mind of the president, yes, it's pretty clear what should happen. But the president obviously doesn't have the authority to make that decision. That's obviously a decision that will be made by South Carolina officials. The president is very clear about what his views are and what he believes is the appropriate course of action here. Related Fox guest accuses ‘Rapper-in-Chief’ Obama of ‘gutter-speak’ for using N-word in discussion on racism. President Obama Drops N-Word During Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast. As was first announced last week, President Barack Obama sat down for a candid, in-depth conversation with comedian and podcast host Marc Maron that was released Monday morning. But while the two contemporaries covered a lot of interesting ground, all anyone in the media wants to talk about is the fact that the president said the “n-word.” Obama’s decision to un-censor himself on the uncensored podcast that takes its name from the acronym for “what the fuck” was a hot topic on Fox & Friends this morning, where Brian Kilmeade introduced the clip in question by saying, “I did not know this, but one of the hottest podcasts in the country is WTF with — I think his name is Greg Maron?” “It’s Marc Marone,” Steve Doocy added, incorrectly. When Fox proceeded to play a few seconds from the podcast, they bleeped Obama’s use of the word: “Racism, we’re not cured of. And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say ‘nigger’ in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination… Societies don’t, overnight, completely erase everything that happened 200 to 300 years prior.” “He doesn’t just say ‘n-word,’ he actually uses the word,” Doocy explained to viewers, in case they didn’t get it yet, predicting that “people will be talking about whether or not it’s appropriate for the president to use the ‘n-word’ and whether or not it is beneath the dignity of his office.” In response to the “salty” language, Fox’s Bret Baier admitted that Obama has the “prerogative” to “say those things when talking about racism from his personal knowledge and has a unique perspective, obviously, as the first African-American president.” But at the same time, he said “it will raise some eyebrows and you’ll probably have the White House respond.” “I think many people are wondering if it’s only there that he would say it,” Elisabeth Hasselbeck added. “And not, perhaps, in a State of the Union or more public address, if he’s only doing this because he feels, you know, cloaked in the podcast, that he felt safe to do it there.” Related: During a candid discussion on race relations in America on the podcast “WTF with Marc Maron,” President Barack Obama used the n-word. “It is incontrovertible that race relations have improved significantly during my lifetime and yours, and that opportunities have opened up, and that attitudes have changed,” the president told comedian and host Marc Maron. “That is a fact.” “What is also true is the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, discrimination in almost every institution of our lives, you know, that casts a long shadow and that’s still part of our DNA that’s passed on,” Obama continued. “We’re not cured of it.” “And it’s not just a matter of it not being polite to say ‘nigger’ in public. That’s not the measure of whether racism still exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination,” he said. The White House said Friday that President Barack Obama thinks the Confederate flag that currently flies outside the South Carolina statehouse belongs in a ... U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday paid tribute to the nine African-American churchgoers killed by white gunman Dylann Roof la

• published: 13 Aug 2015
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