Roland Martin, a CNN contributor and talk radio host out of Chicago, blasted Hillary Clinton and some of her supporters on Monday’s "American Morning" over recent comments they made about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama. Martin, responding to Clinton’s comment that MLK’s dream " began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964," countered by bringing up the former First Lady’s youth. "[H]ad Hillary Clinton's choice for president in '64 actually won, you never would have had civil rights bill, because she was a Goldwater girl." Throughout the segment, Martin sounded like an Obama supporter.
After the "Goldwater girl" remark, he brought up Bill Clinton, for his "fairy tale" remark about Obama, and Bill Shaheen, Clinton’s former New Hampshire chair, who resigned from her campaign after bringing up Obama’s past drug use. "But it was the comments after that [Hillary’s remark on MLK] -- you know, Bill Clinton's comments and then, of course, this came on the heels of Bill Shaheen's comments, brings up the whole issue of drugs. That seemed to add fuel to the fire."
But Martin saved his harshest criticism for BET founder Robert Johnson, who also allegedly alluded to Obama’s drug use at a recent Clinton campaign rally.
Bob Johnson is a smart guy. If you listen to his voice inflection, listen to his tone. That was sort of a wink-wink-nod-nod, you kind of know what I'm talking about. He's not fooling me, and it's utterly ridiculous, okay, to sort of throw it out there, then send a statement out by saying that's not really what I meant. And that's what we're having here.... And you're going to have people talk about, wait a minute, here's a guy who's got a lot of heat and criticism, you know, for the booty-shaking videos that made him a billionaire, making that kind of comment. So look, I don't buy it. He knew exactly what he was saying when he made that comment.
The full transcript of the segment, which started 43 minutes into the 6 am hour of Monday’s "American Morning:"
JOHN ROBERTS: Charges are flying on the campaign trail. Hillary Clinton accusing Barack Obama supporters of playing the race card. Obama says Clinton's remark about Dr. Martin Luther King was ill-advised.
CNN contributor Roland Martin is the host of 'Roland Martin Radio Show.' He plans to talk with former president Clinton coming up in the next hour. He joins us now for a preview. Roland, good morning to you. Let's take a look, first of all, at the pertinent quote here, and the one that kick everything off. It was when Hillary Clinton said quote, 'Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a president to get it done.' What impact is that statement having in the African-American community?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, anytime you touch Dr. King, you must be extremely careful. African-Americans are very, very cautious and protective of his legacy. And it came across as if it was LBJ who was the one who actually made it happen. And of course, it took a president to sign a civil rights act into law. What's also interesting though, that the Obama campaign, they haven't even brought it up. But people who are angered by this -- and I made mention this -- that had Hillary Clinton's choice for president in '64 actually won, you never would have had civil rights bill, because she was a Goldwater girl. And so, that's one of interesting little items there. But really, that's what really bothered people. They came back and said, well no, that's not what she meant. Later on the campaign trail, she did praise Dr. King for his work, for his action, for going to jail. But it was the comments after that -- you know, Bill Clinton's comments and then, of course, this came on the heels of Bill Shaheen's comments, brings up the whole issue of drugs. That seemed to add fuel to the fire. And so, it really is not just about this comment, you know, it's a combination of several others as well.
ROBERTS: Well, speaking of that, bringing up drugs. I wanted to play Barack Obama's response to what Hillary said. But let me jump ahead and play something that Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, said at a Clinton campaign event just recently. Let's take a listen, and I'll ask you about it.
MARTIN: Sure.
ROBERT JOHNSON, FOUNDER, BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TV: Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues -- when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood that I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book.
ROBERTS: Well, there you go. You had Shaheen up there in New Hampshire talking about the drug thing. Now, it looks like Robert Johnson is tilting toward it. Is that the appropriate response? How is that going to play?
MARTIN: Well no, it's not going to play well, because now -- here's what happened, John. The Clinton campaign, about an hour later, sent out an e-mail from Bob Johnson saying that I was talking about Obama's time as a community organizer and it would be irresponsible if it was anything else. Look, I'm not buying that. Bob Johnson is a smart guy. If you listen to his voice inflection, listen to his tone. That was sort of a wink-wink-nod-nod, you kind of know what I'm talking about. He's not fooling me, and it's utterly ridiculous, okay, to sort of throw it out there, then send a statement out by saying that's not really what I meant. And that's what we're having here. What Andrew Cuomo, attorney general of New York, who made the 'Shuck and Jive' comment, all right. Same thing. 'Well, I was not talking about Obama. That's not what I meant. I was sort of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the questions.' There was a pattern here where 'that's not what I meant.' Well, you make a statement. But then you release a statement, sort of clarifying really what I meant.
Look, if you want to say it, go ahead and say it. So Bob Johnson, trust me, is going to get a lot of heat this morning on talk shows, on blogs for that comment. And you're going to have people talk about, wait a minute, here's a guy who's got a lot of heat and criticism, you know, for the booty-shaking videos that made him a billionaire, making that kind of comment. So look, I don't buy it. He knew exactly what he was saying when he made that comment.
