From the Generation Z Republican who heads the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council to the Democratic national co-chairwoman of Bernie Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, Obama’s stern words to a group of young black men during a Pittsburgh appearance Thursday haven’t quite gotten the response he was looking for.  

“I think that my ancestors fought far too hard for my right to vote in this country, for me to support someone just because they look like me, especially when that person who looks like me doesn’t give a damn about me,” C.J. Pearson, who heads the RNC’s Youth Advisory Council, said in a video posted to X. 

My name is CJ Pearson. I’m 22 years old. And in 25 days, I’ll be joining millions of other young black men and voting for Donald J. Trump!

And we don’t give a damn about what Barack Obama has to say about it. pic.twitter.com/tKzupKL0N1

— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) October 11, 2024

His comments came after Obama urged young black men to vote for Harris because she is “somebody who grew up like you, knows you, went to college with you, understands the struggles and pain and joy that comes from those experiences.” 

Obama told black men that considering a vote for former President Donald Trump was “not acceptable” as he said part of their hesitancy was because they “just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president.”

Former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, who was a Democratic delegate for Obama in 2008 and 2012 and served as the national co-chair of Sanders’s 2020 presidential campaign, also criticized the Democratic elder’s statements during a CNN interview. 

“Why are black men being belittled in ways that no other voting group [is]?” Turner questioned. “Now, a lot of love for former President Obama, but for him to single out black men is wrong.”

Her comments responded to Obama’s “lecture” to black male voters.

“You’re thinking about sitting out or supporting somebody [in former President Donald Trump] who has a history of denigrating you because you think that’s a sign of strength because that’s what being a man is? Putting women down?” Obama said. 

Black men and Black women do not vote much differently, it’s wrong to single out Black men when Black men are the most loyal male voting block for Democrats.

It’s patronizing and wrong. pic.twitter.com/2OXmq9q1TW

— Nina Turner (@ninaturner) October 11, 2024

Turner questioned the legitimacy of Obama’s argument, saying: “Some of the black men that I have talked to have their reasons why they want to vote a different way. And even if some of us may not like that, we have to respect it.”

“So unless President Barack Obama is going to go out and lecture every other group of men from other identity groups, my message for Democrats is, don’t bring it here to black men who, by and large, don’t vote much differently from black women,” she added. 

Former Republican Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones also chimed in, arguing that Obama’s comments treated black men as if “we are too stupid, that we can’t vote our self-interest — what’s best for us, our pocketbook, our families. As if we’ve been immune to the past three-and-a-half years, as if we don’t know that gas prices have been higher under Kamala Harris, food prices higher under Kamala Harris, interest rates or home mortgages higher under Kamala Harris, and runaway borders under Kamala Harris.” 

In a video posted to X, Vernon said that while Obama “meant a lot to black people,” he didn’t “do anything for black people.” 

.@BarackObama should be ashamed for berating, rebuking and scolding Black men, because they won’t vote for Madam Lock Up A Brother…@KamalaHarris. As if we are too stupid to vote our interest and what best for ourselves and our families.

BO, you owe every Black man in America… pic.twitter.com/2WXvqpPcTp

— Vernon Jones (@VernonForGA) October 11, 2024

“And for him to want to come down from his mansion in Martha’s Vineyard and tell black men how we should vote, really? You don’t even live in Chicago anymore. You left your black community, Barack Obama, and you want to tell us how to vote? We’re not having that,” he said. 

Obama has begun ramping up outreach to voters in battleground states as Harris’s campaign has seen cracks in support from the black community.

In states such as Pennsylvania, which will be critical to determining the winner of the 2024 presidential election, one black voter recently said he was backing Trump because Democrats “don’t offer anything to the straight black male voters.”