Disgusted Helen Thomas: I Automatically Assumed Obama Was Black, Therefore He's Liberal

February 18th, 2011 8:27 AM

Jeff Poor at the Daily Caller isolated the latest rant from former UPI White House correspondent Helen Thomas. On Wednesday night's Joy Behar show on CNN Headline News, Thomas said Obama is a coward, not a liberal, which was disappointing, since she thought "because he was black, I thought he would automatically be" liberal, or in other words, have an "empathy for all the blacks."

BEHAR: Things have changed. And President Obama, do you like him? Do you think he is doing a good job? We started out the conversation before about it a little bit.

THOMAS: I think he lacks courage.

BEHAR: He lacks courage?

THOMAS: And he is not a liberal. I had hoped he was. I suppose I thought he was, because he was black, I thought he would automatically be

BEHAR: Well, that was your mistake.

THOMAS: That was my mistake. I thought he would be a liberal.

BEHAR: Can’t judge a person by the color.

THOMAS: Absolutely. You are so right. But I really thought that he would have an empathy for all the blacks, what they had gone through in life.

BEHAR: Well, I think he does have empathy, but he is up against a Republican machine, and he has to get reelected. You know, I mean, he’s in a tough spot. Doesn’t he have to get re-elected? He needs the middle, doesn’t he?

THOMAS: You take a stand on something in your life. You should have principles and stick to them.

Earlier in the interview, Thomas slammed Obama for failing to get out of Iraq faster:

BEHAR: But -- I have to tell you that, you know, I admired you, many -- I admire you even now, for the many things that you did in those press conferences, how you stood up to presidents, how you spoke out, particularly on the Iraq war, which I was vehemently against myself. And one of the reasons that I liked Obama was that he was against the Iraq war.

THOMAS: Almost.

BEHAR: Well, he was against it. I mean, I think that he ran on that.

THOMAS: Well, you know, let's see it fulfilled.

BEHAR: Well, you know, I think he was handed something, too. So let's -- I always expect the best from him.

THOMAS: I never have sympathy for presidents. They aren't handed -- he could have walked out the day after he took the oath.

BEHAR: Well, I guess so, but I don`t know if -- you know, what happened to if you break it, you have to fix it, you know?

THOMAS: It was broken.

BEHAR: It was broken. So we had an obligation to stay there, no?

THOMAS: No, you just get out. How did he go in?

BEHAR: Well, he didn`t go in. It was George Bush who went in.

THOMAS: Yes, he is, but he -- he didn`t have to stay there.

Don't buy it when Helen says I "never have sympathy for presidents." She certainly has in the past, when they're named Carter, Clinton, and Kennedy.