ROBERTS: And you'll be asking President Clinton about it, about an hour from now...
MARTIN: That's the first question I'm going to ask him, about that Bob Johnson comment.
ROBERTS: We'll get you back in about two hours to talk about how the interview went. And hopefully, we'll be able to play a little bit of sound from it. Roland Martin for us this morning. Roland, thanks. We'll see you again soon.
MARTIN: Sounds great. Thank you.
—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.






















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Can't wait to hear the spin
Mon, 01/14/2008 - 14:44 ET by bigtimerCan't wait to hear the spin on Hill once upon a time being a Goldwater girl...
....all in all the Uncivil War as Rush so brilliantly is calling this all is just more fun to sit back and watch the devourment of each other than anything politically I have seen in my political life...
You go leftists...keep up the good work and all of us out here entertained... why I even think some of you may getting close to so-called Hate Speech...LMAO!
I just love the PC that has been stuffed down our throats when it comes to being so-called racist or sexist but now it is down to the critters who have created all of this, including of course the main enablers... the msm.
Martin, responding to
Mon, 01/14/2008 - 14:49 ET by motherbeltMartin, responding to Clinton’s comment that MLK’s dream " began to be
realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of
1964," countered by bringing up the former First Lady’s youth. "[H]ad
Hillary Clinton's choice for president in '64 actually won, you never
would have had civil rights bill, because she was a Goldwater girl."
Not only that, but Her Royal Clintoness neglected that it was only because of the Republicans in Congress the Johnson got the Civil Rights Act passed. The Democrats were FAR from unanimous in their support of that bill. In fact: here are the breakdowns, from Wikipedia:
The original House version:
The Senate version:
The Senate version, voted on by the House:
mb... Exactly! I have
Mon, 01/14/2008 - 15:00 ET by bigtimermb...
Exactly!
I have been waiting all morning in some of the politics I have been listening to while working around here to bring this up...we never ever get credit about all of this...ever.
I know the agenda just won't fit their little political BS but somehow you would think this would come up when it comes to all of this blather with the dems/
Good afternoon, bt.... I
Mon, 01/14/2008 - 15:33 ET by motherbeltGood afternoon, bt....
I have been waiting for one of our esteemed journalists or even one of the pundits to bring up that fact...but not a peep about it from any of them.
Gee, I wonder why none of them want to bring up THAT "inconvenient truth"?
LMAO
Mon, 01/14/2008 - 14:55 ET by shannon20Bob Johnson is such a racist!!!LOL! Hillary said she doesn't fear the VRWC anymore, she better fear the VLWC. They are gonna bring her down, and if they have to make her a racist to do it, they will!
Let Hillary be Hillary
Mon, 01/14/2008 - 15:13 ET by KC MulvilleFor a long time, we've wanted to see the real Hillary, instead of that robot masquerading around. Then she cracked a tear, and won a primary. All of a sudden, her advisors realized that they had gold on her hands. Let her show emotion! Let Hillary be Hillary!
Now we find out why they've been sitting on her all this time. She has a big mouth.
Now we find out why
Mon, 01/14/2008 - 15:29 ET by motherbeltNow we find out why they've been sitting on her all this time. She has a big mouth. -KC Mulville
ROFL!! You nailed it, KC!
That's why she is the most poll-tested, focus-grouped, scripted candidate EVER!
this is great
Mon, 01/14/2008 - 17:33 ET by TjexciteIf you don't vote for Obama your a racists and if you don't vote for Hillary your sexiest. If you don't vote for Mitt your Anti-Mormon. If you don't vote for Rudy your Anti-9-11. All I can say is good luck and just think in 4 years you get to do all this over again.
Are blacks getting the message
Mon, 01/14/2008 - 18:32 ET by pocomocoWith the outright verbal belligerence being shown by the Clintons and their white surrogates toward Obama, I hope blacks are now realizing that the 40 year love affair they’ve had with the White Democrat party has been a sham and that, up until now, they have been part a modern day version of a plantation.
Keep in line, say the White Democrats, or the Great Society programs we’ve been promising you for over 40 years to get you off welfare, reduce teen pregnancy, and bring fathers back into the home - will be stopped.
It will be interesting to see if blacks have finally gotten the massage, and as the presidential election gets closer if they will continue their ‘lock-step’ love affair with the White Democrats.
Does Roland Martin Know American History?
Tue, 01/15/2008 - 02:24 ET by zeestephen"[H]ad Hillary Clinton's choice for president in '64 actually won, you never would have had civil rights bill, because she was a Goldwater girl."
Whoops.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law by LBJ on July 2, 1964, four months BEFORE the Goldwater-Johnson presidential election in November, 1964.